March is Women\u2019s History Month, and a good time to think about the historic imprint you will leave on those around you.\u00a0 What kind of legacy are you leaving behind for the women in your life; daughters, nieces, co-workers, women whom you mentor, or manage?\u00a0 Involvement in purposeful projects, events and missions that create positive, meaningful outcomes is a very effective way to make your personal mark on history.\u00a0 Such a goal takes the discipline of moving along things that must get done (tasks, errands, routine work responsibilities), and creating room for these important things that will leave a lasting legacy.\u00a0 It also requires thoughtful weekly planning, and the skill of executing your ideas and work with efficiency and focus. Let\u2019s explore this further.<\/p>\n
Is staying focused on the work in front of you a challenge?\u00a0 Do you find yourself starting and restarting a task multiple times because of distractions, interruptions or because of your own sidetracking thoughts?\u00a0 If so, you are not alone.\u00a0 A study published in Psychology Today by Larry Rosen, PhD, observed the study habits of 300 middle school, high school and university students.\u00a0 Rosen and his team were startled by the results which showed that, on average, students were only able to focus on their studying for three minutes at a time, with nearly all of their distractions coming from technology.\u00a0 The researchers found similar results with computer programmers and medical students.\u00a0 The biggest technology offenders were smartphones, and the very computers on which the research participants were either studying or working!<\/p>\n
The truth is, we have too many inputs vying for our attention; ring tones, instant messaging, reminder alerts, buzzing email, text tones, and even Facebook and social media notifications!\u00a0 Then there are meetings, phone calls, crisis situations and office chatter.\u00a0 It\u2019s endless, and those examples don\u2019t even include our own distracting thoughts such as the errands to run, bills to pay, family schedules and more.\u00a0 If we are not careful, interruptions can bounce us around like a ping pong ball all day long.\u00a0 Are you letting distractions take your attention and keep you from being focused, or are you in the driver\u2019s seat of your life?<\/p>\n
If staying on task is challenging you, I offer you a double-pronged approach that will help create laser focus.\u00a0 First is a commitment to weekly goal planning.\u00a0 The second is mindfulness, but we will come back to that later.<\/p>\n
I am convinced making a weekly plan with goals is the first step to successfully creating habits that lead to laser focus.\u00a0 Most of us are familiar with the Covey method of project planning, or perhaps you\u2019ve used other techniques, or your own version of task prioritization and organization.\u00a0 The question to ask yourself is, do you use it consistently, without fail?\u00a0 The weekly planning process needs to be a top priority if you want to drive your success in meaningful areas, versus being pulled along the path of uncertainty, and only accomplishing small tasks.<\/p>\n
Weekly planning takes foresight and commitment.\u00a0 When creating your plan, consider and identify these key elements before creating it:<\/p>\n
1.\u00a0 Top priorities for the week<\/strong> \u2013 what must absolutely get done?\u00a0 Remember the following in this process:<\/p>\n You can\u2019t:<\/p>\n You can:<\/p>\n 2.\u00a0 Top energy zones<\/strong> \u2013 when are you most productive?<\/p>\n These are the two key questions to ask yourself when planning and prioritizing for the week \u2013 what do you have to do, and when are you at your best to complete them? From this genesis, you can create your ideal schedule with attainable<\/em> goals.\u00a0 Don\u2019t overschedule yourself, or spread yourself too thin.\u00a0 Leave white space for emergencies, and margins for thinking and creativity.\u00a0 Once you\u2019ve successfully prioritized and scheduled your week\u2019s goals, congratulate yourself, and make a date with yourself to do it again \u2013 same time, same place next week.\u00a0 Use that smart phone wisely.\u00a0 Set a reminder on Sunday to review the upcoming week and plan out your productivity!<\/p>\n With the first step of the approach to laser focus complete (planning), your stage is set for step two.\u00a0 The second step to obtain laser focus on a daily basis is by practicing \u2018mindfulness\u2019.\u00a0 Mindfulness is \u2018a state of active, open attention on the present\u2019.\u00a0 With practice and patience you can actually \u2018reprogram\u2019 your brain to be in a state of mindfulness throughout the day.\u00a0 To prepare yourself (your brain really) for a mindfulness approach to laser focus during the work day, it is important to begin your day with a deeper sense of mindfulness.<\/p>\n To be clear, I\u2019m not pushing a brand of spirituality or religion, but rather a method by which you can clear your mind, obtain some peace, and get grounded for the day ahead of you.\u00a0 To that end, I am proposing that prior to the start of your work day, you spend 10 minutes in a quiet, peaceful state in an attempt to empty your mind of thoughts and feelings by the process of recognizing them when they come into your brain, but then letting them go without reacting to them.