Key Elements #5 – The Importance of Focus

Getting a job is different to keeping one and losing a role you've trained hard for is a tough lesson. One importance employment skills is: Focus.

Life is one big interruption no matter what you are trying to do. There's not much you can do about the many distractions that occur around. But being aware of them and not being tempted by distractions is important to attaining your goals and performing on the job.

Here are some tips of getting focus:

1. Remember you are getting paid to do a good job. A quick flash of the next enjoyable thing you are planning on doing with your hard-earned money ought to provide good motivation to power past a distraction.

2. Try to differentiate between good and bad distractions, especially between ones you can control and ones you cannot. If you get a random idea this is a good distraction. Make a note. A bad distraction is persistent and you'll need self control.

3. Humans can be distracting but this is also good especially if your work relies on teams. If it's annoying then you'll need to remove yourself from a space that allows them to distract you, or remind them of the task at hand so they may get back to their work.

4. Stick to your priorities - especially when new ideas are exciting but threaten to put everything else off course. Ask for clarification of what the priority is, as it may involve that new idea, and then move ahead.

VJ Matthew Jenkin