A typical day for me consists of waking up, getting a cup of coffee, replying to all of my emails that I received overnight, responding to my fans on Twitter and Facebook, calling my daughter Amber, meeting with my assistant, going over my to do list, 5 conference calls, meeting with my pr and marketing team, researching new trends, reviewing new product samples, working on presentations and preparing for a series of events and let’s not forget my travel schedule! There are so many people that ask me, how do I stay focused when it seems I have so much going on?
Staying focused is a mind game, you have to program your brain to know that what you are doing is more important than anything else! I admit sometimes there are so many distractions throughout out the day that I feel like nothing gets accomplished. So how do you stay focused when you are being pulled in multiple directions? Below are 4 easy ways to help you stay focused.
- Create a daily to do list and plan your day. There’s nothing like having a to do list to help you stay focused. Always start with what is most difficult first and then the rest of your day will be a breeze. When you have a list of things that you need to accomplish in one day and when you have a list to constantly remind you of what needs to get done is a great to keep you on track. Cool tip: If you have a blackberry than add your daily to do to your calendar with an alert and if you own a mac there is a cool app called ‘stickies’ which work as stickie pads and they will automatically appear on your desktop to give you reminders.
- Allocate time slots. My time is critical and so is my schedule. It’s extremely important that I follow my schedule as planed to keep up with all of my conference calls and make sure I don’t get backed up on any of my work. When you play a role in a team where others need to interact with you, focusing can become a challenge. Try allocating time slots they can interrupt you. Instead of having people stop by your office every 10 minutes to ask you questions, give them an exact time of day in where you will be available to and open to be interrupted. Use all of your other times to get some work done.
- Stay organized. One thing my assistant can attest to is that I am extremely organized. I love to keep files, schedules, labels and I definitely can’t stand clutter. Organization is key if you want to stay focused, especially if you want to get ahead in life both personal and professionally. Clean your desk, rearrange your desktop, eliminate clutter, do whatever possible to make your day more efficient and more effective.
- Set deadline. I love setting deadlines, some might say I’m a deadline freak. For instance if you have a specific task that needs to be done by end of the day challenge yourself, set yourself a deadline one hour prior to when it’s due to complete it. This will give you a little leeway in case something unexpected happens and allows more time to tackle on another project.
