How Do You Stay Focused?

by Eric Transue on August 25, 2009

Sorry for the delay in posts…but boy have I been busy.

I fell in to the dreaded trap that seems to get me every time. Lack of focus!

There are so many interesting ways to make money on the Internet that I often get overwhelmed and end up trying to do them all at once. Take it from me…it’s not the best plan of attack. You not only cut your chances of success by not focusing, you also throw sleep out the window….(grabs diet coke)

I want to hear from you. What do you do to maintain your focus? I know I am not the only one with this problem. It seems to be an issue with many of my fellow IMers that I keep in contact with.

For those of you curious as to what the projects are that are causing my brain to wrap around itself here you go

Website flipping, traffic generation, lead generation, affiliate marketing, niche research, keyword research, monetization…you get the picture!

But here is the good news, I have made huge strides in many of the topics above!

I will be posting my results in future posts. Hopefully, you will be able to take some of the information I have discovered and apply it to your site or business.

Be sure to leave a comment with your focus tips. I would love to hear them.

Tagged as: how to focus, stay focused

  • Hey Eric,

    I have been through this situation too, and believe me its pathetic. My lack of focus made me loose some easy money that I could have made, but that's a old story now.

    Generally, I read the motivational blogs and they are really helpful in keeping you going on. To be precise I visit Steve Pavlina's site.
  • Thanks for the reminder on Steve's site. I haven't been there in quite some time but remember reading some great information there.
  • Hi all, I read somewhere about 40-20 rule to be effective. What it said was you plan to work for 60 min without any distractions and then take a break for 20 min.

    In those 40 min you should only do productive tasks which means not even checking mails unless it is part of the project plan. I tried this today and it worked well.

    I did a lot more work then I usually do in 2 hours everyday. Just thought I will post here my experience. You should try it out.
    .-= How to Make Quick Money´s last blog ..Successful Marketing With Micro-Blogging =-.
  • Thanks for sharing this 40-20 method. I definitely agree that a break is needed to clear your head and refocus.
  • Hey Eric,
    I have the exact same problem. I tend to jump around a lot every time a new idea for making money comes about. I have to realign myself. I think of what I read from Anthony Robbins. "Think of a helmsman on a quiet sea, gently guiding his boat towards its destination by coping with thousands of inevitable deviations from its course". I think that is a great image and I just need to keep realigning myself with my waypoint.

    I make mindmaps and sit down a re-list my goals and what things need immediate action to achieve those goals. Anything on my list that can be put off until later, I put off in favor of something that will make me money immediately or will help me reach my goal quicker.

    Thank you for posting this. It has made me realize that it is time for a reevaluation myself. I have been slacking off on my blog, yet my blog is the root of any success I have had thus far.

    Matt
    .-= Matt Wolfe´s last blog ..How To Schedule Posts For Later =-.
  • Thanks for the excellent comment Matt. I like that Tony Robbins image you mentioned. I've read some of his books, but have never listened to his audio courses. Any recommendations?

    I also use mindmaps. Mindmaps are an excellent resource and I highly recommend anybody not using them to look into them.
  • Hey Eric,

    I suffer from this problem as well, and it's something I have to remind myself of daily.

    For me, I concentrate on what puts food on the table first (website flipping and niche sites). I usually try and work on those the better part of the day. After that, I work on the "projects in progress".

    Even if I think the future projects have HUGE potential, I still do the work I know brings consistent cash first and I'm always trying to "increase and scale" what's already working for me.

    Even if you made $100 on something when you'e getting started, it's a good idea to ask yourself how you can multiply that by doing the same thing that made you the first $100 as opposed to looking for other ways to make money.

    Aside from that frame of mind (which is still hard for me sometimes), I also often will shut down Skype, Email, Twitter...hide the phone, unplug the toaster, and whatever else I have to do to kill distractions. :)

    Cheers!
    Jay
  • Thanks for the comment Jay! You do excellent work and are one of the best at what you do.

    You provide a great question to ask yourself... "how you can multiply that by doing the same thing that made you the first $100 as opposed to looking for other ways to make money." So many people try to find new ways to make money when they already have a technique...that if improved upon would provide a much bigger pay off and not as many headaches. :)
  • Eric, I know exactly what you are talking about. I have been there.

    I soon realized that it is this lack of focus on one thing that it stopping me from making money online. All the different interesting ventures eventually would work only if I worked on them one at a time.

    I now do just that. One blog at a time. I make them work by planning the whole week ahead and then simply executing the planned steps every day.

    It seems to work for me.
    .-= Ravi@How to Make Quick Money´s last blog ..Backlinking Strategies that Work =-.
  • Ravi,

    I think I have come to the same conclusion you have "All the different interesting ventures eventually would work only if I worked on them one at a time."

    I like your one blog per week plan, but what do you do about maintenance? Do you just schedule 1 day to go back and do the upkeep on older sites each week?

    Eric
  • Hey Eric, I definitely feel your pain!

    I catch myself feeling very scattered on numerous occasions. But now that I'm very aware of this feeling, I know when to crack down and organize my thoughts and tasks.

    The biggest thing that's helped me it to make a to-do list the night before. Each thing on my list are prioritized from most important tasks to least. And of course, the most important tasks are always those that will produce the most revenue for my business.

    I could keep going with this, but I'll stop for now! ;)

    Try that method out and see if it works!

    Joe
  • Thanks Joe!

    I like the order you prioritize in...highest potential revenue to lowest.

    I'm getting some great replies to this post. I'm going to be combining some of these great tips together and giving them a shot. I will definitely keep everyone updated on how it goes.

    Eric
  • I "just freakin' DO IT" - ie, every morning I write down what I want to accomplish over my free IF journal ( http://tinyurl.com/mkwvsm ) and then parcel out the day as needed.

    IT's tough sometimes, I'll tell you that....but definitely worth while.
    .-= Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach´s last blog ..When your WONDERFUL readers ride to the rescue! =-.
  • Barbara, thanks for the comment!

    I've been creating daily lists as well. It sure feels good to cross things off my list :)
  • I wrote a post in my blog too on focus.
    There are so many distractions when you are working from home, so many in addition to all the alluring offers.
    lately though I have decided to focus and I have done so much. Many times we just want to learn, discover, dream, enjoy but no ACTION and that is the problem.
    Grace
    .-= Grace´s last blog ..Mastermind Group a perfect choice for success =-.
  • I agree Grace...although it is essential to learn, discover and dream, we must take action on those things!
  • Linda
    Focus - difficult problem! The only way that works for me is to have one main project, decide at the start of each day how much of it I have to get done by the end of the day, and dip into all the other stuff when I need a break. As long as you get your set quota for the main project done for each day you can do anything else in between.
  • Thanks Linda,

    I have actually started to implement something very similar to what you describe in your comment. I'll let you know how it goes.

    Thanks,
    Eric
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