071: Procrastination Solver: How to Achieve Absolute Razor-Sharp Focus and Improve Concentration On Demand

 

Are your goals S.M.A.R.T. goals? Specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound. Tune into today's program to uncover the tried and true techniques (16 total) to keep yourself motivated, focused, out of the procrastination zoned and focused on getting it all done and achieving that goal:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 44:14 — 40.5MB) | Embed

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Our marketer of the week is Jim Edwards from TheNetReporter. My biggest takeaway from him: just point and shoot PowerPoint for your video. It doesn't need to have quick cuts, fancy edits or be professionally done -- at all.

General Motivation

  1. Four Daily Tasks: Business-Building, Deliverable (no degrees of doneness, no chipping away, no to-do lists)
  2. Seinfeld calendar (do something small every day so the cycle isn't broken) + 5 day sprint
  3. Formula and checklist: for example, 3 part podcasts and "research heavy" blog posts: 100 solutions, group into 4-5 categories and whittle down so it's all meat and no grissle, which leads us to...
  4. Reduce and rearrange the raw materials -- SIMPLE mindmapping with FreeMind helps with this.

Absolute Focus

  1. Dual monitors: left for viewing, right for creating
  2. Remove: distractions, phone, social media, email, TV, news
  3. Clear the clutter: delete temporary EverNote notes and delete after you've made the blog post or product. Clear off desktop items at the end of the month. Quick calendar reminders later in the week to "check on" things and then delete.
  4. Micro-projects: start on Monday, end on Friday or Saturday. You can restart on Monday, but don't leave things open-ended. (Optimistically pessimistic.)

Procrastination

  1. What quick 10 minute activity have you been putting off? Do it now.
  2. Accountability partner. Call every hour if you have a really bad "problem."
  3. Shut down distractions. Close tabs, uninstall Facebook.
  4. Change the pattern. Commit. Don't ask yourself how you "feel" about it. It's a must.

Concentration

  1. What are the top 3 things to focus on? Avoid going an inch deep and a mile wide.
  2. Meditation (meaning silence and reflectiveness).
  3. A state change is as good as rest.
  4. Appointment based business: webinars, meetings, Google calendar, TimeTrade coaching calls.

Wise Words to Live By

Three simple rules in life: 1. If you don't go after what you want, you'll never have it. 2. If you don't ask, the answer will always be no. 3. If you don't step forward, you'll always be in the same place.

What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise. -- Oscar Wilde

You may think the grass is greener on the other side, but if you take the time to water your own grass, it would be just as green.

Philosopher Karl Popper: True ignorance is not the absence of knowledge, but the refusal to acquire it.

Resources

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 44:14 — 40.5MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Google Podcasts | RSS

Filed in: Archive 1: 2012-2016 • Mindset • Podcast • Productivity

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