11 Ways to Focus and Get More Done with Benji Block

WEBVTT 1 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:13.279 Conversations from the front lines of marketing. This is be to be growth. 2 00:00:16.760 --> 00:00:20.960 Welcome in to be to be growth. I'm your host, Benji Block, 3 00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:27.559 and today I'm going to give away eleven items that I think can help you 4 00:00:28.359 --> 00:00:33.399 stay focused and get more done. We're going to spend about the next ten 5 00:00:33.439 --> 00:00:37.640 minutes or so walking through just eleven really hyper practical things and things I've been 6 00:00:37.640 --> 00:00:41.479 trying that I've been seeing value in, and I'm going as marketing leaders, 7 00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:47.000 I know one of the most important things we can do is stay focused when 8 00:00:47.039 --> 00:00:52.479 we need to stay focused. But how many of you do your phone slack, 9 00:00:52.920 --> 00:01:00.399 Linkedin Instagram, a sauna, click up whatever task management apps you use? 10 00:01:00.840 --> 00:01:03.599 We're being pulled a million different directions, and so if we can learn 11 00:01:03.640 --> 00:01:10.040 to hyper focus, we make ourselves more valuable, and beyond that, just 12 00:01:10.079 --> 00:01:12.519 in the business space, but don't we all want to live a life where 13 00:01:12.599 --> 00:01:19.079 we're able to be here and we're able to be in the now right and 14 00:01:19.159 --> 00:01:23.319 so here's eleven things that you can do to stay focused and get more done. 15 00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:27.439 The first is that I've been living from my calendar. So if there's 16 00:01:27.519 --> 00:01:33.640 something in a sauna that I have a task to do, I have to 17 00:01:34.439 --> 00:01:38.760 put some block of time in my calendar where that task is going to get 18 00:01:38.799 --> 00:01:44.040 done, or it doesn't happen, even if it's in a miscellaneous block of 19 00:01:44.040 --> 00:01:49.640 time where it just says task work. Something that allows me to attach my 20 00:01:49.719 --> 00:01:55.079 tasks to my calendar gives me tremendous peace of mind. And so, in 21 00:01:55.200 --> 00:01:59.640 order to stay focused, I open my calendar on my computer and I look 22 00:01:59.799 --> 00:02:04.239 at my time blocking like go, okay, based on that, this is 23 00:02:04.280 --> 00:02:06.840 what I should be doing right now. I feel good about doing this right 24 00:02:06.840 --> 00:02:10.080 now because I know these other things will get done in another time block and 25 00:02:10.120 --> 00:02:15.919 I can block that stuff out for now. The second one is this hardest 26 00:02:15.960 --> 00:02:21.599 tasks first, and I even heard someone this week going hardest task first right, 27 00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:24.360 like literally one thing. But you could batch this and you can say, 28 00:02:24.360 --> 00:02:28.039 are there two or three things today that I need to get done? 29 00:02:28.080 --> 00:02:31.240 I believe Michael Hiatt he is a big proponent of this, like the big 30 00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:35.800 three, the three things that you're going to do today that would continue your 31 00:02:35.840 --> 00:02:38.080 momentum, would push the ball down the fields, that sort of thing. 32 00:02:38.159 --> 00:02:42.919 What are the hardest task I'm going to do while I have the most mental 33 00:02:42.960 --> 00:02:46.560 stamina, most mental strength, I'm just going to batch that right in the 34 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:49.719 morning, right when I get to work. That's what we're going to tackle. 35 00:02:49.800 --> 00:02:52.080 Is going to give me momentum for the rest of the day. And 36 00:02:52.159 --> 00:02:54.439 if you're like me and as the day goes on you feel that loss of 37 00:02:54.520 --> 00:03:00.400 energy, especially after lunch, like don't wait till then right to tackle those 38 00:03:00.439 --> 00:03:04.319 hardest tasks. You want to stay focused, then focus on the hardest thing 39 00:03:04.319 --> 00:03:07.960 first, when you have the most focused to give. The third one is 40 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:13.919 just a phrase that you can say, and I've been testing this out because 41 00:03:14.199 --> 00:03:19.080 I found that there will be times when I am head down in focused work, 42 00:03:19.319 --> 00:03:23.439 I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing, and then a notification pops 43 00:03:23.520 --> 00:03:28.759 up on my phone and before too long, before I even realize what I'm 44 00:03:28.759 --> 00:03:34.520 doing, I am so distracted. I am down some rabbit hole that I 45 00:03:34.520 --> 00:03:38.400 should have never gone down simply because a notification popped up. And then there's 46 00:03:38.439 --> 00:03:42.840 that moment of realization. How did I get here? How did I go 47 00:03:42.919 --> 00:03:49.000 from focused work to completely derailed and distracted? And we have a tendency internally. 