Assess
After some mulling and thoughtful consideration, you came up with your big picture. You may not know how you’re getting there, but you know what you want. At this point, your focus is already so much better! Rather than sit down and push papers around at work, you’re going to work with purpose because you know that there’s a big goal waiting for you – dependent upon your efforts. Any time you get distracted or derailed from your goals, you can remind yourself of your big picture.
That leads us to step 2, assess. We’re going to move on from the big picture because we established that and transition to the ins and outs of your focus.
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Begin by thinking about your current work processes. Think about how you focus on tasks, how you tackle new assignments, and how long you can work on something without getting distracted. Let’s start by defining your focus. At this point, you may not know if you’re focused or easily distracted. It’s hard to tell!
Signs that you are focused:
- You’re alert and energized throughout the day. You have a spring in your step, and you’re not easily derailed from your alertness.
- You’re able to set goals for yourself.
- You tackle your goals by breaking them into small goals, tackling those, and then working your way up to your big goals (aka, your big picture).
- When you need a break, you take one, but you don’t need to be on a break for too long. You’re able to get back to work and get back on track after breaks.
Signs that you are not focused:
- You often find your mind wandering and drifting to another topic.
- You daydream often.
- You pick up your phone and get distracted by it quickly.
- When someone approaches you and engages you in conversation, you can’t seem to get back on track – or if you do, you find yourself having a hard time with it.
- You can’t keep track of your progress.
Either way, it’s good news. It’s okay if you’re easily distracted; that’s fixable. And if you already have a rock-solid foundation of focus, that’s good news, too!
Assessing your focus is a key part of success. You can always improve your attention, but it’s good to get a baseline before you begin to develop it.
As you assess your focus, look at it from your own perspective. “Assess” has a formal ring to it – it sounds more like an exam than a fun and helpful exercise. It really is the latter of those two, so treat it that way! You’re not assessing to give yourself a pass/fail grade; instead, you’re looking to improve. Check your mindset. If you are dreading this, then you either do not have a task that drives you, or something is stopping you. You should be eager to improve the thing that you want to accomplish.
- Stop and Listen
Begin by listening to yourself. Be in tune with your thoughts, goals, ideas, and questions. Throughout the process, you’re looking to improve what you have going for you right now. Listen to that voice in your head!
Listen to your body and your mind – at all hours of the day. Make a note of things. It helps to have a designated period of assessment so that you can keep track of everything. Look at when you do your work best. Do you exercise best in the morning or at night? Do you prefer to get most of your tedious work out of the way, or do you save it for last? When you’re in a deep dive, how long does it take you to accomplish things? These are the types of things you should be listening to.
Have you ever lost points on an assignment because you forgot to do something?
My assignment checklist can help you remember the details. Check it out! It is FREE!!!!
- Try Something New
The next stage is one of experimentation. Think of listening to yourself as a way to isolate all variables and unknowns. You are able to capture the essence of you – your work ethic, what works for you, and what doesn’t. The second part of assessing is when you mix things up and see what works and what doesn’t.
Now that you know what you like and how you optimize your existing work processes, it’s time to figure out new approaches.
Let’s say you typically stay focused in silence. Mix it up by trying to work with headphones. Take note of how you feel. Did you improve? Was it significantly worse? Try it out with time management. If you usually use simple To Do lists, try a project management tool or a more elaborate list structure. Again, test it out and observe how each change impacts your overall focus and work capabilities.
Now, it’s important to make sure you don’t just aimlessly try anything and everything. You should only be trying things that you genuinely believe will have a positive impact on your focus habits. Take some time beforehand to decide what these “something new” items will be.
Keep notes of what works and what does not. You might want to start a journal for this so you can keep track of what you have tried.
- Learn from Your Failures
In fact, let’s not even call it a failure. These are learning lessons. If you don’t succeed with a particular approach, there’s no need to fret about it or beat yourself up. Chalk it up to a no-go and apply that to lessons down the road. Write about it in that journal I suggested.
As you continue to read this guide, remind yourself not to get overwhelmed. There are lots of suggestions here, and for that reason, you may lose focus just by reading through this! 😊 Don’t let that happen, though. Take each tip as a possible solution for you, a potential step to successful concentration, and only focus on the ones that really work for you. If a step doesn’t work for you, that’s perfectly fine. Move past it and make a note of it that it’s not for you.
Have you ever lost points on an assignment because you forgot to do something?
My assignment checklist can help you remember the details. Check it out! It is FREE!!!!
If you are still reading, I really appreciate that. Thank you. If you found this helpful, please share it and/or make a comment and let me know what resonated with you.
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Valerie