18. Productivity Hack for Entrepreneur Moms: Focus Time
Are you tired of feeling like your business dreams are constantly taking a backseat to the demands of motherhood and your day job? What if I told you that with the right strategies, you can make significant progress on your goals, even in the midst of a busy life as a working mom? It all starts with leveraging focus time.
Focus time is all about carving out dedicated, distraction-free blocks in your schedule to work on high-priority, cognitively demanding tasks. By setting clear objectives, eliminating interruptions, and using results-oriented language to define your goals, you can tap into a level of productivity and progress that may surprise you.
Tune in this week to learn how to reclaim your time, energy, and move the needle on those big projects by implementing focus time. You’ll learn the key elements of effective focus sessions, how to overcome common obstacles like mom guilt and the all-or-nothing mindset, and why this strategy is especially powerful for ambitious working moms.
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What You’ll Learn from this Episode:
Why focus time is a game-changer for busy working moms with big business goals.
How to identify potential pockets of time in your schedule for focus sessions.
The key elements of a truly effective focus time block.
Why the language you use to define your focus time tasks can make or break your productivity.
How to overcome common obstacles to implementing focus time, like mom guilt and the all-or-nothing mindset.
Why consistency always trumps perfection when it comes to focus time.
How focus time will help you finally become a finisher on those lingering projects and business ideas.
Listen to the Full Episode:
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Full Episode Transcript:
I know that you’re exhausted, overwhelmed and wondering how on Earth you’ll find the time to make it all happen. And trust me, I’ve been there and I know how frustrating that can be. But the truth is that it’s not always about finding more time. It’s really about maximizing the time you have.
Welcome to How to Quit Your Job: A Mom’s Guide to Creating a Life and Business You Love. It’s a podcast that helps working moms just like you, optimize your time, manage your mind, and start a business that helps you create more freedom, flexibility, and, yes, fun. I’m business and mindset coach Jenna Rykiel. And I offer practical tips to help you ditch the nine-to-five. I have been exactly where you are and I know what it takes to make the transition without trading one form of burnout for another. So, let’s get started.
Hey, mom, friends, welcome back and thanks for listening. I’m sure I’ll be knee deep in newborn right now. As I mentioned in episode 16, I’ve been doing my best to batch these episodes ahead of time so my coaching will live on while I’m focusing on my family. So hopefully all that is going as well as it can go.
Please take some time to rate and review the podcast if you’ve been enjoying it because that’s how more moms will be able to find it as a resource, and more reviews will be fun to come back to and read once I’m back from maternity leave.
Today we’re going to be diving into a game changing strategy that’s going to revolutionize how you approach projects and goals. I know I say that about a lot of the strategies I teach, but this is one that I teach all of my clients in the time management section of the coaching program. If you’re someone who has a ton of open projects, things that you excitedly started but are now lingering in the to-do pile, this strategy will have you truly become a finisher. And I get it, you’ve got a lot going on that is seemingly getting in the way of you making progress on various projects.
You’re probably juggling a demanding corporate job, family responsibilities and trying to find time to spend on that budding business idea that we keep talking about. I know that you’re exhausted, overwhelmed and wondering how on Earth you’ll find the time to make it all happen. And trust me, I’ve been there and I know how frustrating that can be. But the truth is that it’s not always about finding more time, though I give lots of strategies on creating time in episode five. It’s really about maximizing the time you have.
So today I’m going to introduce you to a powerful concept that I call focus time, a strategy that’s going to help you truly reclaim your productivity, super charge your progress and allow you to finally start seeing real results in your business and life. This is a strategy my coach taught me early on, and I am forever grateful to her.
So, by the end of our time together, you’re going to know how to start implementing focus time into your schedule right now. You’re going to learn how to maximize the impact through a very simple shift in language and how to overcome obstacles so you can stay consistent, because I know we’re all trying to be more consistent and life keeps lifing us, so we’ll talk about that as well.
First, let’s start with really understanding what focus time is and its power. Let’s start by thinking about your typical workday and how it looks right now. Your alarm goes off at 6:00am and you’re immediately in mom mode. You’re packing lunches, you’re getting the kids ready for school or daycare. And if you’re like me, you’re trying some new trick or game to get your toddler to brush his teeth and you’re maybe scarfing down a piece of toast as you rush out the door for drop off.
