focus

Magic Happens When You Focus Your Attention with guest Nyota Gordon

Today’s Fast Action Fridays guest is Nyota Gordon, an adaptability coach and leadership strategist, who honed her skills during a 22 year service stint with the U.S. Army. She went in expecting to serve four years. Surprise!

While I’ve never served in the military, I resonated especially with the Aha! moment Nyota shared on the issue of delegating during our interview, and the debilitating weight when you haven’t any system for delegating in place.

There were so many great Aha! moments. About managing ourselves versus our time … about gifting ourselves the grace to grow … about misjudging our ability to multi-task … plus the biggest lesson she learned about herself and being an entrepreneur.

[Read more…]

Relax and take charge of your productivity with this one simple tool

By Kat Sturtz Leave a Comment

So what do you do when you need to focus but are rushed for time?

Or when you’re hoping for a productive nudge to start the ball rolling when there’s a task you’ve been avoiding?

Or you’ve got an upcoming appointment but don’t want to waste time and sabotage your focus checking the clock every few minutes?

Or when you’re just lazing about looking to relax for a bit before tackling your next must-do?

You reach for this …

A simple kitchen timer. The simpler to operate and keep handy the better.

It’s my go-to tool for staying on track, focused, and more relaxed about my time management.

Here’s are a few of mine that are scattered about my home and office.

What’s your favorite simple productivity tool?

Where do you focus when overwhelmed with ideas and possibilities?

By Kat Sturtz Leave a Comment

Fast Action Fridays show – Listen to the replay here.

It’s a common complaint…

… especially among habitually curious, spiritually-minded, passionately intuitive souls.

Like me. And if you’re reading this, most likely you, too.

How do you choose what to focus on when you have multiple passions and more ideas than you’ll ever have time to develop them all? Can you serve more than one target market? Is it possible to build a successful service-based business when you have diverse skills and truly enjoy embracing that diversity?

That was the focus of our call March 6th. (No puns intended!) And we’ll be diving even deeper and sharing more specific examples and fast action tips and next week, too.

There is no one right way. There are many right ways.

The perfectionist in many of us wishes there was … at least theoretically. However, the truth is that there are many right ways. Personally, I embrace the concept that there are no wrong ways. There is something important to be learned and shared and experienced regardless of the path we choose. Furthermore, we can change paths if we want.

That is not the same as saying there are no wrong…or misguided…choices to be made along the paths we choose to follow.

And, like it or not, it’s often the desire to find and follow a single right way … the way we hope means “right” equates to “guaranteed success” … that causes havoc with our ability to focus.

When you mental and emotional energies are questioning the direction you are traveling, the decision (often unconscious) to take a short detour to scout out another path … well, you can see that focus and concentration get lost along the sidelines.

Listen to the replay for examples and more details about the fast action tips shared. Here’s a summary of them:

Come to terms with your natural inclinations and make adjustments rather than try to contort yourself into someone else’s ideal way of doing things.
Learn to excel at my Triple A approach: Adopt. Adapt. Adopt.
Dare to take a risk.
Believe that you can. Be first to believe in you.
– That’s #5 on my 10 Commandments to Finding Time. You can download a copy as part of my Next Step Action Kit. Get yours complete free kit here.
Use a timer to help you focus for a pre-determined minimum amount of time. I’m partial to using simple kitchen timers, but there are some terrific online ones available, too.
Look for the hidden fear behind you inability to focus on an important project or task. Note that an inability to focus is often accompanied by a lack of taking consistent action.

Get Fast Action Fridays updates delivered straight to your inbox

Learn about upcoming show topics and featured guests, plus unlimited free access to replays by clicking here.

Are you multi-tasking yourself right out of time?

By Kat Sturtz 20 Comments

Busy. No doubt about it. We are busy. Life for most of us seems to run at an ever increasingly frantic pace.

So much to do. People to see. Responsibilities to fulfill. Commitments to keep. Relationships to manage. Children to raise. Bills to pay. Clients need attention. Prospects need coaxing. The to-do’s keep multiplying.

