You are an entrepreneur because your mind works differently than most people’s. You think about new ways of doing things, instead of how it has always been done.

With so many ideas, sometimes the outcome is that you can’t stay focused long enough on one thing.

The result is that most entrepreneurs suffer from FDD (Focus Deficit Disorder).

Productivity is not about the amount of time you spend working but about your ability to complete tasks consistently and effectively. If you lack focus, you may spend twice as many hours doing a job you could do in a much shorter period.

Here are 10 ideas how to stay focused on what’s important:

1. “Show Me The Money”

Each time you’re about to make a decision, ask yourself, “Where is the money?” Keep your business lean and focused by always keeping revenue present in your mind when making decisions.

2. Prioritize

If you’re suffering from FDD – you might want to change how you prioritize your tasks. There are many methods you can use to prioritize tasks, including Eat the Frog, the Eisenhower Decision Matrix, the ABCDE Method and Chunking. Using any of these, helps you focus your time on the most important things.

3. Just Say ‘No’

Some people are afraid to say ‘no’ even when they have too much on their plate. When you say ‘yes’ to avoid disappointing others then you might let things fall through the cracks, get sick or have a breakdown. Develop a realistic sense of your capacity, and don’t go past your limit.

4. Streamline Tasks

Streamlining tasks helps you stay focused and avoid wasting time. A streamlined task is one that’s done in the easiest possible way. You can optimize each task if you focus on the simplest route from Point A to Point B. You can also streamline your daily to-dos by making sure you’re working on similar tasks at the same time. Need to write a newsletter and a blog post? Do them one right after the other so you don’t have to switch hats and your thinking style.

5. Create a Better To-do List

Create your to-do list so you focus first on important tasks needed to get done, and limit yourself to three to six tasks. Create your to-do list each evening before you leave your desk and make sure it only has the tasks you know you can get done the next day. During your most productive hour, you should do your toughest task.

6. Work Everyday on Your Business 

No matter what day it is, do one thing for your business. Doing at least one thing every day for your business keeps your mind fresh and focused on your business. On a vacation day or weekend, choose a small, quick task that keeps your brain thinking about the business. Then get on with your rest and relaxation. It’s better you work fewer hours but spread them out over seven days instead of five. 

7. Exercise Your Focus Muscle

Like all skills, focus takes practice. Multitasking decreases your focus, productivity, and accuracy and can even make you less intelligent. To increase your ability to focus on one task, start small. Maybe only focus on one task for five or 10 minutes. As that becomes easier, increase the amount of time you focus.

8. Disconnect While You Work

Each time you’re distracted by an email ping or a message coming through on Slack, you need to refocus, which wastes valuable moments of your day. Improve your focus and productivity by disconnecting from your phone, email, and messaging apps while you work.

9. Create Habits and Routines

By reducing the number of decisions you make each day, you can focus on the decisions that are difficult or important for your business. You can easily reduce the number of decisions you make each day by designing your ideal lifestyle and living by a set routine that is comfortable for you. Once your routine is established, you no longer need to decide when to shower, how to dress, what to eat for breakfast, or when you’ll have time to go to the gym.

10. Take Breaks

You can’t focus if you don’t rest. Whether your break is 15-minute meditation after lunch, a walking meeting that takes the place of sitting down in the conference room, going to the gym, or just making sure you’re getting eight hours of sleep every night – you need it.

Now It’s YOUR Turn

For five minutes… come up with as many ideas as you can… how could YOU stay more focused?