Then it’s straight to the office or back to the home office like me, where you’re constantly switching between tasks, responding to emails, and attending back-to-back meetings. During your lunch break, if you even get one or maybe you’re like me and eat lunch at your desk, a terrible habit that has stayed with me from corporate. So, during your lunch break, you’re trying to squeeze in some work on your side business or maybe just catching up on the morning’s backlog. And after work it’s a whirlwind of picking up kids, making dinner, helping bigger kids with homework or with the toddlers trying to get them to eat a vegetable since they haven’t eaten anything green in two weeks and managing the bedtime routine.
And by the time the house is quiet, I know you’re exhausted, but you force yourself to stay up a little longer to work on your business. I’m sure this sounds familiar. And goodness, you’re not alone if that’s your day, trust me. But I want you to imagine instead the hectic morning is the same with the kids. That’s just life as a mom. But when you finally sit down at your desk, you close all unnecessary tabs on your computer, yes, all 100 of them. You put your phone on ‘do not disturb’. And for the next two hours you’re completely immersed in a single, important task, no distractions, no interruptions, just you and your work.
When you emerge from this focused state, you actually finished the thing you wanted to get done, and you’re amazed at how much you’ve accomplished. That, my friends, is the power of focus time. Focus time is the practice of scheduling regular, uninterrupted blocks of time dedicated to high priority, cognitively demanding tasks. It’s about creating a space where you can bring your full mental capacity to work, that truly moves the needle in your business.
Focus time is more than just setting aside a block in your calendar. It’s a deliberate practice that involves several key elements, all designed to create an environment conducive to deep, meaningful work. The first of those elements is a dedicated time block. At its core, focus time is about carving out a specific non-negotiable block of time in your schedule. Ideally it should be a two hour block, but even an hour can be effective if that’s all you can manage initially. The key is consistency and regularity. So, aim to schedule these blocks at the same time each day or week if possible.
The second is you want a clear objective. And we will talk at length about this a little bit later. But before you begin your focus time, you need to have a clear, specific goal in mind about what you want to accomplish. No more vague intentions like work on my business. Instead, you’re setting concrete objectives, such as write the first draft of my next blog post.
The third thing is a distraction free environment. And this one is so crucial. Focus time means eliminating all potential interruptions, including phone notifications, closing unnecessary browser tabs and really just finding a quiet space where you won’t be disturbed. It might mean putting on noise canceling headphones or even leaving your usual workspace for a change of scenery.
The fourth thing is, during your focus time you commit to working on one task. No multitasking allowed. And I know that us moms are primed to be multitaskers, but in this one to two hour block, I want you to make sure that multitasking is put to the side. The singular focus allows you to dive deep into your work and make significant progress, something that honestly we’re not used to.
The fifth element is that focus time is reserved for high impact tasks that require your full cognitive abilities, all of your brain power. So, this isn’t time for checking emails, scrolling through social media or any daily routine administrative work. You save those for the to-do lists I talked about in episode 12. Save those for other parts of the day.
The sixth thing is preparation. So, to make the most of your focus time, you should prepare in advance, more than 24 hours in advance. Gather all the materials you’ll need. Make sure that you have your glass of water or your cup of tea ready, you’ve already taken a bathroom break. So that when you sit down for your focus time you are ready to focus.
The last thing I want to mention and I’ll talk about this a little bit more in the episode, is boundaries. So, focus time requires setting and maintaining clear boundaries with others. This might mean communicating with your family or colleagues about your unavailability during the times that you are in focused mode. You might even need to put a ‘do not disturb’ sign on your door. By incorporating all of those elements, focus time becomes a powerful tool for productivity and progress.
It’s not just about working harder, it’s about working smarter. You’re creating an environment that allows you to truly tap into your full potential and make significant strides towards your goals. Remember, the power of focus time lies in its ability to cut through the noise of our busy lives and create a space for deep, meaningful work. In a world of constant distractions and multitasking and interruptions, this kind of focused attention is becoming increasingly rare and which makes it increasingly more valuable. By honing your skills in focus time, you’re giving yourself a tremendous advantage both in your current career and in building your business.