We yearn for more energy, good food, healthy bodies, clear heads, happy hearts, encouraging opportunities, stimulating conversations, and so much more. Completion. Satisfaction. Success. Freedom. Ease. Peace.

Oh, I hear you … and a restful Sleep!

And you know what?

We deserve the best of what life has to offer. All of us. Each of us. Every day.

The multi-tasking dilemma

Often, as we try to get more done in the same amount of time, like a circus juggler we attempt to keep more of our do-this balls active and airborne. Our focus shifts from ‘what really needs to be accomplished by when’ to ‘how many things can we tackle at once’. We wonder if we can reach another ball and slide it into rotation.

We’re excited by the prospect of crossing more tasks off the list, while at the same time fearful they’ll all come crashing down around us.

We focus on the DOING rather than the GETTING DONE

Multi-tasking our way through the hours we’re temporarily lulled into a sense of implied accomplishment. But at end of the day we discover we haven’t really made much headway on anything of importance. Nothing that counts as a next step towards the destination we want to reach. Worse, what we had expected to finish is still airborne as if trapped in a time warp, leaving us feeling more overwhelmed, frustrated and stuck than before.

Multitasking is the opportunity to screw up more than one thing at a time. ~ Author Unknown

I’m reminded of one of the habits Stephen R. Covey illuminated in his best-seller, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Begin with the end in mind.

When our focus is on ‘how many things can we tackle at once’ we are not beginning with the end in mind.

Mindful multi-tasking

Now, I’m not about to tell you that you should never multi-task. Mindful multi-tasking is a marvelously effective and efficient technique. It’s something I teach my clients to consciously consider and implement as one method of reducing overwhelm.

Mindful multi-tasking is not, however, juggling a random assortment of tasks.

When you mindfully multi-task you do as Covey suggests. You literally begin with the end in mind.

Consider what on your to-do list could be done within a set time frame with minimal attention from you. Then pair it with another task that fits within that time frame but requires more of your direct action and attention.

Here are two good examples of mindful multi-tasking:

Throw in a load of laundry before sitting down to check social media and email. Take break to move laundry from washer to dryer. Continue with another admin type task, such as paying bills.

Plan ahead for ‘wait’ times in your day, such as being placed on hold, waiting for print, copy jobs or computer downloads/uploads to finish. Anticipate what you can easily accomplish during those moments that occasionally turn into minutes. With the proper supplies at hand you could: write a thank you note, enter a couple new contacts in your database, record yesterday’s business expenses, do some simple filing, review your prospect or tickler file, dust your monitor screen and keyboard, do some stretching exercises.

Muddled multi-tasking

However, don’t fall into the trap of muddled multi-tasking. Don’t mix tasks that require clarity of thought and focus.

For instance, don’t try to edit a document while listening to your friend update you on her latest relationship crisis. Both will suffer from your lack of attention. Don’t start the end of the month bookkeeping reconciliation when you need to make an important call in 3 minutes. Don’t try to knock out a 1,200 word article draft due tomorrow and check your email every 5 minutes and stop to answer the phone and …. Well, you get the picture.

Don’t mistake busy for productive.

And, for heaven’s sake, stop muddled and ineffective multi-tasking as a way to hide procrastination!

Come on. You know what I’m talking about.

Tweetables:

Don’t mistake busy for productive. Click to Tweet.
Beware of using multi-tasking as a way to hide procrastination. Click to Tweet.

Please share your ideas and experiences in the comments below:

What muddled multi-tasking have you fallen victim to?
What mindful multi-tasking tips can you share that have helped you be more efficient and effective getting things done?

And, as always, feel free to post a question or request feedback or help solving a problem that makes you feel overwhelmed, frustrated and stuck. You don’t have to travel alone.

Want some help moving past what’s making you feel overwhelmed, frustrated and stuck? Schedule a free 30 minute no-strings attached Discovery Session with me (Kat) today. I’ve opened up several extra spots for the next few weeks. Click here now.

photo by: julianlimjl