Slow Down to Speed Up: 5 Tips to Refocus

Have you ever felt that you've had a busy day but not so productive? Or maybe you haven't stopped to take a breath all day but still struggle to put your head on the pillow at night satisfied that you got what you needed done? I hear you... With all that's going on right now, 

We are guilty of information overload, exhaustion from webexes / zooms / "Teams" meetings, the constant distraction beeps of the different communication mediums and expectations to always be available and meeting the higher expectations  of us ...

Some of you maybe working from home, trying to balance home life and work life, some of you are still in the office with not many people facing extreme unpredicted complexities never seen before,  some of you are on furlough or some of you may even be looking for jobs right now. Whatever your current state these five tips will help you focus more so you can feel more productive at the end of the day. So first things first is to give yourself the gift of 5 minutes to listen to this video in full – slow yourself down focus on what tips most resonate with you and apply them today.

My mum used to say to me: "The more haste, less speed".... In other words we have to Slow Down to Speed Up sometimes. In this current environment, there is Hope. I promise. Life right now really does have a sting in the tail - if we can learn anything from this current pandemic  (for most of us now this lockdown has been 5 months) is that life is shorter than we expected and it's racing by while we are working out what's really important and what actually isn't. 

As time roars past us we find ourselves drifting, deliberating, doubting and taking ourselves way too seriously yet all the while we talk about what we woulda, coulda, shoulda done to make things better. There's never a better time or a more urgent time to start doing and focusing on our most important things to do.

Mark Twain said: "The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks and then starting on the first one." Great advice. Common Sense. But not common practice. 

In this video, I will share with you just 5 Tips to Refocus and Recalibrate yourself to help you gain that sense of productivity back and have you pulling a Mick Jagger by singing "Time really is on my side".

1: Setup a Routine.

Establishing a solid routine, especially in the morning, is key to your success as a remote worker. “If you win the morning you win the day” Tim Ferris.

Not only do routines help reduce mental fatigue, they also make you happier and more productive. But setting a routine can be hard to do - especially when no one is pressuring you. So Set Working Hours. Decide on what your working hours will be and stick to them as best you can. Even if you have nowhere to be, set your alarm for the same time Monday to Friday and run through a morning routine just like you would if you had somewhere to be. Then try to start and finish your working day at the same time every day! Also make sure you have put in times for breaks! Leave the House - It’s unhealthy to stay at home all day and not get some fresh air. So get up regularly to take a work break - Take your lunch break outside too or take a step away from your desk for a change of scenery. Understand your “Prime time energy cycle”. Plan the night before, set yourself up for success for the next day. 

2:  Get clear on your priorities, deadlines, goals.

When we are driving in an unknown area we usually rely on our GPS to find our way– otherwise we will get lost or waste loads of time trying to find where we need to get to. 

So what about creating your own GPS system for your life !

GPS Stands for GOALS – PRIORITIES – STRATEGIES

For every 1 Goal, allocate 3 Priorities and 5 Strategies/small bite sized actions to take to fulfil those priorities....

So far example you can do it as a list – start writing your top 3 goals for work or personal life and then under each put 3 priorities and then 5 actions to take. Or you can chunk it down in a more visual map.

Ask yourself when you get hijacked “is this the best use of my time right now? Set yourself up for success using the "The Power of 3" – focus on the 3 most important, non-negotiable items you must achieve to "feel" like you've the day.

3: Create An Uncluttered Workspace

If you are Working from home its even more important to have a spot that is clutter free. Create a space in your home that can be your own personal “workspace”. Even if this is your living room table or a desk in your bedroom!

No matter where you are, Set aside that space solely for work and nothing else! Have all the stationery you need to hand, put up motivational quotes, make the environment a nice one to be in.

Reduce the clutter and distraction around you .

4: Self care:

In times of self-isolation it’s easy to question the meaning of being productive and happy. For instance, the important of self-care. Maybe you need to carve out time each day for exercise. Maybe you need time for meditation. Or maybe it’s just enough for you to make sure that you take the breaks you planned for. Whether you’re at the office or at home, you should prioritize your own health and safety. For some, this may be quite obvious. But, this can actually be a challenge for many people. For example, research from the World Economic Forum shows evidence of health and wellbeing taking a hit while working from home. Especially when it leads to the blurring of work and non-work boundaries. So even if this WFH setup may not be a long-term route for us all its important for us all to be better at taking care of ourselves as well as others through the means we have today.

