Focus! It’s good for you.

Somewhat random post.  I saw a quote I’ve long loved attributed to Steve Jobs: “Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do.”  I don’t think I can really improve on that statement. So maybe I can share what I do to stay focused.  For the free-wheeling types out there, this may seem a bit O-C, but it works for me.

I split my focus areas into four categories that I think are important:

1. Work / Professional
2. Family / Home
3. Learning
4. Health and Fitness

These are the categories that I feel are very important.  Feel free to have your own.  Many might add “spiritual”, but I lump that in with Heath and Fitness.

Within each of these categories I create 2-3 goals with some being more important than others.  For example, I’m trying to get into shape for a major bike ride this month.  I’d also like to drop a few pounds, so that’s secondary.

I won’t go into detail on how I deal weekly with the goals, since that’s not the point of this post.  What this does do, is allow me to evaluate new ideas and things I want to do.  If the idea is something already on the list, then I can do something with it.  If not, then I put it on my backlog to address in the future.

I’ve been using this technique for a few years now and it works really well.  It helps me stay focused on a few things I can accomplish, while allowing me the flexibility to change and focus on new things.  Definitely something worth considering if you feel overwhelmed or that you are having problems accomplishing your goals.