In order to succeed you have to be able to focus, however some times it can be hard to concentrate and to avoid distractions This short report gives you my top tips to help you focus and to concentrate

1. Focus First
&
Start To LiveA short report on how to focus more and increase your concentration
Richard Butler

2. www.RichardButlerTheSuccessCoach.com
How to improve your concentration
Believe it or not there is no need for coffee to help you concentrate
moving world we live there are too many distractions that can prevent us
from concentrating long enough to get things done.
I have listed below some points on how having more concentration can
bene t you and then I list some of the techniques I use to help me focus
more and concentrate. I also teach these to my coaching clients.
Focus First & Start to Live

3. Tips for improving your concentration
Improved concentration can help you:
Improve your productivity. When you can focus on one thing, and
concentrate on it, you will get the task at hand completed quicker and
more efficiently.
Pay more attention. Paying attention to what people are saying and doing
will make them feel that you are truly interested in them. It will help you
both in your personal life and business life. You will listen more intently,
know what needs to be done, remember things and again become more
productive and efficient.
Feel more at peace. Did you know that research has shown that multi
tasking can actually make you less e ective as you actually slow down.
Trying to do too many things at once can cause you more stress and make
you feel less alert. If you focus on one thing at a time you will be less
stressed and thus more calm!
How to concentrate more:
Don’t divide your focus. Focus only on the present moment, don’t try to
think about anything else. You know the way you are when you are
watching a movie or reading a book, you get so engrossed in it that you
don’t even notice what is going on around you? This is how you should feel
when you are doing a task. I know that you won’t feel overly excited about
some tasks, but you need to nd some positive in the task you are doing.
Place your mind on whatever you’re doing in the present moment.
Focus First & Start to Live

4. Tips for improving your concentration
Remove distracting thoughts. Let’s face it your mind will wander now
and again. That’s normal. Acknowledge that it happens but the most
important thing is be aware that it is happening. Once you are aware that it
happens you can then take action, and stop your mind from wandering.
Then straight away return your focus to the task at hand. You will need to
practice this, and by practising it will get easier.
Meditation. Many people nd that meditation is great for calming a busy
mind. Meditation can be as easy as sitting in a quiet area and just being at
peace with yourself and focusing on what thought only.
Some other top tips:
Keep external distractions to a minimum. I know it happens to me that
I get distracted easily. Why? Probably due to large amounts of technology.
I nd that if I turn o my phone, “hide” my iPad and anything else that can
distract me, I can then focus more. Sometimes when I really need to focus
I will put on music to help block out other distractions. Remember
in today’s connected world there are 1001 things to distract you!
Get interactive with your task. If you are doing a task and are passively
doing it, you will nd that your mind tends to wander. So
consider highlighting a set of notes as you read them, how about taking
notes when watching a marketing or business video/audio.
Focus First & Start to Live

5. Avoiding distractions - some hints and tips
Variation of activities is key. Research has shown that the optimum time
that we can focus on one task is around 40 minutes. So plan out your tasks
in chunks of 40 minutes and then take a break or change task. Sometimes
it can be counter productive to keep on a task for a long time as your
e ectiveness will wear o . I like to vary my marketing tasks with some
blog posting, some blog commenting, some facebook group discussions
etc.
Manage your time. If you try to t in too much in any one day you will nd
that you this is counter productive. You will have so much to do that you
will start to worry and stress that you won’t get it done. It’s better to
maybe take on 4 items a day and get them done, rather than trying to do
10 items and then get them only 40% done.
Look after your body. A healthy mind and body will help you focus and
concentrate more. If you are over tired and lacking sleep your body will not
function at 100% so make sure you sleep well, eat well and then you’ll be
able to work well.
How to quiet your wandering mind
Have you ever had your mind wander from one thing to another? Have you
had a hard time concentrating because your mind is “all over the place”?
When this happens it can be tough to keep focused and get things done.
In this blog post I want to o er some strategies for overcoming wandering
mind syndrome!
There are two parts to this post, as you will see below:
Focus First & Start to Live

6. Avoiding distractions - some hints and tips
Sleep more. If you sleep enough you will not get distracted as much, you
will be more alert, and your thoughts will not turn to how tired, edgy and
annoyed you are. Normally 7 to 8 hours is enough, but it depends on the
person
Reducing Inner Distractions
Watch your posture. It has been shown that your posture will a ect how
you feel so make sure you sit up straight! Yeah they told you that in school
but it’s true! Sit better, don’t slump and you will feel more alert.
Eat properly and exercise. If you are overweight your un t body will also
lead to an un t mind. I always aim to get at least 30 minutes of exercise
each at a very minimum. How do I t this in? I go for a walk at lunch and
try to walk home after work some of the way. Also remember to eat more
fresh fruit and vegetables. Cut out the fast food and fried food. It’s just not
good for you.
Be comfortable. When you sit well you feel better. If you’re
uncomfortable your mind will wander. However this not only applies to
your physiology but also to room temperature, the chair you are sitting on
and the general environment of where you are..
Breathe. The deeper and better you breathe the more oxygen will go to
your brain. This helps you focus and concentrate more. That’s why so
many meditation sessions start off with breathing exercises.
Now that we have looked at reducing the internal distractions let’s look at
reducing the outer distractions.
Focus First & Start to Live

7. Avoiding distractions - some hints and tips
Reducing the Outer Distractions
Reduce your time online. I bet you will believe when I say that studies
have shown that checking email is one of the biggest distractions that can
eat away at our time. Along the same lines would be checking Facebook or
other social media. Make a point of only checking your email a few times a
day, or if you can’t do that reduce it to once an hour. Emails can wait and
so can facebook!
Switch o your phone. When you have to complete a task or do
something important, turn o your phone so you are not distracted by text
message, viber messages, or whatsapp messages. If it’s important people
will contact you by another means or will leave a voice mail.
Reduce the amount of time you watch TV. Like the online time wasting,
TV can help you waste many precious hours as you channel surf from one
channel to the next. Allocate yourself an hour a day for TV and stick to that.
Tell people to leave you alone! Ok sounds rude but what I mean is let
people know when you have something that has to be completed, or
something urgent to do and ask them not to disturb you for X number of
hours. This is particularly important if you work from home.
Clear away clutter. Have a clutter free environment, this helps you focus
more and be less distracted. Work on what needs to be done now and
don’t be distracted by the next project which you have to start tomorrow.
Ok so far so good but what happens if there are distractions that you can’t
control? In this next section I discuss this!
Focus First & Start to Live

8. Avoiding distractions - some hints and tips
How to work with distractions
Focus back on the task at hand. The fact is distractions will happen, be
aware of them and monitor your state so that you can bring your mind
back to focus on what you are doing.
Don’t beat yourself up. Don’t worry if you defocus for a few minutes. Be
thankful that you have become aware of it and then just refocus. Feeling
guilty for getting sidetracked will not help you.
Is there something bugging you? If you have something on your mind
that is nagging you this will keep you distracted. If it is bugging you and
distracting you so much you may need to deal with this issue in order to
help you focus. Don’t overlook those distracting thoughts – deal with
them.
Relax. There may be external distractions such as noise outside or repairs
going on. There’s no point in getting stressed over this. If you can’t focus
during this noise do something that does not require so much
concentration.
Life is full of distractions; however you can nd ways to limit these
distractions or to prevent them altogether. Learn to recognize them and
deal with them accordingly and you will find you become more focused.
Focus First & Start to Live

9. Avoiding distractions - some hints and tips
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Focus First & Start to Live