48 00:03:49.759 --> 00:03:53.759 I'll only speak for me here. I have a tendency to go man, 49 00:03:53.759 --> 00:04:00.840 why do I always do this. I'm so distracted and this mental fog 50 00:04:00.960 --> 00:04:04.919 sets in where now I'm I'm thinking about what I've been doing wrong instead of 51 00:04:04.960 --> 00:04:10.479 just getting back to the focused work that I was doing before the distraction. 52 00:04:10.599 --> 00:04:14.560 And so here's the phrase. It's just oops, oh well, oops, 53 00:04:14.560 --> 00:04:17.360 oh well, and I say that out loud to myself, as weird as 54 00:04:17.399 --> 00:04:20.560 that sounds, and I know if you think about it, interacting with someone 55 00:04:20.639 --> 00:04:24.680 or encountering someone saying that, I'd probably be funny. It's like self talk, 56 00:04:24.879 --> 00:04:27.920 but I'm in my house alone. Maybe my dog thinks I'm weird, 57 00:04:27.959 --> 00:04:30.759 but I work from my Home Office right, and so if I get distracted 58 00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:35.160 by the notification, by whatever the Shiny object is at the moment, I 59 00:04:35.160 --> 00:04:40.600 just say oops, oh well and I go back to the task at hand. 60 00:04:40.680 --> 00:04:43.879 It's just this way of relieving me of the guilt that I feel or 61 00:04:43.920 --> 00:04:49.319 the pressure that I feel to always be focused. So first three, recapping 62 00:04:49.319 --> 00:04:54.079 real quick lift from your calendar. Hardest tasks. First say oops, oh 63 00:04:54.120 --> 00:04:58.079 well. Here's the fourth one. A lunchtime walk, as simple as ten 64 00:04:58.120 --> 00:05:02.000 minutes. But if I eat and then I immediately go for a walk afterwards, 65 00:05:02.120 --> 00:05:06.720 it helps my energy level for part of the afternoon. Now, I 66 00:05:06.720 --> 00:05:12.120 got to say that is the hardest time of the day for me to work. 67 00:05:12.160 --> 00:05:15.199 So sometimes I'll put meetings in the afternoon. I try to find creative 68 00:05:15.240 --> 00:05:20.560 ways to keep myself doing things that matter in the afternoon. And it starts 69 00:05:20.600 --> 00:05:27.639 with a lunchtime walk, some time to clear my head. If it's rainy 70 00:05:27.800 --> 00:05:30.319 or the weather's not great on might just go sit on the patio, but 71 00:05:30.399 --> 00:05:34.240 just get some vitamin ded do something slightly different, to walk around, move 72 00:05:34.240 --> 00:05:39.360 around a bit, and that will help me come back in to that focused 73 00:05:39.360 --> 00:05:43.839 work when I'm back from that. Here's the fifth one. Is I schedule, 74 00:05:43.920 --> 00:05:46.279 like I mentioned up top, living for my calendar, but I schedule 75 00:05:46.360 --> 00:05:50.480 now working on my rocks. What are my rocks? If you are familiar 76 00:05:50.560 --> 00:05:56.040 with the EOS system, rocks are something that here at sweet fish we set 77 00:05:56.160 --> 00:06:00.480 quarterly and they tie back to Our our vision and our long term goals. 78 00:06:00.519 --> 00:06:04.519 And then those are, you know, from the executive team down, we're 79 00:06:04.639 --> 00:06:10.519 all doing things that kind of coincide back with that that vision. So for 80 00:06:10.639 --> 00:06:15.319 me I have these times where it's not a specific task per se, but 81 00:06:15.360 --> 00:06:18.360 instead it's more broadly, hey, we have these key goals. You need 82 00:06:18.439 --> 00:06:24.120 to be pushing this quarter. Here's a block of time for you to do 83 00:06:24.160 --> 00:06:28.879 that. For you too, maybe it's just have think time around what are 84 00:06:28.920 --> 00:06:32.800 the processes, procedures, structures that we need in place to execute on this. 85 00:06:33.199 --> 00:06:38.600 Maybe sometimes it's actually building things out or trying things, testing things, 86 00:06:38.680 --> 00:06:43.319 but I schedule rock work, is what I call it, and that way 87 00:06:43.319 --> 00:06:46.879 I know every week I'm pushing the most important goals down the field. Six, 88 00:06:47.839 --> 00:06:51.360 set your workspace. Now, the best example I can give you of 89 00:06:51.399 --> 00:06:55.279 this is not my physical workspace, it's my computer, right. So I 90 00:06:55.319 --> 00:07:00.839 have my my macbook pro, I have my second monitor, and what I 91 00:07:00.879 --> 00:07:04.600 mean by this is when there's a specific task at hand, I know what 92 00:07:04.759 --> 00:07:11.040 needs to be on my laptop monitor, what's on