When you are fully focused it allows you to motor past any obstacle and accomplish anything you set out to do. You have to be mentally strong and fully focused, so what happens when you find yourself slipping up or needing a little extra boost?
There are a lot of things you can do, honestly, and it really depends on what pushes your buttons and what you best respond to. To help you come up with some new ideas, I asked several business professionals and entrepreneurs to share their best tip when it comes to improving mental focus and sparking new motivation. Here are some of those that you should consider.
Dedicate an hour to physical fitness.
When your body is constantly being worked out, it starts to change. From losing weight to looking better and feeling better, all of this starts to snowball and gets you motivated to continue to push.
“When you realize how being dedicated contributes to working out, it helps to motivate you in other areas of your life,” says Pat Skinner of AnswerFirst Communications. “When you look better you feel better. You become more confident and that confidence spills over into all other areas of your life.” If you set aside just one hour a day you will see not only your fitness change, but all other areas of your life as well.
You just have to be committed. Whether it’s waking up an hour earlier or fitting in a workout during lunch, you have to just do it.
Eliminate sugar from your diet.
Sugar is what a lot of busy people turn to when they need energy. The trouble is that it’s the wrong kind of energy and can have a negative effect on you.
“Consuming an energy drink packed with sugar or eating a candy bar might give you a quick burst of energy, but that is followed by a huge crash,” says Brett Moore DDS, a top cosmetic dentist at Smile Design Dentistry. It actually has the opposite effect on you than you might think. You will actually be less productive because the crash always comes.
Remove as much sugar from your diet as possible and focus on eating healthy. Your mental clarity will improve greatly, and your focus and motivation will follow.
Take all side projects off your table.
It’s hard to stay motivated and focused when you aren’t making the kind of progress that delivers the results you are after. The problem could be that you are trying to do too much at one time.
“A lot of people will try to juggle too much at the same time,” says Ignacio Soria of cannandco.net. “Often times the little side projects that you also have on your table will pull away too much time and focus from your main project that you will end up spinning your wheels and making slow to no forward progress.”
Have one main focus point at a time, and wrap that up 100% before taking on new project. This allows you to focus on one thing at a time. When you are able to channel all of your time and energy into one project not only will it get done, but it will high a higher probability of being successful because you weren’t thinking of other things.
Have a “Big Picture” goal at all times.
What is your main goal? Your big picture goal? What do you want more than anything? You need to identify this and always think about it. Let it consume you.
“Everyone has one main, monster goal. Whether it’s to sell the business someday and retire on an island or to buy your family a dream house, you can use that goal as your top source of motivation,” says Loren Taylor of Soothing Company. “As a business owner, especially, you are going to be faced with challenges and circumstances you never thought you would have to encounter.” When you come face to face with them your big goals will often give you the push you need to tackle them.
A vision board is something many successful people use. They place all of their goals, visually on it, and display it where they are constantly looking at it. This way you are always constantly reminded of why you are working so hard.
Make sure you are “feeding” your body the right supplements.
Mental focus can easily be challenged and interrupted on a regular basis. You have to be feeding your body the right foods to have maximum focus. “As a busy professional, you might not be consuming everything you need to operate at a fully focused level,” says Darryl Howard, whose website explains how to monetize a blog. “You should fill in the voids by taking supplements.” There are several multi-vitamin blends as well as those that are formulated specifically for mental clarity.
You always want to consult your doctor before taking anything, but there are a lot of over the counter options that are available at your local grocery store that you can add to your daily diet that will have a positive impact on your focus.
Relocate your work area and change up your work station.
It’s hard to focus on what needs to be done if you are working in an area that is filled with distractions. A lot of companies are switching to an open floor plan, but some situations require quiet and distraction free work spaces.
“If you need a quiet office, then do it, even if the rest of the company is working in an open environment,” suggests Pedro Del Nero of Vaporizer Vendor. If you work from home then make sure you have a dedicated home office that is quiet. If you are currently working in a room that is open to all, make a switch. The environment in where you work directly impacts your focus, so do what it takes to give yourself the best environment to get stuff done.