What does having a successful business mean to you? Sales, customer relations, a recognizable name – all of these things are important to your business, as well as your success. But on top of dealing with the every day battles at your company, you’ll likely dealing with another battle.
What is it?
Distractions. Deadly, deadly distractions.
They slaughter your productivity and take you far away from your end goal. Even the most successful individuals still deal with their fair share of distractions.
But you need to make sure you handle these production-killing mistakes correctly, or your focus will be shot, among other things. Being able to develop focus is the key to a successful business. Why? Because you have to be able to focus on the most important blip on your radar.
And that’s your business and its growth. Your business growing and becoming even more successful means you’re growing and becoming more successful.
So how can you make sure you keep your focus sharp and directed toward the right objectives?
Here’s what you need to do to succeed and develop the right mindset:
Revenue is key
There are certain distractions you deal with during the day that can seriously mess with your focus. And when your focus gets all screwy, your profit intake gets all screwy. This is a mistake you literally cannot afford to make, especially on a regular basis. So here’s how you handle it: Steer each and every little thing back to revenue, no matter what. An employee asks you what to do about a certain problem in your company?
Think about revenue and direct the convo toward it. Dealing with a really tough customer? Think about revenue and take action from there. Considering launching a new product? Think about how it’ll contribute to revenue.
Contemplating hiring a new employee for a specific task? Think about how this could add to revenue. Ready to get your business online with a blog and other social media accounts? Ask yourself – will this help our revenue? Do you see a pattern yet? Your focus always needs to be on revenue.
And while you may feel like you’re being greedy, push those feelings of guilt aside. Revenue is the foundation and structure of your business.
When you want to have a successful business on your hands, you need to have revenue. Plain and simple. It’s not so much about getting mass amounts of income and becoming a multi-million are – it’s about keeping your business afloat in its industry. You want to be able to shine in a sea of competitors and revenue will help you do that.
Take the right steps
Think about what it takes to tackle a truly difficult task, goal or achievement. Odds are, in the past, you didn’t just wing it and do the work necessary when you had a free second or two.
You probably buckled down and got to work, pouring everything you have into the projects. And you probably didn’t let anything get in your way – including damaging distractions.
And just about any owner of a business will tell you that building their company was certainly considered a huge achievement. Of course, in this day and age, it can be beyond difficult to stay focused.
We’ve got emails coming in constantly, phones chirping and singing, and the Internet constantly tempting us with new features and technologies, not to mention the usual obstacles that come with owning your own business.
Soooo……. how can you possibly concentrate on important tasks that need your undivided attention? There are a few simple things that you can do that’ll make a surprisingly large impact. Business Insider mentions that a lot of wealthy and successful people generally avoid watching television.
And by avoiding, they mean less than 1 hour of TV per day. Think about it – watching television can turn your brain to mush. It’s such a mindless distraction. Instead, read in your free time or try to get some exercise.
If possible, limit yourself on emails and phone distractions when you’re working on a high priority task. How do you determine if something is high priority, you ask? Give it a rating of importance based on – yep, you guessed it – its revenue.
If a task is a 10, you should have all interruptions safely locked away. Let your employees know you’re involved in something very important and should only be distracted in the event of an emergency. If it’s a 4 or lower task, you can take less extreme measures. 
Get up and moving
We know that not everyone likes to rise with the sun, especially if you’re up late working or getting caught up on life. But there is something to be said about early morning risers – they get a lot more done with their day! To put it simply – get up earlier and you’ll get a lot more accomplished.
Mornings – more specifically, early mornings – should be your power times.
You get into work before anyone else and guess what? No one will be there to distract you. No one will be stopping by your office with questions, blowing up with your email with problems or calling your phone constantly.
This is the time to buckle down and get stuff down while you can. Plus, your brain is well-rested and ready to go for the day. So take advantage of this time while you have it! Whether you want to get into the office an hour before everyone or two, make this your productive time.
Save any tasks that need your sole attention for the early hours. You’ll find yourself getting better results and staying more focused!
Go with the flow
When you’re truly focused and moving along at the speed of light, you are in the zone. What does this mean? This means nothing can stop you. You’re going strong and you plan to stay there.
Now, you can’t just wake up tomorrow morning and think, Okay, I’m going to flow all day. It doesn’t work like that.
If it did, everything would be a lot easier. Instead, take the time to practice developing flow and the three qualities that go along with it: focus, awareness, and of course practice.
You can carve your way to success, too. Make sure you have the following three requirements ready to go:
- You know exactly what you’re working toward
- You will get feedback on the quality of your work right away
- You have both the knowledge and the skill it takes to overcome any challenges that may come your way
Got it? You can definitely make the most of this flow, too. Make sure you’re doing something that you enjoy doing. This could be a challenge or even something you consider important.
Get rid of all your distractions and focus on the work, not how your flow is feeling. A lot of people determine when their “peak time” is in order to make the most of their flow times.
Your peak time is when you’re at your most productive and you’re flowing right through your tasks. Keep a journal and document when you’re at your most productive.
It could be morning, afternoon or in the evening. Then plan your most important tasks for this time. Your flow will come naturally and you’ll provide the best results for these items. 
Grow every day
We know this might sound harder than it seems – but it really isn’t! Focus on getting the right tasks and projects done. A lot of successful people make the mistake of focusing on the amount of things they can get done, rather than the impact or significance of those things.
Your time is truly sacred, so make sure you’re making the best investment with it. And by doing some small thing every day to make your business grow, you’re ensuring the best use of your time.
Take a step back from it all – everything; the calls, the meetings, the emails, everything that goes along with your day-to-day routine.
Now, look at your business from an outsider’s point of view. Are there any hurdles you could move out of your business’s way? How about feedback from customers? Is there a certain product or audience you should be targeting? How can you finally close that tough client?
Ask yourself these questions and make it your goal each day to take a step toward answering it. Develop the mindset that each and every day, you will work toward something.
Even just reading this article has taken you a step in the right direction – you’re willing to do whatever it takes to make your business grow.
Eventually, all the pieces will fall into place and your successes will make it worth all the hard work: you’ll finally be able to land that huge account or you’ll make some awesome changes that’ll completely transform your business.
Either way, every business owner gets his or her Wahoo! moment. And all of this comes with staying dedicated, motivated, but most of all, focused.
