Keeping razor-sharp focus

ZenHabits is easily one of my top favorite five blogs, and one of my top two for lifehacks.

A recent guest post by Glen Stansberry of LifeDev on keeping focus offers some excellent tips. You could easily design your daily routine around most of the 16 posts. A few highlights to that extent:

Keep a daily “purpose” card. It’s pretty easy to get lost staring at the computer all day long. We’ll find rabbit holes to wonder down (ie. Youtube, Myspace, etc.) if we’re not careful. Having your daily purpose card gives you clarity and a reminder as to what you’re doing today.

I do this to an extent. I have my top 3 most important tasks (MITs) for the day each day. They are prominently displayed on my desktop using a text file and GeekTool.

Plan your day to the T. If you’re finding sporadic periods of laziness throughout the day, it could be because you don’t take enough breaks (see #2), and you don’t have the day mapped out as efficiently as you could. Make sure your list of todos has lots of small, actionable steps that can be done quickly. This will gives a really satisfying feeling when you’re crossing things off your list like crazy.

OK. So “to a T” is a bit of an exaggeration for me. That said, I know my lull times and my productive times. I try to play to those strengths and weaknesses with set times for email, RSS reading, research and other regular tasks. Most of it is driven by my MITs.

Plan the night before. Planning the night before is a great way to really get focused on the next day. “Sleeping” on your tasks and goals for the following day can really help your mind expect what’s going to happen the next day. Essentially, you’re preparing your mind for the following day. Advanced focus.

I’ve just started doing this, mainly because I plan quicker at night than in the morning. When I plan first thing in the morning, I allow myself to get distracted or find myself eager to start a project before my planning is done. The end-result is often either a dysfunctional day or a wasteful day — both due to a lack of planning.

Keep a journal of what you did throughout the day. I like to use a moleskine notebook for my lists just so I can go back and review it every now and again, to see what I’ve done. Knowing how far you’ve come can keep you sharp and motivated to finish.

I use a moleskine notebook as well, but I don’t always journal in it at the end of the day. I sometimes use Journler, and sometimes I use a moleskine. Either way, getting into the habit of reviewing your day in writing is a good way to put your thoughts together and begin the planning process for the next day.

Start the day right. Starting the day with a good breakfast, some quiet time and/or exercise is a great way to set your day up for success. Sounds like a cliche, but it really works.
Clean yourself up. It’s why my track coach in high school made us dress up for big races: you perform the way you feel. And if you feel polished, groomed and ready, you’ll be more likely to be productive. For me this is just taking a shower, brushing my teeth and putting on casual clothing. I used to work all day without taking a shower in my PJ’s, but I never got much stuff done. Let’s be honest here… if you’re dressed really casually, odds are you’ll be working really casually. Just taking the time to clean up a bit before you buckle down for the day is never a bad idea.

These last two go hand-in-hand, in my opinion. If I am not up by 6 a.m, then my day is shot. Likewise, if I’m not dressed when working from home, I do not have the same energy. And sometimes, if I’m bumming it at work, I lack the same energy as if I’m dressed for a meeting. That said, sometimes I much prefer the “bumming”. It comes down to knowing what you have before you and being prepared mentally for it.