Finding Your Focus & maximizing your personal productivity

Focus...for me that word is synonymous with coffee, soft music playing in the background, and getting things done efficiently! That really works for me. The coffee keeps me alert, the music drowns out background noise and things get done!

That particular style of working won’t work for everyone though. Last week, I had a really interesting conversation with the guys from DineMob, Malcolm Woods and Britt Jones, whose polar opposite work styles complement each other well.

Unlike me, Malcolm’s work style is very straightforward. He throws himself into work in the morning. He doesn’t do well with multitasking, and music is a distraction. He gets most of his work done at night when he is uninterrupted and before he wraps up his day, he writes down everything he didn’t get done so that he can start with that in the morning. Malcolm uses different programs and apps to stay efficient. He is an attack the work head on type of guy. It works well for him, and it’s great!

Britt has the opposite work style. He starts his day off slower, with a workout, meditation, and music. He likes to talk through his day with whoever he’s working with and takes various short breaks that consist of getting up to get water, walking around, and anything to get his mind off of what he’s doing for a short period of time. Britt is most efficient in the morning when his morning routine helps him get ready to get things going. He considers himself old school because he uses good old-fashioned paper and pen and sometimes the memo-pad on his phone to keep himself organized. At the end of the day, he likes to go to bed with a clear mind.

It’s a good idea to find a time that works best for you when your focus is at its best, and you are uninterrupted. For Britt, that time is in the mornings when he is getting his day going and the distractions of the day haven’t gotten to him yet. For Malcolm, it’s at night when all the distractions have subsided. For you, it could be in the middle of the day, when you’ve fallen into your daily rhythm and you’re alert and ready to go!

Whatever your schedule is like, find some time to give full, undivided attention to what you’re doing. That will help you get the most out of your work and your day!