Now let’s talk about implementing this awesome strategy into your wildly busy life. I recommend focus time blocks that are ideally two hours long, because it typically takes about 15 to 20 minutes to get focused. So, two hours gives you time to warm up, enter into a bit of a flow state and then ride that wave of productivity for a significant period so you can really get shit done. But I know what you’re thinking, between the job, my kids, meetings, all my other responsibilities, how am I supposed to find two uninterrupted hours?
And don’t worry, I’ve got you covered. I want you to start by looking at your current schedule and identifying potential pockets of time. If you’re a morning person, maybe it’s early in the morning before the rest of the house wakes up. Or if you’re a night owl, maybe it’s in the evening after the kids are in bed. Perhaps you can negotiate with your partner to take the kids for a couple of hours on a weekend. The key is to be creative and flexible.
Maybe there’s a two hour block on Friday that you can open up during your work day where there’s little going on with clients, that you can set aside time to work on your business. If you’re still in corporate, I do want to encourage you to implement focus time, not just for your new business, but for your corporate projects as well. The more efficient you can be at getting projects completed in your corporate role, the more time you’ll have to dedicate to your next business venture, so it’s a win/win.
Once you’ve identified potential times, the next step is to communicate with those around you. This might mean having a conversation with your partner about childcare responsibilities to create space. It might be you talking to your team at work about blocking off certain hours where you won’t be available. Remember, you are not being selfish by carving out this time for yourself. By investing in your personal and professional growth, you’re ultimately becoming a better employee, partner, and parent. You’re modeling important skills like time management and goal setting for your team in the workspace or for your team at home.
Now, one of the biggest challenges to implementing focus time, like we’ve talked about earlier is distractions. So, in our hyper connected world, distractions are everywhere. The ping of that new email, the buzz of a text message, the temptation to quickly check social media. These small interruptions can derail your focus and significantly impact productivity. I know you feel it and it’s not just your imagination. The impact of these distractions is very real.
According to a study by the University of California, Irvine, it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to fully regain your focus after an interruption. That means even a quick glance at your phone or a brief chat with a co-worker can cost you nearly half an hour of productive time. Over the course of a day, these interruptions can add up to a staggering amount of lost productivity. So, it’s really important to create that distraction free environment for your focus time. And do yourself a favor by maybe using noise canceling headphones, turning off notifications.
And like I said before, communicating very clearly with family members or colleagues that you’re unavailable unless it’s a true emergency. And a true emergency, in my opinion, is if blood is involved. True emergencies at work are rare and don’t let anyone tell you differently. This tends to become more obvious once you have kids, I’m sure, and you start to get calls from daycare or school with kid things that absolutely require your attention versus at work, where it’s basically just a client who’s upset, not as big of an emergency.
Okay, now that we’ve talked about how to implement focus time in your schedule, let’s talk about a crucial element that can make or break the effectiveness of these sessions. The language you use to define your tasks. The key to maximizing the impact of your focus time isn’t just about choosing the right tasks, though, that’s part of it, it’s about how you define the tasks on your calendar. Because, yes, I recommend putting these time blocks in your calendar and writing down what you want to accomplish.
When you’re planning your focus time, it’s tempting to use vague language, open-ended language like work on my website, or develop my business plan. But here’s the problem with that approach. It doesn’t give your brain a clear target to aim for. It’s like setting out on a road trip without a specific destination. You might cover a lot of ground, but you won’t necessarily end up where you need to be. Instead, I want you to start using results oriented language to define the focus time tasks.
This means clearly stating the specific outcome you want to achieve by the end of your session. And let me give you a clear example to illustrate this. Instead of writing something like work on my website, you want to try to write something like, write and publish an about me page for my website. Rather than, work on newsletter, try writing, finish next week’s newsletter on burnout and schedule to be sent on Wednesday. Instead of brainstorm content ideas, you might write something like, create an outline for my next three blog posts.
