Singular Minded

In a world built on distraction, the rare ability to focus on one thing—fully—is what separates motion from progress. In my humble opinion, and from my experience, the ability to be singular minded is one of the key differentiators between high performers and the rest of the crowd…it’s their ability to do better, not necessarily more. Quality versus quantity. I’ve met and worked with some incredibly successful entrepreneurs and business owners, and its very rare to observe one who is checking their phone or emails during meetings. They tend to be where their feet are…and give the task, and everyone in the room, the full respect they deserve.

I don’t believe most people are actually overwhelmed because they have too much to do. I believe they are overwhelmed because they’re just doing too much at once. They are over stimulated. Being overwhelmed is a form of sufferring, it’s actually self-induced and can be mitigated internally. External events may bring it out, but our internal thoughts and mindset can decide what to do with them. It’s why certain people will always be “too busy” and over-worked, regardless of their role or title, and what’s really on their plate. Busyness and crazy is an addiction… just as much as alcohol or drugs are.

I find it easy at times to get activity confused with productivity, especially in a world that seems to promote busyness…but there’s actually a big difference. Staying busy can feel therepeutic as our problems get pushed down, but they’re not going anywhere. It’s just a temporary fix to our problem of not being able to focus on whats most important…and we then create mediocre work. Every time we switch tasks, we pay a price on the quality of our work —lost time, lost energy, lost clarity.

But when we become single-minded:

• We eliminate noise
• We go deeper, not wider
• We can be present
• We find can find creative flow
• We can connect better with others
• We almost always produce better work
• We can find serenity in the chaos, rather than anxiety

Productivity lies in one’s focus, not their busyness. High performers don’t do more, they accomplish more. They’re not sped up by the world around them. High performers and true professionals understand that how they do anything… is how they do everything. There are no small or unimportant tasks, everything deserves its own attention. Its why many believe making ones bed in the morning is so important. Starting each day with a small accomplishment like that creates inertia and sets the tone for the day.

So, pick the one “to do” that matters most today and block your calendar off for it. Give it one hour of your full attention. Shoot, I actually recommend doing that for your entire week ahead…every Sunday evening, block your calendar for the week ahead. If the task is important and will take longer than 30 minutes to complete, than it should go on your calendar. It should get its own undivided attention. Put your phone and email away, or turn off notifications. For many of you, simply getting away from your phone will seem like a monumental task, but its also these same folks who can improve their productivity and mindset the most.

Give it a week and see if you notice a difference in the quality of your work…and your peace of mind!