DOES YOUR BUSINESS TEACH YOU HOW TO FOCUS?

Posted on Saturday, 29th July - 2017, in ADVICE & TIPS and INSIGHTS, by Marcus Richards

How to transfer your businesses focus into your daily work habits

Focus is key. In this day and age it’s becoming easier to be distracted. Did you know, that if your business has clear focus, you can draw on the same principles in your day-to-day working and private life?

The Macro focus of your business can transfer to the Micro focus of your work day. Here’s how…

5 tips for increasing your focus at work

The below are ways to increase your focus by following your business plan:

1) Have a plan

Your business should have a clear business plan that nails what it does at it’s core, and its long term vision. Start each day by making a plan (simple checklists work best). Does it match your business’s vision?

2) One thing at a time

There’s a common myth that we can multi-task, we can’t. No one can focus on more than one thing at a time. At best we can switch from one task to another, however the more we do this, the more we dilute ourselves. Successful businesses are able to delegate roles so that staff focus on their strengths. Stick to your strengths and do one task at a time with your full attention.

“He who chases two rabbits catches none” – Confucius

3) Simplify, eliminate distractions

In order to do this, you must eliminate distractions. Your business doesn’t say ‘yes’ to every request it receives. If it did, it’d be drawing time, energy and resources away from its core expertise. So simplify your work life, and say ‘no’ when required.

4) Stay healthy

Your business has in place measures to remain healthy, it sets business hours, maintains cash-flow, repairs broken equipment. Ideally, your business maintains a healthy balance in all areas, allowing the most productive energy to be used towards core activities. In many ways this is also how you should treat your body and mind. Here are some of our top tips for keeping a healthy and focused:

• Take 1 minute work breaks every hour- stretch, get the flood flowing
• Use the mornings for creative thinking
• Maintain good posture
• Chew gum- it increases oxygen and insulin flow to your brain
• Practice mindfulness through techniques such as meditation
• Exercise before work
• Get enough sleep
• Steady input of snacks and caffeine

5) Practice makes perfect

Your brain (like your business), is like a muscle. Practice doing the wrong things and you’ll get better at the wrong things. However, by understanding how it works, and through repetition of correct actions, your fall into good habits and achieve great long-term results.

To assist with this, it’s useful to know how about ‘selective attention’ and why we focus:

Voluntary Focus

This is ideal, as its goal orientated and ‘top-down’. Using your prefrontal cortex, it allows you to see the bigger picture and draw from experience.

Stimulus-driven Focus

Deriving from our survival instincts, this is ‘bottom-up’ and occurs when you can’t help giving something your attention. It may be that a notification or a loud bang, it’s your parietal lobe will need to be quickly overridden in order to return to voluntary focus.

Conclusion

To rehash, the below are 5 things both you and your business can do to keep focused:

1. Have a plan
2. One thing at a time
3. Simplify, eliminate distractions
4. Stay healthy
5. Practice makes perfect

If you feel you or your business could improve your joint focus, then the best way to change is through active participation. Unique Team Building can hold focus based workshops which allows your staff to learn these pointers through active engagement.

Email us or call 02 8073 4416