my second monitor. I 93 00:07:11.079 --> 00:07:15.600 know what tabs I need open on chrome. Specifically. Let's talk about batching 94 00:07:15.639 --> 00:07:19.360 my podcast content. I'm coming out with daily episodes, right so if I'm 95 00:07:19.399 --> 00:07:24.319 scheduling that out or I'm doing work on show notes or things like that, 96 00:07:24.519 --> 00:07:29.920 I have a certain sequence of tabs that I will open every single time I 97 00:07:30.160 --> 00:07:32.800 do that task or I'm batching that task, and I can just run through 98 00:07:32.839 --> 00:07:36.800 it. So I set my screens up for success. So nothing else is 99 00:07:36.839 --> 00:07:41.800 open to distract me and I know the exact flow of what websites I have 100 00:07:41.839 --> 00:07:45.680 to visit, of what Apps I have to have open, and that keeps 101 00:07:45.720 --> 00:07:49.800 me on task from the beginning of doing whatever that activity is that I need 102 00:07:49.839 --> 00:07:55.959 to do. Number seven, we have what we call focus hours here, 103 00:07:56.000 --> 00:08:01.160 as we fish every Tuesday from zero to lunch time, and whatever time zone 104 00:08:01.160 --> 00:08:05.519 you're in, this is helpful in that people aren't all over slack that morning, 105 00:08:05.519 --> 00:08:09.560 we're not having bunch of meetings during this time. I know that there 106 00:08:09.639 --> 00:08:16.399 is this for our block weekly that I can rely on where people aren't going 107 00:08:16.439 --> 00:08:20.040 to need me for a bunch of things and I can just do focused work. 108 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:24.600 Maybe you can negotiate that in the organization you're in, or maybe you 109 00:08:24.639 --> 00:08:28.399 can just choose a time block that will work for you. But something like 110 00:08:28.480 --> 00:08:31.480 that, where you're saying I have this amount of time where people know they 111 00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:37.919 can't really just set up meetings or reach out, but I'm doing things that 112 00:08:37.159 --> 00:08:43.720 need to be done. That will help strengthen your focus and will help you 113 00:08:43.759 --> 00:08:48.480 with continued momentum. Okay, some more practical ones here, as we're starting 114 00:08:48.519 --> 00:08:52.039 to get towards the end of our list. Stand after lunch. I mentioned 115 00:08:52.720 --> 00:08:58.360 the warring hours for Benji are after lunch. I want to take an APP 116 00:09:00.120 --> 00:09:03.080 my body wants to be done, and so what do I do? I 117 00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:07.480 stand and I do my work standing. I'll do pre interviews or meetings in 118 00:09:07.480 --> 00:09:11.080 the afternoon, because that's another way to get me interacting with people and get 119 00:09:11.120 --> 00:09:15.559 me not be able to sit and just be in my own little world in 120 00:09:15.600 --> 00:09:20.720 the afternoons. So I stand after lunch and I put meetings after lunch and 121 00:09:20.759 --> 00:09:24.039 in that way again it helps me stay focused on the task in hand. 122 00:09:24.120 --> 00:09:28.120 Number Nine, monitor your water and take try to drink water as soon as 123 00:09:28.120 --> 00:09:31.879 you wake up. Water throughout the day. Count how many water bottles you 124 00:09:31.960 --> 00:09:35.159 drink. Get a water bottle that you like and you can carry with you, 125 00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:41.039 that fits in your backpack, that's easy to carry, and water will 126 00:09:41.080 --> 00:09:46.600 give you energy and once you're making bathroom make pit stops a little more often 127 00:09:46.679 --> 00:09:48.240 at first if you haven't been drinking a lot of water, but once you 128 00:09:48.279 --> 00:09:56.679 get into that regular water and take it will help with lifting mental fog and 129 00:09:56.720 --> 00:10:03.039 you'll notice the ability to lock in a lot easier. Number Ten, set 130 00:10:03.080 --> 00:10:07.080 intentions for tomorrow. As you wrap up, whatever time you wrap up your 131 00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:11.399 work today, just spend the last five minutes, last ten minutes, and 132 00:10:13.320 --> 00:10:16.240 lock in. Look at your calendar, look at your tasks. Is Tomorrow 133 00:10:16.279 --> 00:10:20.240 set up to be a win? Do you know the meetings that you have? 134 00:10:20.759 --> 00:10:24.679 Are you ready for people that are going to need ideas from you and 135 00:10:24.759 --> 00:10:28.080 projects from you? Is Tomorrow set up to be a win? Is there 136 00:10:28.120 --> 00:10:31.480 a couple things you could do in the final ten minutes of work today to 137 00:10:31.519 --> 00:10:35.879 make tomorrow easier on you? Is there a couple tasks you could add to 138 00:10:35.879 --> 00:10:37.639 your task so so you don't forget them or you're not thinking about him tonight, 139 00:10:37.639 --> 00:10:41.440 because now they are living somewhere, they're on your calendar somewhere and you 140 00:10:41.519 --> 00:10:45.799 know that you'll be able to get it done. Set Your intentions for tomorrow. 