Hopefully you see the difference here. The result oriented versions give you a clear finish line. They tell you exactly what done looks like. And this does two crucial things. First, it gives your brain a specific target to work towards. This clarity helps you get started more quickly and stay focused throughout your session. There’s no ambiguity about what you’re trying to accomplish.
Second, it provides a clear measure of success. So, at the end of your focus time, you know definitively whether you’ve achieved your goal or not. And this sense of accomplishment and completion is incredibly satisfying and motivating, it encourages you to continue the habit.
Now, you might be thinking, but what if I can’t complete the entire task in one focus time session? And that’s okay. The beauty of result oriented language is that it can be applied to any size tasks. If you’re working on a larger project, break it down into smaller achievable results that you can accomplish in a single session. So, for example, if you’re writing an eBook, your focus time task might be complete the outline for Chapter 3 or write the first 1,000 words of Chapter 4. Your focus time block isn’t going to be finish the eBook, unless you’re at the very end of course.
And the key is to define a clear measurable result that you can realistically achieve in the time you have. This approach also helps combat perfectionism, which is another common focus time killer. When you define a clear endpoint for your task, it’s easier to avoid the trap of endless tweaking and adjusting. Once you’ve accomplished the result you’ve set out to accomplish, you give yourself permission to be done, at least for that session. Done is better than perfect. You can always come back and refine your work later, but first you need to have something completed to work with.
So, as you plan your next focus time session, challenge yourself to use result oriented language. Ask yourself, what exactly will I have completed by the end of this session? And you want to be specific, clear and really watch how it transforms your productivity and progress.
Okay, now that we’ve covered the what, why, and how of focus time, let’s address some of the obstacles. Well, at least some of the obstacles that maybe we haven’t mentioned yet. One of the biggest obstacles you might face is the feeling of guilt. As moms, we’re often conditioned to put everyone else’s needs before our own. I talk about this at length in episode 13, Breaking Free from the Cycle of Mom Guilt. So, taking time for ourselves, especially to work on personal goals or a business venture, can trigger feelings of selfishness or neglect sometimes.
And here’s what I want you to remember. By investing in yourself and your dreams, you’re not taking away from your family. You’re setting a powerful example for your children about the importance of pursuing your passions and working towards your goals. You’re showing them what it looks like to be a multifaceted woman who values her roles as both a mother and an individual with her own career aspirations.
Another common obstacle is the all or nothing mindset. So, you might think, if I can’t dedicate two full hours of focus time, there’s no point in trying. And this kind of thinking can really derail your efforts before you even begin. Remember, consistency trumps perfection every day. If you can only manage 30 minutes of focus time on a particularly busy day, that’s still 30 minutes of progress and you wouldn’t have that otherwise.
While I want you to create systems that allow for consistency and a bit of rigidity, we also need to offer grace and realize we need to be flexible and adaptable in order for this thing to work. Some weeks you might be able to stick to your ideal schedule perfectly, other weeks life might throw you a curveball, a sick child or an unexpected family obligation. Instead of abandoning your focus time altogether, I want you to just look for ways to adjust.
Can you swap your usual morning session for an evening one? Can you break your two hour block into two one hour sessions? The key is to maintain the habit. Even if it doesn’t look perfect every single time it’s far better to have a good enough focus time session than no session at all.
Alright, ambitious moms, we’ve covered a lot of ground today. We’ve talked about the power of focus time, how to implement it in your busy, busy schedule, and the game changing impact of using results oriented language. Now, as we step into October and feel that crisp fall air, I want you to think about something. Fall is often seen as a season of change and new beginnings. The kids are back in school, routines are resetting, and there’s a sense of fresh starts in the air. It’s the perfect time to implement this focus time strategy into your life.
Imagine yourself a month from now, the leaves are changing, the holiday season’s approaching. You’ve been consistently practicing focus time, which means carving out those precious hours in your schedule and approaching your tasks with clear results oriented goals. You’re sitting at your desk sipping a warm pumpkin spice latte, if you’re into that kind of thing, and you’re looking at your to-do list. You realize something incredible, that big project that’s been looming over you for months, it’s done. That business idea you’ve been dreaming about, it’s taking shape, becoming more real with each focused session.
