If you focussed on one thing – what would you get done….?

16 Feb

Set the clock, and give yourself just half an hour - what will you get done during that time?

What could you ‘achieve’ that might make a giant difference to your business? To your creative practice? To your income?

If you knew that it might take just a couple of hours a week - would you do this?! Would you focus on just one thing and see the shift that happens?

I wrote about mono-tasking and multi-tasking on my SubStack over here, and in it I mention how when we multi-task what we’re actually doing is ‘task-switching’. Our brain can’t do two tasks at once, even though we feel like we are. What instead actually happens is we do both tasks, but with less attention to them.

Instead of 100% focus on one task, we’re trying to put 50% focus on each task. And yet our brain works in such a way that we can’t allocate the whole 50% to the task, because we always have task one in the back of our head, taking up space. And as we’re quickly switching between both the tasks we’re having to readjust our thinking and our brain, and our approach to the task.

So, that 50% might actually be 45%. Or even less. And when we add a third task to our juggle, the space where we do the switching becomes more scattered. It’s not 3 x 33%, it’s instead maybe 3 x 27% or something like that.

Each task we add actually takes more away from us. So - rather than 100% focus on one task, we’re not even getting 50% focus on two tasks, or 33% focus on three tasks.

And, in my experience, this means we spend sort of the same amount of time trying to do all three tasks over a set period, all at once, instead of each individual task one by one over that same time period.

Right now - as I’m writing this blog post. That’s all I’m doing. I will need to add photos in, and check links - which involves typing that other site into my search bar, and pulling up the link. I’ll need to resize photos, and rename them before I upload them, and format them into the site.

Then I’ll want to write a newsletter to send this to people, so they will be reminded to come and read it. And if Instagram was a focus for this … then I’d need to create a post for that. And schedule for it to go live at some stage.

I’ll also want to format this page, because that’s how my brain works. Things have to look pretty, as well as practical.

I could do some of these tasks at once… and in fact, I used to. But now … now I’m writing this. I will wait until I’ve written all the words for this blog post. Then I will go and get all the links and insert them.

After that, and not at the same time. I’ll go and do the photos. It will take time for them to save, for the internet to let me upload them. Perhaps during that time I’ll pick up my phone and get distracted by something else. This means it’ll take me longer to get back to the photos. So, I’ll sit and wait for the photos to upload.

That will be a lovely little moment to breathe, won’t it.

So - my writing will be more focussed, clearer, more dedicated to what I actually want to say. My brain isn’t scattered, I won’t need to do as much editing and re-writing. And believe me when I say that I’ve tried to write blog posts or newsletters, while also finding and uploading photos, while also cooking dinner, or washing up, or…...

And I know that it takes my brain longer to come back to the focus of each task each time. And it means the quality of my words aren’t as good as they could be.

a computer sits on a wooden desk. there are artworks on the wall, with clocks. Getting things done as an artist and creative

I’ve had a few clients lately who had big shifts when I asked them about their time and what they might be able to get done during that time. The simple asking of the question shifted their mindset about their approach to their day, and the tasks available to them.

When I asked one of my clients how long she had to dedicate to a certain project, I was anticipating that she’d say only 1/2hr a week, but instead… she had a whole day potentially available every week to work on her business.

Separate from her day job, from her other activities, her other needs and wants. A whole day that she could schedule into her calendar to get.stuff.done for the development and growth of her business.

This felt freeing, liberating to think of what could be done in that day.

But in a way of not squeezing in a whole lot of this to do, more in a way of what can we actually intentionally (which we could say strategically if we’re talking the ‘business words’) put into that day, or hour of our time.

What could you get done with the focus and intention of set time? What could happen if you set aside just 30-60 minutes a day, or even an hour a week. And you did nothing else except that thing. You don’t get distracted by messages on your phone, or someone talking in the other room, or needing to ‘just search something’.

I know when I have to leave the house in two hours, and get certain things done - well, I manage to get them done. On that time limit I focus and do the work.

So, what I’d like you to do is look at your diary or calendar. Find that 30 minutes or one hour each day (perhaps stop scrolling or procrastinating, or tidying your fabric cupboards again…). And decide what you want to do.

At the start of each week, write down what you want and need to get done to grow your business this coming week, or month.

Here’s some things you could do in 30 minute time slots for this week:

Take some photos for Instagram, then >
write some words, and then >
schedule (and post) 2-4 Instagram posts. (One process and set-up at a time).
Write your newsletter - yes you can do this in 30 minutes each week. A whole newsletter… no excuses!
Write a blog post - this might take 2 x 30 minutes, depending on the photos, links, etc etc.
Plan for your next workshop or market event - write down what you need to do, and break it into smaller hourly sections.
Find a new supplier for packaging for your products, or apply for wholesale accounts.
Email some new stockists, or even your current stockists to see how they’re going with your stock - don’t wait for them to contact you.
Do your monthly paperwork. Just 1/2 hour each week could be enough to keep on top of it, so you’re not stressing at the end of the quarter or year.

Or perhaps you have one - two hour time slots in a day. This allows a bit more focus, which allows some deeper work:

Start writing that book - 3 x 1 hours a week.. that’s about 150 hours a year. That sounds like a lot of time, doesn’t it.
Watch the training video you’ve been meaning to watch for way too long - set about implementing what you’ve learnt, in small intentional moments of time.
Check the stats of your website, your shop front, your products (what’s selling, what’s not), your newsletter list, your social media - what do these numbers mean, what can you learn from it?
Take photos of your products - spend the whole hour just doing the photos.
Then another whole hour just editing the photos.
Then another whole hour uploading them.

Or what about when you have a whole entire day in your diary… will you spend the day doing little bits of all sorts of things, or will you dedicate a two hour focus period? This is what I do - it’s more effective spending two hours creating a new sales page for my website, than 1/2 an hour here and there. Following through on one whole project during a day means that I’m immersed in the conversation of that work, I’m not missing steps between anything, I’m picking up on little errors as I’m going.

I know at the end of the day that this one thing is done. And I don’t have to come back to it to make little tweaks. And while I might have needed to get four things done, I know that I can create time for those other things another day. I also know that by intensively focussing on one project, one thing that I’m getting better at it, honing the muscle memory of how to do it. That means when I go to do this process again for something else, I don’t need to work it out again.

The deep work of one day helped for the next time, as the process is more embedded into my brain.

Remember - one thing at a time, one process, one creative act.

What will you do with your 30 minutes or one hour each day?

My client?

She got into a routine of writing weekly emails. She spent the first few weeks getting herself set up, and ahead of things. The first whole day we made sure she had her templates ready - all of them. The focus of doing this means that the next times the process is easier. She also set up the systems so that she knows who to send her emails to, and how to do it.

On her first week she even wrote and scheduled some emails that would send while she was on holiday, which is a great thing to do. And something that I teach in my Newsletter Course: The Art and Craft of Emails, as well as help set up when you work with me.

Taking the focus time now helps to streamline things and make them easier for future you.

Newsletters are one of those things that create a direct positive result on your business. Just 30-minutes a week is worth it. The same as social media - just one hour a week can make a difference.

So… what I’d like you to do is look in your diary or your calendar, and find that dedicated one hour each week. Or 30 minutes each day perhaps. And write down what you will do on that day, and that exact time. Make an appointment with yourself, with your website, newsletter, inbox, instagram page…. and DO THE THING.