\u00a0 You can do this upon waking, before you leave for work, on the drive to work, at your desk, or in the car before you go into the office (especially if being completely still at your desk will have co-workers wondering if you are OK!)<\/p>\n The goal of practicing 10 minutes of deep mindfulness sets your brain into action, rather than leaving it vulnerable to reaction.\u00a0 It prepares your brain for approaching work with basic mindfulness (the \u2018a state of active, open attention on the present\u2019), and ultimately a laser focus.\u00a0 Practice and patience are essential to maintain basic mindfulness in order to achieve laser focus.\u00a0 The technology distractions listed earlier are the biggest culprits of distraction, but there are others.\u00a0 How many of the following do you identify with?<\/p>\n The first step in avoiding these distractions is to recognize them as just that.\u00a0 It may be that you are not even aware that these activities are robbing you of your time, productivity and prohibiting you from laser focus on the task at hand.\u00a0 Mentally go through a day at work, and write down everything that distracts you and places your brain in a reactive mode.\u00a0 Then, pick the top three things to conquer first.\u00a0 Now, make a plan for proactively responding to them when they occur.\u00a0 Below are some examples:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n While some of these responsive techniques may seem too radical, they are perfectly acceptable ways to create boundaries for yourself and create \u2018a state of being active with open attention on the present\u2019 (mindfulness) enabling you to laser focus.\u00a0 The process of choosing to actively engage in the task at hand rather than react to stimuli takes discipline. While you won\u2019t achieve laser focus on the first day, you will be surprised at how quickly practicing mindfulness will begin to yield laser focus and positive results.<\/p>\n Weekly planning sessions coupled with the daily mindfulness approaches I\u2019ve described will do so much more for you than help you achieve laser focus.\u00a0 It will empower you to be in complete control of your thoughts and actions.\u00a0 It will also reward you with additional mental space and opportunities to produce creative, quality and meaningful work.\u00a0 These opportunities are the foundation from which your lasting legacy can flow.\u00a0 Keep a diary of your accomplishment and successes as a result of your new approach.\u00a0 This will motivate you to continue your practice of laser focus, build self-confidence, and make your mark on history.\u00a0 When you train your brain to use both states of mindfulness to the point where it becomes natural and exciting, you will have mastered the art being able to laser focus.<\/p>\n \u00a9Copyright 2015.\u00a0 Kay Fittes.\u00a0 All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" March is Women\u2019s History Month, and a good time to think about the historic imprint you will leave on those around you.\u00a0 What kind of legacy are you leaving behind for the women in your life; daughters, nieces, co-workers, women whom you mentor, or manage?\u00a0 Involvement in purposeful projects, events and missions that create positive,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[3,17],"tags":[9,20,10,21,19,6],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7Qkhe-1Y","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.highheeledsuccess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.highheeledsuccess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.highheeledsuccess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.highheeledsuccess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.highheeledsuccess.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=122"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/blog.highheeledsuccess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":482,"href":"https:\/\/blog.highheeledsuccess.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122\/revisions\/482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.highheeledsuccess.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.highheeledsuccess.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.highheeledsuccess.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\n Conversations at your desk<\/td>\n Close your door, or put up a sign requesting no interruptions<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Telephone interruptions<\/td>\n Let it go to voicemail<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Conversation getting too long<\/td>\n Explain that you have a deadline<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Checking email too much<\/td>\n Designate two or three times a day to check email, responding only to those pertaining to your plan for the day, or minimally reply with a time and date you will get respond.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Multiple projects at once<\/td>\n Put away other work project<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Text messages<\/td>\n Set your timer to work for 15 \u2013 30 minutes solid, then take 3 or 5 minutes to check and respond to relevant text messages.\u00a0 Non-urgent messages can wait.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Thoughts of personal\/home issues<\/td>\n Keep a list of things to address at a later time<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Being diverted outside your workspace<\/td>\n Don\u2019t engage in miscellaneous interruptions from co-workers<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n