This isn’t just a cozy autumn daydream. This really can be your reality because the truth is, you are capable of so much more than you realize. You have the power to make significant progress on your goals even in the midst of a very busy life as a working mom. Focus time isn’t just about getting more done. It’s about truly reclaiming your time, your energy, and making progress on those big goals. It’s about proving to yourself that, yes, you can pursue your passions while still being there for your family.
It’s about setting an example for your children of what it looks like to chase your dreams with determination and purpose, even as the world around us prepares to slow down for winter. So, here’s my challenge to you. Start small, but start today. Look ahead at next week, find one two hour block for your first focus time session. Choose one task, frame it in results oriented language and give it your full, undivided attention when that focus time comes and be ready to blow your own mind with all that you’re able to accomplish.
Until next time, remember that your dreams are worth your focus. Now go out and make them happen one focus block at a time and I’ll see you next week.
Thanks for listening to this week’s episode of How to Quit Your Job: A Mom’s Guide to Creating a Life and Business You Love. If you want to learn more about how I can help you stop making excuses and start making moves, head on over to www.jenna.coach. I’ll see you next week.
Welcome to How to Quit Your Job: A Mom’s Guide to Creating a Life and Business You Love. It’s a podcast that helps working moms just like you, optimize your time, manage your mind, and start a business that helps you create more freedom, flexibility, and, yes, fun. I’m business and mindset coach Jenna Rykiel. And I offer practical tips to help you ditch the nine-to-five. I have been exactly where you are and I know what it takes to make the transition without trading one form of burnout for another. So, let’s get started.
Hey, mom, friends, welcome back and thanks for listening. I’m sure I’ll be knee deep in newborn right now. As I mentioned in episode 16, I’ve been doing my best to batch these episodes ahead of time so my coaching will live on while I’m focusing on my family. So hopefully all that is going as well as it can go.
Please take some time to rate and review the podcast if you’ve been enjoying it because that’s how more moms will be able to find it as a resource, and more reviews will be fun to come back to and read once I’m back from maternity leave.
Today we’re going to be diving into a game changing strategy that’s going to revolutionize how you approach projects and goals. I know I say that about a lot of the strategies I teach, but this is one that I teach all of my clients in the time management section of the coaching program. If you’re someone who has a ton of open projects, things that you excitedly started but are now lingering in the to-do pile, this strategy will have you truly become a finisher. And I get it, you’ve got a lot going on that is seemingly getting in the way of you making progress on various projects.
You’re probably juggling a demanding corporate job, family responsibilities and trying to find time to spend on that budding business idea that we keep talking about. I know that you’re exhausted, overwhelmed and wondering how on Earth you’ll find the time to make it all happen. And trust me, I’ve been there and I know how frustrating that can be. But the truth is that it’s not always about finding more time, though I give lots of strategies on creating time in episode five. It’s really about maximizing the time you have.
So today I’m going to introduce you to a powerful concept that I call focus time, a strategy that’s going to help you truly reclaim your productivity, super charge your progress and allow you to finally start seeing real results in your business and life. This is a strategy my coach taught me early on, and I am forever grateful to her.
So, by the end of our time together, you’re going to know how to start implementing focus time into your schedule right now. You’re going to learn how to maximize the impact through a very simple shift in language and how to overcome obstacles so you can stay consistent, because I know we’re all trying to be more consistent and life keeps lifing us, so we’ll talk about that as well.
First, let’s start with really understanding what focus time is and its power. Let’s start by thinking about your typical workday and how it looks right now. Your alarm goes off at 6:00am and you’re immediately in mom mode. You’re packing lunches, you’re getting the kids ready for school or daycare. And if you’re like me, you’re trying some new trick or game to get your toddler to brush his teeth and you’re maybe scarfing down a piece of toast as you rush out the door for drop off.
