Focus: What’s your red dot?

If you are getting distracted, are unable to focus on the job at hand and confused about whère to start, Douglas Lang offers these helpful tips to make sure you clear your mind and the clutter.

WATCHING THE US Masters recently on television I was reminded of a story, which has applications for leadership, that came out a number of years ago about a golfer from South Africa, Louis Oosthuizen.

In 2010, Oosthuizen (then relatively unknown) braved some pretty rough weather conditions to win the British Open by a margin of seven shots.

One element that was clearly visible in his approach to the win was the red dot he had marked in pen on his golf glove. This was a ‘trigger’ he looked at before every shot. He used the dot to remind himself of the routine he needed to follow to keep himself focused and ‘ present’, despite everything else that was going on around him.

Oosthuizen’s use of the red dot prompted me to reflect on to the things we could all do a bit more often, to keep us focused on the things that we need to.

The following tips may be helpful if, like most of us, you find yourself getting distracted and unable to focus fully on the job at hand: 1. If your issue is that you have fuzzy or unclear thinking about where to focus, or you don’t know where to begin, it can be helpful to take the simple step of writing down everything that’s going on in your head and that needs to be done. Somehow, just seeing the extent of what needs to be done written down in black and white clears your mind. Having everything down in front of you allows you to do some prioritisation of what you really need to do at this time, and what you’d like to get done. Identify what you really need to do; estimate how long you think it’ll take; add 30 percent ( because things always take longer than we think) and allocate time 2. 3. 4. in your day/ week to do these things. Start with the ‘ must do’ items and when you’ve finished them, go to the ‘ like to do’ items. As well as the tasks that need to be done, you might also want to clear your mind of the other things that can get in the way. For example, are there any difficult conversations you need to have that you’ve been putting off? Are there any unsaid things that need to be said to a member of your staff, a colleague, or perhaps your partner? These kind of ‘ niggles’ will pop up now and again and distract us from the task in hand. So, better to get them out on the table as part of the download described above, decide how important they are, and deal with the ‘ must do’ ones as a priority. Remember to take regular breaks to keep things flowing. Rehydrate; take a quick 10-minute walk, outside if you 5. can; get up and move about. I guarantee that 10 minutes spent in a break will save you a lot more than 10 minutes labouring over the issue; report; presentation. Have a look at improving the environment you are working in. Simply taking 10 minutes to do a tidy up of your desk/office; put the filing away; or creating some new folders for different bits of ‘ work in progress’ can shift the energy and remove some of the negative ‘chi’ that clutter brings with it. Tidy desk; tidy mind!

I encourage you to give one or more of the above ideas a go over the next few days. I’m confident they will help you to become more present and focused on the task at hand. Douglas Lang is the director of Altris Ltd (www.altris.co.nz) specialising in leadership development and coaching.