How to Focus on Your Work so That You Have Time To Dream

It’s now winter in South Africa, a time for reflection, raindrops, and focus.

There’s something about the sound of rain that makes us all want to curl up and nap when there is much to be done for our dreams. So much to do, so little time!

The reality is that no matter what time of year it is, those of us who dream big seem to always find ourselves juggling many tasks and worrying about what to work on first.

Life turns into a series of multitasking events where we try to do three things at once, testing one task along with another in the hope that completing our goals will change our lives — NOW!

I don’t know about you, but I always seem to be adding more goals to my list, so it seems like my work is never done.

Being a media designer, a new mother, a wife, and a blogger who writes for several publications, life can get hectic as deadlines hover over my head. Multitasking is my life.

And it takes real focus.

The challenge comes when we understand that in order to focus, we need to get rid of obvious distractions. Distractions like friends who want to chat, an open window, interesting websites, and email all can bring our dream progress to a complete halt.

You might have to turn off the phone for an hour, do your most important work while the baby is napping, or ignore your email inbox, along with closing Facebook and Twitter until the end of the day.

It’s a type of discipline, like meditating, or prayer that you have to be vigilant about in order to see results.

Even though I love what I do and where I am in my life, being so busy does leave me wishing I was 3 people and I could just get everything done at once.

We can complain about all that we do for our dreams, for our families, and for ourselves but we know that in order to thrive in our jobs and our dream lives, we need to adapt the mindset of a positive thinker and focus on our most important tasks. It’s easier said than done, but it is the one thing that sets successful dreamers apart from ordinary people.

I love the acronym by Robert Kiyosaki:

FOCUS stands for:

F ollow

O ne

C ourse

U ntil

S uccessful

My advice is that when you need to focus that you tell yourself something positive like, “I will give myself one hour to work through this, even if I don’t feel like it right now and in an hour I’ll see where I am.”

Focus on one thing at a time and crossing it off a “to-do” list and don’t worry about how far you need to go. Be committed to your dream goal and aim to achieve what you intend to achieve for the day.

My dream task for you this week is to look at ways you can bring yourself back into focus and eliminate distractions so that you have time to work on your dream.

Wishing you all a productive and focus-driven week.

Let me know how you stay focused!

Love, Sue