Chat 009 – How to Stay Focused and Get More Done with Peyton Zipoy

It was nice getting Peyton back on the show! We got to discuss focusing which was our follow up episode to the self confidence and organization episode. I know I have a hard time staying focused. Particularly on mundane and unfun tasks such as sorting my mail. So I had Peyton come back on the show and help me with these things.

She provided a lot of good tips and insights which were helpful to me. Here is the video of us chatting.

Highlights From What Peyton Suggested on Staying Focused

We talked about the great benefits of being able to focus on tasks. Whether big or small tasks it can be helpful to stay focused.

You get more done, feel more accomplished and energized to enjoy the more pleasant tasks in life. Which makes you happier! At least I know this is how I feel when I’m more focused and completing tasks off of my to do list.

Peyton brought up some helpful tips on focusing which include:

Creating Checklists to Focus Your Energy and Get More Done

I actually used the checklist I have on my dry erase board to help me get this post done. The last few days my brain has been all over but coming back to my checklist helped me. Peyton suggested making a checklist and then prioritizing your checklist from “most important” to “least important”.

Something like scheduling your doctor or dentist appointment is a great example of an important task. But it’s also one that is easy to push off to a later date because you may not want to actually complete the task. I know I tend to push off dentist and doctor appointments.

However, when I have those at the top of my priority list, I’ve noticed that I complete them and therefor have a healthier and happier long term life.

Tips on Completing Mundane House Chores

One of the house tasks I struggle with is sorting my mail. I’m not sure why I have problems completing this task but I do.

Peyton suggested for me to complete tasks such as these the moment I am faced with them. My tendancy is to set aside the mail for later. What really happens is I set it aside and build it up like a Jenga tower while I distract myself with some fun family games.

This is one of those “easier said than done” solutions. Though Peyton has great confidence that you can train your brain to finish a task such as sorting the mail the moment you get the mail. It’s just like lifting weights and getting stronger.

The task may be difficult to do the first time you are faced with it but the more you practice, the easier it will get!

I noticed I tend to do great at doing the dishes the moment I am faced with them. So if I can do that with the dishes, then I surely can retrain my brain to also do that with the mail.

What Happens When You Focus More and Follow Your Own Path in Life

We also talked a bit about how I have been able to focus on my life goals more efficiently over the last 10 or so months.

I decided that I wanted to help 100,000+ people in a positive and significant way. That way the average person around me would be better and nicer thus making my life a tad bit happier and more fulfilling.

This isn’t a task that I can likely complete in a day, month or even decade. But it’s a fun and entertaining goal that I believe IS possible with the internet.

Defining my North Star which was to help a large amount of people, it made my short term goals much more easy to define.

Should I create a podcast or continue playing video games 4 hours a day? Is it smart for me to work more on my personal brand (this website) or continue to focus 95% of my energy on my gaming website? Sleep in or get to work on my projects early?

Answering these type of everyday questions became much more easy for me now that I had a life goal set. It allowed me to know what to spend my time and energy on. I was able to be happier with the decisions I made about my free time and work life balance knowing what my main goal was.

Not long after defining this goal was I able to follow my own path and set out creating content that had the ability to help more people. And while I may never reach my goal of helping 100k+ people in a positive and significant way, I will at least enjoy “die trying”.

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