How to Focus to Ensure High Quality

During a conversation with my VA a few months back I asked a question that I kept reflecting on in my own life:

“Did you ever feel like life would never get more complicated…. and then you graduated high school?”

It’s true, right? At one point in our lives the biggest problem was getting a driver’s license or passing history. Then came the stress of college (for most of us), moving, roommates, career choices, finding a job, finding meaning in a job, a family, a mortgage, and on and on. Just when we think things must be calming down soon another challenge is in our path.

There will never be a period of time when we just coast through life for a decade with no trials to face.

Some people shut down and float through life – we entrepreneurs are typically not those people. We tackle challenges head on, learn and grow and love the process (most of the time!). Which leads to a common problem because when we have so many things that need to be done, it can be overwhelming.

If you try to move forward on fifty projects all by yourself the quality will suffer. It’s better to offer one amazing group program than twelve mediocre ones. It’s even better to work with one coach who gets you and your business than five who only understand one piece! I prefer to read 1 well written and reasoned blog post than 7 sloppy, useless ones.

When it comes to providing real quality it can be difficult, leading some to set the task aside and say, “I’ll do that later.”

Instead of trying to get everything done without quality suffering: just move forward on the most important thing and focus.

Focus is a valuable skill in entrepreneurship and there are two action steps that I recommend:

1) Eliminate distractions – by practicing time blocking on a work calendar you can set aside an hour (or three) for the work that you need to get done and make substantial progress. Often by stopping and starting we lose our flow and focus and end up with an outcome that’s below our standards for quality.

2) Get help – Just because you have fifty things to do doesn’t mean you have to do it all yourself. Instead, get the right support for your business, even if it means outsourcing one thing per week until you’re confident in your team and then have plenty of time to refocus your energy and attention on your business.

Life isn’t magically going to get easier so you can just coast along with no worries. But as you face more challenges, get help and get focused on what’s really important instead of chasing the wind.