What are you focussing on achieving in your business in the next 90 days?

Do you have any idea? If you don't then you better come up with a goal or outcome otherwise you may find that another 3 months has passed you by and you're no further ahead than where you are right now.

When you've got a clear focus, you can easily say 'no' to activities and people who distract you.

Simple things like turning email and mobiles off, closing the door, working elsewhere and only having what you need to on your desk all help to stay focussed, however there's often other areas that take you off track. ..and that you can be completely oblivious to!

One of my new clients told me he gets to his office by 8.30 a.m. each day and rarely gets home by 8.30 p.m.

This had severely impacted on his health and family life. He was stressed to the max and his wife and kids barely see him. He has 'no time' to work on his business which has put a ceiling on his profitability.

Here's some of the reasons why he was 'working' long hours:

John was leaving his office door open all day and he let his team interrupt him constantly. He's a 'nice guy' and doesn't like to say 'no'. He found it was easier to get his work done after everyone else went home.

His family life was very important to him, yet he didn't plan to be home at a specific time... there was no clear focus on his finishing time.

John didn't use a diary to plan his day. He used his telephone to remind him of his appointments and that was all the planning he did!

..and that's just for starters!

So now he is:

• Closing his office door and allocating specific times of the day to be available to his team. He's also arranged for a regular weekly team meeting to improve communications within the office.
  
• John has decided 6.00 p.m. is a reasonable time to be home, so he's now got a clear time focus on when he needs to finish up for the day.
  
• He's bought a diary and structured his working day. John has a plan to follow and just needs to follow his own plan.
  

Making these three simple changes to start with will have a major impact on John's business and life.

It sounds so simple... and it is. Having a structure and clear focus (plus consistent action) will determine how and where you spend your time and the results you achieve.

Make sure the direction you're heading this year is where you want to go!

Got a comment about this article? Share your story with us at our Small Business Blog.

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Lorraine Pirihi, The Productivity Queen is the creator of “The Productivity and Profit System” the complete one-on-one training program for solopreneurs and small businesses. She's a productivity expert, leading business coach, author and speaker with straight-shooter, no-fluff strategies that really work. Lorraine specialises in helping entrepreneurs to organise their time, master their marketing and stay on track with efficient systems so they make much more money and have a life!.

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