Then it’s straight to the office or back to the home office like me, where you’re constantly switching between tasks, responding to emails, and attending back-to-back meetings. During your lunch break, if you even get one or maybe you’re like me and eat lunch at your desk, a terrible habit that has stayed with me from corporate. So, during your lunch break, you’re trying to squeeze in some work on your side business or maybe just catching up on the morning’s backlog. And after work it’s a whirlwind of picking up kids, making dinner, helping bigger kids with homework or with the toddlers trying to get them to eat a vegetable since they haven’t eaten anything green in two weeks and managing the bedtime routine.
And by the time the house is quiet, I know you’re exhausted, but you force yourself to stay up a little longer to work on your business. I’m sure this sounds familiar. And goodness, you’re not alone if that’s your day, trust me. But I want you to imagine instead the hectic morning is the same with the kids. That’s just life as a mom. But when you finally sit down at your desk, you close all unnecessary tabs on your computer, yes, all 100 of them. You put your phone on ‘do not disturb’. And for the next two hours you’re completely immersed in a single, important task, no distractions, no interruptions, just you and your work.
When you emerge from this focused state, you actually finished the thing you wanted to get done, and you’re amazed at how much you’ve accomplished. That, my friends, is the power of focus time. Focus time is the practice of scheduling regular, uninterrupted blocks of time dedicated to high priority, cognitively demanding tasks. It’s about creating a space where you can bring your full mental capacity to work, that truly moves the needle in your business.
Focus time is more than just setting aside a block in your calendar. It’s a deliberate practice that involves several key elements, all designed to create an environment conducive to deep, meaningful work. The first of those elements is a dedicated time block. At its core, focus time is about carving out a specific non-negotiable block of time in your schedule. Ideally it should be a two hour block, but even an hour can be effective if that’s all you can manage initially. The key is consistency and regularity. So, aim to schedule these blocks at the same time each day or week if possible.
The second is you want a clear objective. And we will talk at length about this a little bit later. But before you begin your focus time, you need to have a clear, specific goal in mind about what you want to accomplish. No more vague intentions like work on my business. Instead, you’re setting concrete objectives, such as write the first draft of my next blog post.
The third thing is a distraction free environment. And this one is so crucial. Focus time means eliminating all potential interruptions, including phone notifications, closing unnecessary browser tabs and really just finding a quiet space where you won’t be disturbed. It might mean putting on noise canceling headphones or even leaving your usual workspace for a change of scenery.
The fourth thing is, during your focus time you commit to working on one task. No multitasking allowed. And I know that us moms are primed to be multitaskers, but in this one to two hour block, I want you to make sure that multitasking is put to the side. The singular focus allows you to dive deep into your work and make significant progress, something that honestly we’re not used to.
The fifth element is that focus time is reserved for high impact tasks that require your full cognitive abilities, all of your brain power. So, this isn’t time for checking emails, scrolling through social media or any daily routine administrative work. You save those for the to-do lists I talked about in episode 12. Save those for other parts of the day.
The sixth thing is preparation. So, to make the most of your focus time, you should prepare in advance, more than 24 hours in advance. Gather all the materials you’ll need. Make sure that you have your glass of water or your cup of tea ready, you’ve already taken a bathroom break. So that when you sit down for your focus time you are ready to focus.
The last thing I want to mention and I’ll talk about this a little bit more in the episode, is boundaries. So, focus time requires setting and maintaining clear boundaries with others. This might mean communicating with your family or colleagues about your unavailability during the times that you are in focused mode. You might even need to put a ‘do not disturb’ sign on your door. By incorporating all of those elements, focus time becomes a powerful tool for productivity and progress.
It’s not just about working harder, it’s about working smarter. You’re creating an environment that allows you to truly tap into your full potential and make significant strides towards your goals. Remember, the power of focus time lies in its ability to cut through the noise of our busy lives and create a space for deep, meaningful work. In a world of constant distractions and multitasking and interruptions, this kind of focused attention is becoming increasingly rare and which makes it increasingly more valuable. By honing your skills in focus time, you’re giving yourself a tremendous advantage both in your current career and in building your business.
Now let’s talk about implementing this awesome strategy into your wildly busy life. I recommend focus time blocks that are ideally two hours long, because it typically takes about 15 to 20 minutes to get focused. So, two hours gives you time to warm up, enter into a bit of a flow state and then ride that wave of productivity for a significant period so you can really get shit done. But I know what you’re thinking, between the job, my kids, meetings, all my other responsibilities, how am I supposed to find two uninterrupted hours?
