One of the most frequent complaints I have read on forums and blogs have been from internet marketers who suffer from the inability to focus. "If only I could focus more..." is the general catch-cry. Empathising with this problem is not difficult for me, because I have suffered long and hard with lack of focus. Maybe you might recognise yourself in some of these examples, which used to describe me to a T!
"I'll just check my emails before I start writing these darn articles!"
"I'd better reply to these emails straight away before I start on the articles....hang on, I'll just read the News items before I do that"
"Not much info on the News page...I'll get a coffee then get stuck into replying to these emails, or maybe I should forward those jokes onto my contacts first"
"Darn...it's almost lunchtime and I haven't started the articles..oh well I might as well have lunch now and watch a bit of Days Of Our Lives while I eat"
Does this sound familiar? Maybe the details vary a bit, but I reckon you know what I'm talking about.
One day it finally dawned on me that all of the "hard work?" I was putting in, was getting me absolutely nowhere and with that dawning came the realisation that FOCUS had to be mastered if I was to avoid bankruptcy.
As internet marketers we all have heaps of things to do, like sourcing graphics for the website we are about to build, sourcing info to put on the site, building the site, submitting it, promoting it via press releases, articles, web2.0 submissions, link building and so on.
Without focus, none of these tasks get done. Why then don't we hop straight in and do them? Generally it's because the tasks are HARD, especially for non-techie types like me. Other things can be more appealing. Reading every post on a forum is so much easier and in some weird way it makes one feel that one is actually working! Duh!
So, what helped turn me around?
The first factor that has helped me focus, is deciding to specialise in one form of internet marketing only. In my case it's affiliate marketing. This meant that I had to ignore the adsense sites, the article marketing sites, the niche sites (unless they're related to affiliate marketing) and so on.
The second thing is equally as important.
Every night I make a LIST of all the things that must be done for my IM business the next day. I stick this list on the top of my monitor so that it's the first thing I see when I sit down at the computer.
I put the hardest task first! Why? Because I'll avoid doing it otherwise! Also because once it's done, everything else seems like a breeze, sort of.
Somtimes there's only 1 thing on my list, particularly if the hard task is going to have a learning curve attached to it.
It doesn't matter...so long as that 1 task gets done!
It is important to write the list. Don't just have it in your memory. Write it down and look at it frequently.
I usually find that after a couple of hours, when my neck aches, my back aches and probably my head aches too, that I need a break from the computer. This break must be taken, but be aware that danger lurks here. The temptation to get distracted with household tasks or to watch a bit of TV, is powerful.
For me, the only way I overcome this temptation is to mentally say:- "Does my mind control me or do I control my mind?"
I gain strength from that mental question and can have a relaxing coffee and a good stretch (and maybe a Panadol for the aches) and am able to get back to the job.
I also remind myself that if I was working in a JOB, I wouldn't be able to go off and do housework (not that I'm addicted to housework thank goodness) or watch TV or clear my email account etc., and so I say.."Go girl and get back to making your fortune."
Some days if I feel a bit stressed I modify my focus list and put the less difficult tasks up the top. I figure it's better to get something constructive done, that to be mulling over whatever is stressing me and getting nothing done.
Obviously, there is much more than can be written about the need for, and the way to FOCUS, but I hope these few thoughts help you in some way.