If you’re burning the candle at both ends, you’re probably going to have a pretty hard time managing yourself. After all, if you’ve gone through the process of determining your priorities and mapping out when you’re going to do what, but you have no energy when you actually sit down to do your work, you’re not going to make the best use of your time. Therefore, the standard advice applies here. Get adequate sleep. Take breaks. Eat a balanced diet. Exercise. All of these activities will boost your mood, concentration, and energy level. In turn, they’ll help you to be more productive when you do sit down to focus on your work.

5: Block focus time: Avoid Task Hopping

You can’t be more focused without the ability to Self-manage. Period. If you sit down to work on a task at the predetermined time, and your mind is all over the place, you’re obviously not going to make very good use of your time. When you’re busy with a lot to do, you might naturally find yourself feeling overwhelmed. And during these times, it’s not uncommon to move from task to task, in response to your racing mind. This tendency can also be compounded by the lure of social media, text messages, and email notifications, which can all make it increasingly difficult for many of us to stay focused on the task at hand.

This is where discipline comes into play. Decide in advance that you’re going to give your undivided attention to a single task during the allotted time period. Then, turn off your notifications, put your smartphone in your bag, or do whatever you need to do to reduce distractions.

If you do this, you’ll find it’s a self-reinforcing behaviour because:

1. When you focus on one single task, you’re able to give it your best effort. And as a result, the output will likely be better. In contrast, if you try to do several tasks simultaneously, you’re only making your own job harder, and you’ll get a lot less done in the process.
2. The feeling of “finishing” a task works as a huge motivator for a lot of us — there’s a feeling of gratification that can come with checking an item off of your to-do list. And, that repeated sense of accomplishment can inspire you to keep moving forward.

While staying focused on a single task might seem like a tall order, across time, you can increase your ability to concentrate by developing your own mindfulness practice. Then, once you get used to focusing on a single task, you’ll work with a lot more peace and ease.

 To have more focus and feeling productive requires discipline and means being happily productive without feeling constantly stressed about how much more you’ve got left to do.

It’s not necessarily about doing nothing or having a wide-open schedule. Instead being satisfied and having a feeling of knowing you are deliberately spending your time on what really matters and ignoring the rest. It’s being clear on your priorities and saying no. It’s not about having enough time but it’s about how you use the time you have. We all have the same amount of time we all have 24 hours / day and 168 hours per week. Most of the people who do feel the most relaxed about their time are also the people who are most in control of their time. They have figured out what needs to happen in their life with regards to their time. Therefore, they are more relaxed they have put systems in place to make it work.

So remember these 5 tips

1: Set up a Routine: especially win the morning routine!

2: Clarit. Use a GPS Be clear on what you are focusing on. Map it out.

3: Working Space – focus on your onesie – one thing at a time. De clutter everything else.

4: Self care – increase your focus and energy by ensuring you have the right amounts of balance.

5: Block focus time – set yourself for success and put your alarm on in blocks of concentrated focus time

As a bonus – I sometimes use music a lot to help me get in the mood - Music is a great way to alter our mood, move us, inspire us, distract us or relieve stress. So in the spirit of getting you moving, read the lyrics, listen to the tune a Classic favourite tune of mine by Pink Floyd called "Time". I have placed a link below with the lyrics... Soak it in, take what you want from it and apply what you learn.... As its states in the song , consider how many of us are guilty of "letting the moments tick away.....
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you, 
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun.”

Pink Floyd "Time" 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwYX52BP2Sk&feature=youtu.be 

"Time"

Ticking away the moments that make up a dull day
Fritter and waste the hours in an off-hand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground in your home town
Waiting for someone or something to show you the way

Tired of lying in the sunshine staying home to watch the rain
You are young and life is long and there is time to kill today
And then one day you find ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun

And you run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death

Every year is getting shorter, never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to naught or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way
The time is gone, the song is over, thought I'd something more to say

Home, home again
I like to be here when I can
When I come home cold and tired
It's good to warm my bones beside the fire
Far away, across the field
The tolling of the iron bell
Calls the faithful to their knees
To hear the softly spoken magic spell