Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

What does it mean really? I`m in the middle of school, trying to plan a fledgling business and working towards being promoted at my part time job.

I`ve asked a question similar to this before but I need a bit of a different clarification on what it means to Focus as an Entrepreneur. As I write this I`m listening to a SUN podcast and watching TV.

Now My question is this: I realize that when I focus on anything 100 percent I`m more efficient and the quality of my work is generally better. But in this world of Multitasking when should you as an Entreprenuer try to balance a lot of plates, and when should you just focus on one thing?




-------------------------

Follow the journey of Marvin Hawkins Visual Concepts and Nothing Like It Games at http://gamerdeveloper.blogspot.com/

Most entrepreneurs I know are ADD or ADHD so I`m not sure if I`ve ever really seen true "focus"  Seriously, my husband and his best friend are both very successful entrepreneurs and listening to their conversations are PAINFUL!  I`m a little "all over the map" too, but I can at least finish a sentence.  In my house, "focus" is overrated.  I do wish there were more of it, but that`s just not in the cards over here.  Good luck finding it, and when you figure out how to get it, let me know!!!

On that note... I`m off to take my 2 year old pee pee on the potty as we are on day 2 of commando potty training, I`ve got to get my revisions of my packaging shot over to my graphic designer, I`ve got 2 rental units empty, so I need to list them on CraigsList and I`d really need to my UPC codes done.... 

-------------------------

Leslie
Founder and President
Charmed Life Products LLC
Grill Charms™… The MUST HAVE grilling accessory that is revolutionizing the American Cook-out AND The perfect gift for any occasion!
Grill Charms
                                                                                                    

I think focus, for an entrepreneur, means not starting 12 businesses at once so that you are spread too thin to make any of them a success.

So you pick one thing and stick with it, and sometimes you make choices. I gave up the TV.

For what it`s worth I`m reading  The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz and am finding it a fascinating read.  Good luck!

So what you`re telling me is I`m truly doomed. LOL.

But do you use the strategy of defining one thing that you absolutely must do in a given day?


-------------------------

Follow the journey of Marvin Hawkins Visual Concepts and Nothing Like It Games at http://gamerdeveloper.blogspot.com/

I do have a rough outline of things I`d like to accomplish on any given day, listed in order of priority, but with 2 little ones, and the various other "jobs" I have,  I don`t beat myself up too much if showering doesn`t get checked off...  It does get moved to the top of the list for the next day though

-------------------------

Leslie
Founder and President
Charmed Life Products LLC
Grill Charms™… The MUST HAVE grilling accessory that is revolutionizing the American Cook-out AND The perfect gift for any occasion!
Grill Charms
                                                                                                    

I swear Leslie, I could have written your post! I only have one, but at 18 months - she`s enough!!

I think it`s about putting checks and balances in place for all of your projects to ensure you are making progress on each.  If projects are falling behind, or worse, right off the track you need to prioritze and find a way to either increase your resources or make a cut!

Speaking of a strategy of defining one item to accomplish in a day;  I use the thread "One thing I will accomplish today" that Rich started last summer or fall.  I don`t usually take the highest prioirty item because that stays up on my to do list anyway.  I take one outstanding item that has been pushed back too often on my regular to do list and post it there.  My subconcious tells me that if I don`t complete the item I posted, someone (Rich) will surely bring up the whole; "hey whats your completion rate on your one things?" thing again and I would risk losing the respect of the community if they found out I didn`t do what I said I would.

OKAY---it`s just enough for my brain to say go look at that...than it`s in the fore front of my mind and I must deal with it!  Just mental!  Works though!

Quite simply, I use the tasks application in MS Outlook.  I set reminder times, according to priority, and on hour intervals to pop up and remind me.  It works anywhere since I sync my phone (which has MS Office) and my office computer or across the web to my exchange server.  Every hour I get the highest priority tasks pop up, and yes, I have to sit and snooze tasks for about 10 minutes when I fist get in, but I usually have a good global picture of what type of stuff is outstanding that requires my attention.

It`s taken me a while and I do miss one every now and then, but it`s mainly a habit now to add the new tasks to my outlook.

And, in case the technology dies, I always have my little back journal (a method which I have used religiously since high school) that supplements my memory.

 

It`s actually an interesting question, and speaks directly to how the human mind operates. We have words like focus, attention, concentration, and alert. Then we have words like being conscious or being aware.

I think that at the bottom of the heap is awareness. That`s where our brain indicates something is happening in our senses, and we have some level of capability to articulate internally what that might be.

Being conscious usually means being able to signal in some form of communication to an outside person. It doesn`t have to mean words, but some type of communication of deliberate intent.

When we`re conscious, we have a broad-spectrum awareness of what all is happening around us. It`s like peripheral vision, where we can sort of see everything, but not something specific.

To focus is to heighten awareness on a particular line of thought. It might mean to isolate something in particular in our environment, or to isolate a line of thought or reasoning internally.

When we "attend" to something, we`re focusing. "Attend" gives rise to the word "attention." The attention is in charge of highlighting a particular thing---some specific type of information in our area.

To concentrate means to hold the attention on that particular thing for longer than it would ordinarily take to determine if it`s a threat, an opportunity, if it`s real, or to name it.

Focus is an application of the attention used to isolate the "set" characteristics of something in our awareness.

But as it`s commonly used in modern lingo, "focus" is a poorly designated replacement for "concentration."

We hear examples on the order of, "Stay focused. Don`t get distracted." That distraction is where we lose conscious control of our attention too easily. Some people say that "attention span" is innate or genetic, and can`t be changed. I disagree. Many years of history demonstrate that we can train children to a longer attention span.

It`s odd to me that such things as Attention Deficit Disorder and Lactose Intolerance have appeared only in recent years. I don`t believe ADD is a legitimate "disability." I think it`s a result of poor training and poor understanding of how the "self" takes control of the mental processing going on in the mind.

Staying focused is an exercise in concentration. Avoiding distraction is an exercise in attention.

Um I get it I think?

No wait, you lost me craig.


-------------------------

Follow the journey of Marvin Hawkins Visual Concepts and Nothing Like It Games at http://gamerdeveloper.blogspot.com/