And don’t worry, I’ve got you covered. I want you to start by looking at your current schedule and identifying potential pockets of time. If you’re a morning person, maybe it’s early in the morning before the rest of the house wakes up. Or if you’re a night owl, maybe it’s in the evening after the kids are in bed. Perhaps you can negotiate with your partner to take the kids for a couple of hours on a weekend. The key is to be creative and flexible.
Maybe there’s a two hour block on Friday that you can open up during your work day where there’s little going on with clients, that you can set aside time to work on your business. If you’re still in corporate, I do want to encourage you to implement focus time, not just for your new business, but for your corporate projects as well. The more efficient you can be at getting projects completed in your corporate role, the more time you’ll have to dedicate to your next business venture, so it’s a win/win.
Once you’ve identified potential times, the next step is to communicate with those around you. This might mean having a conversation with your partner about childcare responsibilities to create space. It might be you talking to your team at work about blocking off certain hours where you won’t be available. Remember, you are not being selfish by carving out this time for yourself. By investing in your personal and professional growth, you’re ultimately becoming a better employee, partner, and parent. You’re modeling important skills like time management and goal setting for your team in the workspace or for your team at home.
Now, one of the biggest challenges to implementing focus time, like we’ve talked about earlier is distractions. So, in our hyper connected world, distractions are everywhere. The ping of that new email, the buzz of a text message, the temptation to quickly check social media. These small interruptions can derail your focus and significantly impact productivity. I know you feel it and it’s not just your imagination. The impact of these distractions is very real.
According to a study by the University of California, Irvine, it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to fully regain your focus after an interruption. That means even a quick glance at your phone or a brief chat with a co-worker can cost you nearly half an hour of productive time. Over the course of a day, these interruptions can add up to a staggering amount of lost productivity. So, it’s really important to create that distraction free environment for your focus time. And do yourself a favor by maybe using noise canceling headphones, turning off notifications.
And like I said before, communicating very clearly with family members or colleagues that you’re unavailable unless it’s a true emergency. And a true emergency, in my opinion, is if blood is involved. True emergencies at work are rare and don’t let anyone tell you differently. This tends to become more obvious once you have kids, I’m sure, and you start to get calls from daycare or school with kid things that absolutely require your attention versus at work, where it’s basically just a client who’s upset, not as big of an emergency.
Okay, now that we’ve talked about how to implement focus time in your schedule, let’s talk about a crucial element that can make or break the effectiveness of these sessions. The language you use to define your tasks. The key to maximizing the impact of your focus time isn’t just about choosing the right tasks, though, that’s part of it, it’s about how you define the tasks on your calendar. Because, yes, I recommend putting these time blocks in your calendar and writing down what you want to accomplish.
When you’re planning your focus time, it’s tempting to use vague language, open-ended language like work on my website, or develop my business plan. But here’s the problem with that approach. It doesn’t give your brain a clear target to aim for. It’s like setting out on a road trip without a specific destination. You might cover a lot of ground, but you won’t necessarily end up where you need to be. Instead, I want you to start using results oriented language to define the focus time tasks.
This means clearly stating the specific outcome you want to achieve by the end of your session. And let me give you a clear example to illustrate this. Instead of writing something like work on my website, you want to try to write something like, write and publish an about me page for my website. Rather than, work on newsletter, try writing, finish next week’s newsletter on burnout and schedule to be sent on Wednesday. Instead of brainstorm content ideas, you might write something like, create an outline for my next three blog posts.
Hopefully you see the difference here. The result oriented versions give you a clear finish line. They tell you exactly what done looks like. And this does two crucial things. First, it gives your brain a specific target to work towards. This clarity helps you get started more quickly and stay focused throughout your session. There’s no ambiguity about what you’re trying to accomplish.
Second, it provides a clear measure of success. So, at the end of your focus time, you know definitively whether you’ve achieved your goal or not. And this sense of accomplishment and completion is incredibly satisfying and motivating, it encourages you to continue the habit.