141 00:10:45.840 --> 00:10:50.200 Final one is ask for help now. The only way for us to 142 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:54.440 continue to stay focused and continue to improve is for as things get added, 143 00:10:54.519 --> 00:11:00.120 other things get taken off. What's on your plate right now that someone else 144 00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:03.279 could do better than you? Have you talked to them about it? Have 145 00:11:03.360 --> 00:11:07.679 you spotlighted that? Have you gone and asked for help? Have you renegotiated 146 00:11:07.720 --> 00:11:11.440 what's in your portfolio so that you're leaning into your strengths and able to focus 147 00:11:11.480 --> 00:11:16.519 on what you feel like is your best assets to the organization and your sweet 148 00:11:16.519 --> 00:11:22.279 spot personally for what you want to continue to build with your one and only 149 00:11:22.320 --> 00:11:26.200 life. Handoff what you can hand off, ask for help, where you 150 00:11:26.240 --> 00:11:30.759 can ask for help, set up meetings and have the conversations that need to 151 00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:33.960 happen so that you can do that. All right, what do we talk 152 00:11:35.039 --> 00:11:39.759 about today? On be tob growth, I believe as marketing leaders, one 153 00:11:39.799 --> 00:11:43.440 of the most crucial things that we can do and one of most crucial things 154 00:11:43.519 --> 00:11:48.080 we can execute on is just being focused in our work. When we need 155 00:11:48.200 --> 00:11:52.360 to be here, we're here, fully present, getting what needs to be 156 00:11:52.399 --> 00:11:56.559 done done, and with that in mind, I gave us eleven things to 157 00:11:56.600 --> 00:12:01.720 help us stay focused and get more done, and I'll read all eleven back 158 00:12:01.759 --> 00:12:05.559 to you now, and you can find all eleven listed in our show notes 159 00:12:05.840 --> 00:12:11.399 for a brief overview as well. Live from your calendar. Do your hardest 160 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:16.559 task first. Say oops, oh well, when you get distracted, go 161 00:12:16.679 --> 00:12:22.919 for a ten to fifteen minute lunchtime walk. Schedule work around your goals so 162 00:12:22.960 --> 00:12:28.799 that you know you're getting the most important things done this quarter. Make sure 163 00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:33.200 it's on your calendar weekly so you're pushing that forward throughout the quarter. Set 164 00:12:33.240 --> 00:12:39.120 your work space so that you can quickly get tasks done and you only have 165 00:12:39.240 --> 00:12:45.840 what's necessary open at a given time. Think about or consider having some focus 166 00:12:45.879 --> 00:12:50.039 to hours where people can't reach you, where meetings don't happen, so that 167 00:12:50.080 --> 00:12:54.600 you have some of that white space on your calendar stand after lunch. That's 168 00:12:54.639 --> 00:13:00.679 a simple one, but just switch up your posture and where you're at in 169 00:13:00.840 --> 00:13:05.240 your office or in your home so that you can gain some energy back and 170 00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:11.720 lock in. Monitor your water intake, set intentions for tomorrow and those last 171 00:13:11.000 --> 00:13:16.039 ten minutes as you wrap up today and hand off things that you can hand 172 00:13:16.039 --> 00:13:20.879 off or ask for help where other people could have input or insight. That 173 00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:26.200 would bring clarity and would help you continue to improve. I hope this episode 174 00:13:26.240 --> 00:13:30.679 was helpful. If it was, I'd love to hear from you over on 175 00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:35.080 Linkedin, always wanting to connect with people about business, about marketing, about 176 00:13:35.080 --> 00:13:39.320 life, maybe of something you would add to this list that you found extremely 177 00:13:39.360 --> 00:13:46.480 helpful as you're looking to focus in and get real deep work done. I'd 178 00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:50.159 love to hear about it reach out at any time. If you're yet to 179 00:13:50.200 --> 00:13:54.799 subscribe to the podcast, do so on whatever your favorite podcast platform is. 180 00:13:54.039 --> 00:13:58.799 We'd appreciate that. 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