“That’s been one of my mantras – focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”
Steve Jobs
As business owners we need to handle many different aspects of our business at once so it is often difficult to stay focused. Then add the ever present smartphone with emails, messages and social media alerts. How can we focus with so many distractions?
With all these distractions it is easier now then ever to lose focus on your big business goals. All of sudden 1, 2 or 3 months or even a year has gone by and you stuck in the same place or cycle. Does that sound familiar? It does for many of my clients who pressured to spend time and energy on the “should” versus making a plan and focusing on their business needs.
Are you focused on your major business goals? Are you working towards them daily/weekly? Do you know what they are and have you revisited them lately?
The other part of Steve Jobs’ mantra is Simplicity. This has been one of my biggest lessons recently – Less is More! and I wrote about in a post, which you can read here, Less Is More.
It been a hard lesson but I’m learning how important it is to focus on the 2 or 3 major goals for my business, make time for them, priorities that time so it doesn’t get moved and simplify my approach. 
How do you stay focused? What are you focused on? How do you simplify everything so that you can focus on those few key items that will really make a difference in your business? Please share in the comments below.
I love to see entrepreneurs follow their passions, serve more people and create the lifestyle of their dreams.
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A simple post with a simple focus that packed a powerful punch! Focus is so important. You have to keep the big picture in mind and evaluate the smaller steps that need to happen in order to achieve those big picture goals. In business it is so easy to become distracted by “projects” and “tasks” that do little to propel your vision forward.
Spot on! Keep it simple. It`s easy to get distracted and fall for the dazzle… but really? The bottom line is we like it simple and so does our clients. Simple to understand, commit, implement and get results! 🙂 And thank God for my Google calendar – keeps me focused.
Hi Heather,
Great post! Focus is key to any kind of success that you wish to have no matter what you are doing 🙂 If one does not have focus, then things become overwhelming and that will get you no where!
This is why I always remember to FOCUS ON ONE THING UNTIL I BECOME SUCCESSFUL 🙂
Thanks for sharing your inspiration!
Focus in the age of distractions requires serious discipline, with an intent to get a few simple tasks each day. If these tasks, simple as they are, add-up to a specific goals, then your simple focus leads you to success! Thank you Heather! Great to remember Steve Jobs in such a positive manner. Best 🙂
Boy does this strike a chord – i can make the simplest task so difficult. The ability to focus is such a valuable skill; it’s not particularly difficult, but I think it’s easy to get distracted as we hear how great it is to multi-task. Taking things one task at a time, we can often be much more productive. Thanks for this post!!
Deb – I’m glad it strike a chord, I think it does with many, many people. The funny thing about multi-tasking is that it actually slows us down. We truly can only do one thing at time.
Thanks for contribution to the discussion.
YAY! I just learned a new mantra’ ‘Less is More, Simplify, Focus. I very much relate to what you say about losing focus on your big business goals. The small stuff can so easily get in the way and take up an inordinate amount of time. Before you know it, you’ve lost sight of the bigger picture and feel like you’re spinning top in mud! As I continued reading, a lot of what you say seemed to mirror my life or at least the business aspect of my life!
I will definitely take a leaf out of your book and set time aside for 2 or 3 of my big business goals so they don’t fall off the radar. Thank you Heather for a thought-provoking read that also brought to mind another tried and tested mantra: “Don’t sweat the small stuff’ aka SIMPLIFY! 🙂
Michelle – “Before you know it, you’ve lost sight of the bigger picture and feel like you’re spinning top in mud!” – I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. So many people are spinning in the mud these days with so many distractions. Not focus on their goals and trust their gut.
Less is More, Simplify and Focus are my mantra followed by Be a Finisher!
Thanks for commenting.
I remember hearing somewhere that “life is simple, but we humans make it complicated” and as I continue to observe the world around us, this does resonate for me. We continue to be mesmerized by more and more distractions and 24/7 information coming our way. As human beings how do we sift through it all and trust that whatever we need to know, is exactly what we are drawn to in our day-to-day lives?
As a person who generally has many projects going on at one time, I see how easy it is to lose focus and to remember to breathe and address those things that are most important. Thanks for this post, Heather, as I appreciate the reminder that life really can be simple, if we choose it to be that way!
Beverley – “the reminder that life really can be simple, if we choose it to be that way!” So true, I find the complexity we create so exhausting. I’m still working at simplify things and I so appreciate when I do. Thanks for sharing.
I do spend many hours on my social media because that is my goal, however I have identified my best platforms and stopped grabbing at shiny objects. no more wasted hours watching webinars on topics I will not be doing now. Great post. Simplify and focus.
Roslyn – that is great, knowing your best platforms and stopping the shiny objects syndrome is huge. I’ve learnt as well not to get distracted by free webinars and information. It is great to learn but not at the cost of doing business.
Hi Heather,
I tend to focus on things that matter. I know what you’re saying about distractions. It does take a little bit of disciple and also habit creation. I make it a point to work in short bursts and take a small 10-15 minute break in between. During the time when I take a break, I make it a point to do something that is not “work” related. This way, I can go back to what I was doing with 100% focus. Thanks for sharing!
Nate – Thanks for sharing. That is a great way to create focus and taking a break is so important. I think our society has forgot that.
I am still working on that, Heather. Don’t think I don’t know what I have to do. I just can’t muster the self-discipline to focus on one thing without jumping around to others that appear at that very moment to be as important, but are really just keeping me from getting to my objective for the day.
Rochelle. It is so easy to jump around and lose our focus. You’ve inspired my post for today, Tuesday Jan 7th.
I love that quote Heather. I need to make simplicity my mantra…I am known to over complicate things and often need someone else’s set of eyes to help me simplify.
Rachel – it can be hard to make things simple. Particular become I think our society value complexity over simplicity, that what we learn. If we step back and look at the bottom line we can often surprise ourselves by how simple it can be.
Great Quote and great post, Steve Jobs was one of the most inspiring personality we lost in the last couple of years. Dropping by UBC
Amritt – Steve Job was a great inspiration and it is amazing to think about how he’s accomplishment have changed the way that we interact with each other. Thank you for stopping by.
I focus by assigning tasks to hours. And I try to manage time accordingly. Also keeping time for breaks and social media 🙂
Richa – That is great particularly planning your time for social media. I like the idea of assign task to hours, that a great tip too. Thank you for sharing.