The road is narrow.

ME: If you only had 2 hours to work today, what activity would you pick?

Kevin (my client): I’d do 30 minutes of sales, 60 minutes of client work, 30 minutes of checking in with the team.

ME: Why?

Kevin (my client): So all the basics get done.

ME: Why are those the basics?

Kevin (my client): Because people paid for our service, so we have to deliver on it. And I’ve got to make sure the team has what they need. Then we’ve got to make sure sales keep coming in.

ME: Ok, now describe to me what you did in the first 2 hours of your day today.

Kevin (my client): *Gulp* Well, today was a little different than most days…

This is an all too common conversation I have with leaders of SIGNIFICANT organizations. No one is immune to getting pulled away from their most important priorities.

• And it’s not because they are not smart.
• And it’s not because they don’t have a plan.
• And it’s not because they aren’t focused.

Quite the opposite.

They are very focused and determined!

So what is the difference between a leader that is consistently staying on task and getting impactful things done EVERY DAY? The right type of focus.

Check out the video here where I show you a quick example:

 

Don’t want to watch the beautiful explanation on video?? Ok, here is the summary.

Make your focus narrow

You need to be very specific with your focus on a daily and weekly basis. It’s the only way that you can KNOW what the right activities to work on are.

Simplify

We are crazy people that think we can conquer the entire world in a week. That’s what makes us amazing and it’s what slows us down a lot of times. Just focus on a couple things.

Don’t Quit

If you only have two focus areas for the week, and they are narrow, why would you quit? Figure out the problem or the solution and keep going!

Here is the beautiful illustration you missed from the video (if you didn’t watch it). Saying you want a better plan for “X” is vague. It lets in all sorts of distractions.

A better focus is “I want a plan to add $50K in topline revenue for “X” service. Now your filter for what to work on is MUCH more specific. It’s the bottom of the filter.

See how this simple shift keeps you working on the tasks that get things done?

That is what impactful, effective people’s days feel like.

It seems a little too easy, right? Surely I can’t just pick a more narrow focus, and everything is fixed? NO, you cannot solve everything this way.

But this IS a great 80/20 tool.

When you are focused on the most important activities, you can then find out what your REAL challenges are. Focus is a self-made challenge. Fix that first.