When you start a business you will get pulled in different directions. It’s the nature of how it happens.
The goal is to stay hyper focussed which is why we always try to do things in small focussed increment. It’s also why you need to ignore what other people think at the start, and even ignore yourself.
One way to do this is to have an ‘on your mind list’.
I know how many thoughts pop into my head each day—or even minute-by-minute. Trying to get anything done, and not get distracted, can be challenging.
To test this out I decided to write down everything that came to my mind during an hour when I wanted to sit and read.
The amount of crap (and some useful thoughts) I wrote down was pretty incredible.
Anything from ‘taxes’ to ‘need to be more active’ to ‘how do I sell more,’ flitted through my mind.
In the end, I recorded 53 separate thoughts in 45 minutes. Extrapolate this by a workday, work week, or an entire life and you can see why we don’t achieve what we want.
This doesn’t even include notifications from my phone. I turned those off a while ago and it helped.
To counteract this I now keep a notebook open in front of me while I am working. Every time I think I have to do something, I pause, accept the thought, then make a note of it.
Awareness of distractions is a start—not acting on every single one is even better.
It also gives you some space from the feeling of ‘I must do this now’. If it is crucial then I will do it, if not I’ll let it cool off for a while and then revisit it when I’m not mid-activity.
Start writing those thoughts down and stay focussed.