Focus is key to execution. Anyone who has ever had to get ready to go on vacation knows the truth of that statement. It is incredible what you can get done in a short period of time when you have to get it done so that you can leave for vacation!
Our ability to consistently complete predetermined objectives on time is completely dependent on our ability to focus. These predetermined objectives include such things as getting paid every month, delivering candidates to clients in a timely fashion, etc...
That being said, focus does not come naturally. It is a skill that must be acquired through practice. Here are some steps to getting started:
- Become aware of the need - track your time (what you actually do) for seven days. You will be surprised at what ISN'T happening.
- Make a decision to invest time in learning new skills by eliminating distractions (My List: email, in-bound calls, office banter, unplanned or unscheduled opportunities, failure to plan the day before)
- Practice the new skills - by scheduling actual practice sessions (I have suggested 90 min call blocks)
- Make the new skills routine (Keep it up for 7 days and you will see such dramatic results that it will be hard to go back to the old ways)
Acquiring this skill will make your career. But here is a little more motivation for the practice. What is your "practice time" really worth? Assuming that you want to bill $250k this year. That would be my minimum goal for a recruiter since that will get him or her over the $100k mark in commissions. They key to achieving that goal is your ability to focus for three 90 minute practice sessions each day, five days per week. That means that you only have 60 hours per month or 720 hours per year of "practice time." Here's the math: $250k divided by 720 sessions = $347.
So, every day you fail to practice one hour; every call block you miss costs you $347. Every day you fail to focus costs you $1,041. So, go ahead and spend your time responding to inane email, or reading the MSN news page....but know that every hour you lose costs you big time!
Isn't that enough motivation to acquire the skill of focus?
NOTE: In his book, Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everyone Else, Geoff Colvin, demonstrates based on real research that the key to being world class has little to do with talent and everything to do with the right kind of practice (and coaching).
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