How to Focus on One Thing at a Time

“Oh my God, I don't have time to do that!”

If this is something that comes out of your mouth a lot, you probably feel overwhelmed.

The solution?

You need to learn how to focus on one thing at a time. Time management is vital to business and personal success.

Are you someone that often catches yourself saying:

“I don't have any time”

“I don't have time to do this!”

Is this something that comes out of your mouth all the time? Is it something that you use as an excuse to procrastinate? I know it's something that I'll definitely rock out if I don't want to do something uncomfortable or something I think isn't worth my time…

Finding Your Focus

If you find yourself saying, “I don't have time”, then think about the following things:

If you're saying “I don't have time” or “I don't have enough time” when it comes to your side hustle, you need to really think about what your priorities are and what's your why.

Why are you doing your side hustle? Why are you doing your online business?

Why?

Know Your Reason Why

I know this is touted around a lot, but it's actually really important.

There are definitely going to be times where you're stressed and there are a lot of things on your to-do list. You'll be sitting there going, “Why did I decide to do this?” And that's exactly when you need to be really clear on what your why is. That will motivate you when stress makes decisions overwhelming.

For instance, are you doing your side hustle to save for a holiday or pay off debt? Envisioning and feeling those goals as accomplished can spur you out of stagnation.

Your why will be your fall-back position when life gets crazy.

But be careful. This needs to be your why, not somebody else’s. It can be easy to see someone else’s dreams and think you want the same thing, but if you're not emotionally connected to your why, it won't propel you forward when you need it the most.

Are you choosing to do something when you could just be happy in your day job? But maybe you don’t have a day job you love and that's probably why you're starting this exciting but uncomfortable new venture; to figure out what life looks like if you were running your own business full-time.

This is why you need to find your focus… Start with your why, and then decide on your priorities. Once you have your why in place, deciding on your priorities will be so much easier.

How to Focus on One Thing at a Time

I keep asking you this because it’s essential to know your next step. I could do the work for you to map it all out. I’m quite skilled at seeing the big picture and breaking it down into manageable steps. But I know from experience that when the plan comes from you, you are more excited and engaged with its execution.

Moreover, you can’t argue with yourself!

So whenever you think, “Oh, I just, I don't have time!”, figure out what your immediate next step is.

What is it? Do that because quite often the excuse, “I don't have enough time”, or “I don't have time to do that”, is more about the fact that we have got so much stuff going on inside our heads, we can't figure out what our next step is. So we just get stuck and do nothing.

So rather than being overwhelmed and stuck, take a step back and ask yourself, ”Okay, what is it that I'm doing? What should I be doing right now? What is the next step?”

I know I've used the word should a lot, and I definitely don't want to be ‘shoulding' all over you, but it's more about what is it? What are your priorities? What is this thing that you can be doing next? What does that look like?

You must figure that out to get a clear focus.

Anytime you catch yourself saying, “I don't have time”, take a step back and ask yourself:

“Okay, is this because I'm trying to procrastinate and I just don't want to do the next thing? Or is it because I’m so overwhelmed with all the things, that I’m just not sure what my next step is?”

Follow these steps to get clear:

Take a step back.

Write everything down.

I always find that physically writing everything down that I think I need to—or should—be doing allows me to gain clarity. Then I can prioritize what needs to be done immediately and what can be left for later.

I can then just go ahead and do that one immediate thing.

Oftentimes, the things that were tripping me up are only going to take five minutes to complete.

Time Management

If you ever hear yourself say, “I don't have enough time”, step back and ask yourself how long is this task actually going to take? If it's going to take less than five minutes, just do it immediately. Get it out of the way. It's out of your head and off your to-do list.

If it's going to take a little longer than five minutes, figure out whether it's something you should be doing right now. Is it your immediate next to-do? If not, then add it to your to-do list. Capture that task or thing and move on to your immediate next step.

And forget about multitasking. It’s a myth. You actually save time when you focus on just one thing.

I'm all about only focusing on one thing at a time because that is what will move you forward. Anytime you hear yourself saying “I don't have time,” take a breath and then think about what it is that you need to be doing at this moment, right now.

Action Step

Your immediate action step is to catch yourself when you're saying “I don’t have time”, and take a moment to ask yourself if it’s procrastination or overwhelm. Is this related to what you're meant to be doing right now? And if it's not, add to your to-do list.

If it's going to take you five minutes or less to complete, just do it immediately and get it off your plate.

These are things you can do daily, either at the start or end. It takes the guessing out of knowing what to do next and makes you more productive over time.

When you learn how to focus on one thing at a time, you create clarity in your business vision. It’s much simpler to find your focus and do one thing at a time than trying to multitask. Action creates momentum, and momentum is what propels you to success. You can do this!

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