WHY FOCUS IS A LUXURY WE CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT.

Make Time for Yourself for Maximum Effectiveness
Focus is the key to reaching your goals and making your dreams come true. After all, it’s not possible to accomplish your objectives if you can’t spend time focusing on them in the first place. But while it’s easy to see how focus may be the key to reaching your goals, for some people, being able to focus is a luxury. But luxuries aside, the ability to concentrate on critical tasks is non-negotiable. Are you having trouble finding enough time in the day to make yourself a priority? Most people understand the importance of focus, but their lifestyle doesn’t make it feasible for them. Here are some tips and tricks for finding time for yourself so you can focus on your dreams.

Prioritize your list.
Rarely are dreams a “one-two-three” and you’re done type of process. Usually, there are tons of micro-goals and objectives you need to reach to get one goal accomplished. The overall big picture may take several steps to complete before your dream becomes a reality. In these instances, it’s very easy to become overwhelmed with everything you have to do to get to your final destination. But if that happens, you might get paralyzed and procrastinate. Instead, prioritize your list.

It’s more realistic to break down your goals into smaller steps that you can accomplish one day at a time in a few hours. Baby steps, and taking it slow is the key to winning the race. Finding just a few extra hours a day is far easier than blocking off huge chunks of time to reach your goals, once you get one thing accomplished, you’ll be encouraged, and will find the motivation to keep going.

The enemy of finding extra time is perfection.
Do you know how to recognize if something is “good enough?” When you’re trying to find extra time in the day to devote to focusing on your goals, perfection can be a significant drain on your time. Does the underside of the railing really need to be polished? Can you cut back on some of your chores so the house is at least sanitary, but you’re not spending your time alphabetizing the bookshelves? Look into where you spend a lot of time on little perfections that could be cut back on so you can squeeze some more time out of your day.

The key to focusing? Silence.
Your door does not need to be open. Seriously. Excess noise and punctuations in the quiet will jar your mind and ruin your ability to focus. Make it clear that you need the house to be quiet and that the door has to be shut while you’re working.

Emails and text messages can be a major distraction. Turn off your notifications, and put your phone on silent. If you must check email and texts, commit to doing it just twice per day - once in the morning, and once in the evening. If you’re swamped and really need to get caught up? Set up an autoresponder reply.

TV is another distraction. The noise of the TV can hurt your ability to focus, and watching television also puts a huge drain on your time. When you’re looking to accomplish a goal, give the TV a rest. Your dreams and your time will appreciate it. Keep these tips in mind to cut back on distractions, give yourself more time in the day, and improve your ability to focus.

REWARD!!!
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IF YOU CAN'T CONTROL IT, STOP WORRYING ABOUT IT

You have a flight to catch, a crucial flight to catch at an ungodly hour in the morning. If you miss the flight, horrible things will happen, and understandably so. Perhaps you’ll lose out on a significant contract, or worse; get fired. While your worry about the outcome of missing the flight is rational, what isn’t logical is worrying yourself sick about missing the flight.

How so?

Well, have you taken reasonable precautions to ensure you’ll catch your flight on time? Do you know where your tickets, necessary paperwork, and identification is? Is everything packed and ready to go? Do you have a ride to get there, or do you have your vehicle where none of the tires are flat, and the ignition starts to get you there? Will you leave early enough?

If you answered ‘yes’ to everything, then all of your other worrying is nonessential. If you’ve taken care of everything on your end of the deal, any other mitigating factors are out of your control.

Can you control traffic or traffic accidents? No. Worrying about things that you have no power over will not stop them from happening. All you can do is make the right choices and decisions to reasonably prevent disasters and mishaps on your end, and also rationally and calmly handle problems when and if they do arise.

Sometimes, we think that excessively worrying about the improbable will prevent it from happening. Of course, magic doesn’t exist and worrying will not shield you from life’s accidents.

And what if you are in the creative industry?

Do worry and anxiety help or hinder the creative process? According to research, fear, anxiety, and pessimism are huge stumbling blocks for creatives. Worry takes up far too much mental headspace, leaving no room for problem solving or for brainstorming new ideas. While you can’t control every horrible outcome, you can control how much you dwell on them and how much power you give them over your life.

If you want to have more optimism and energy, let go of harmful worry and rumination today. Take responsibility for what you can control, and forget about that which you cannot. You’ll boost your energy and creative output, and be seen as a trustworthy, capable leader in your industry.