Now, you might be thinking, but what if I can’t complete the entire task in one focus time session? And that’s okay. The beauty of result oriented language is that it can be applied to any size tasks. If you’re working on a larger project, break it down into smaller achievable results that you can accomplish in a single session. So, for example, if you’re writing an eBook, your focus time task might be complete the outline for Chapter 3 or write the first 1,000 words of Chapter 4. Your focus time block isn’t going to be finish the eBook, unless you’re at the very end of course.
And the key is to define a clear measurable result that you can realistically achieve in the time you have. This approach also helps combat perfectionism, which is another common focus time killer. When you define a clear endpoint for your task, it’s easier to avoid the trap of endless tweaking and adjusting. Once you’ve accomplished the result you’ve set out to accomplish, you give yourself permission to be done, at least for that session. Done is better than perfect. You can always come back and refine your work later, but first you need to have something completed to work with.
So, as you plan your next focus time session, challenge yourself to use result oriented language. Ask yourself, what exactly will I have completed by the end of this session? And you want to be specific, clear and really watch how it transforms your productivity and progress.
Okay, now that we’ve covered the what, why, and how of focus time, let’s address some of the obstacles. Well, at least some of the obstacles that maybe we haven’t mentioned yet. One of the biggest obstacles you might face is the feeling of guilt. As moms, we’re often conditioned to put everyone else’s needs before our own. I talk about this at length in episode 13, Breaking Free from the Cycle of Mom Guilt. So, taking time for ourselves, especially to work on personal goals or a business venture, can trigger feelings of selfishness or neglect sometimes.
And here’s what I want you to remember. By investing in yourself and your dreams, you’re not taking away from your family. You’re setting a powerful example for your children about the importance of pursuing your passions and working towards your goals. You’re showing them what it looks like to be a multifaceted woman who values her roles as both a mother and an individual with her own career aspirations.
Another common obstacle is the all or nothing mindset. So, you might think, if I can’t dedicate two full hours of focus time, there’s no point in trying. And this kind of thinking can really derail your efforts before you even begin. Remember, consistency trumps perfection every day. If you can only manage 30 minutes of focus time on a particularly busy day, that’s still 30 minutes of progress and you wouldn’t have that otherwise.
While I want you to create systems that allow for consistency and a bit of rigidity, we also need to offer grace and realize we need to be flexible and adaptable in order for this thing to work. Some weeks you might be able to stick to your ideal schedule perfectly, other weeks life might throw you a curveball, a sick child or an unexpected family obligation. Instead of abandoning your focus time altogether, I want you to just look for ways to adjust.
Can you swap your usual morning session for an evening one? Can you break your two hour block into two one hour sessions? The key is to maintain the habit. Even if it doesn’t look perfect every single time it’s far better to have a good enough focus time session than no session at all.
Alright, ambitious moms, we’ve covered a lot of ground today. We’ve talked about the power of focus time, how to implement it in your busy, busy schedule, and the game changing impact of using results oriented language. Now, as we step into October and feel that crisp fall air, I want you to think about something. Fall is often seen as a season of change and new beginnings. The kids are back in school, routines are resetting, and there’s a sense of fresh starts in the air. It’s the perfect time to implement this focus time strategy into your life.
Imagine yourself a month from now, the leaves are changing, the holiday season’s approaching. You’ve been consistently practicing focus time, which means carving out those precious hours in your schedule and approaching your tasks with clear results oriented goals. You’re sitting at your desk sipping a warm pumpkin spice latte, if you’re into that kind of thing, and you’re looking at your to-do list. You realize something incredible, that big project that’s been looming over you for months, it’s done. That business idea you’ve been dreaming about, it’s taking shape, becoming more real with each focused session.
This isn’t just a cozy autumn daydream. This really can be your reality because the truth is, you are capable of so much more than you realize. You have the power to make significant progress on your goals even in the midst of a very busy life as a working mom. Focus time isn’t just about getting more done. It’s about truly reclaiming your time, your energy, and making progress on those big goals. It’s about proving to yourself that, yes, you can pursue your passions while still being there for your family.
It’s about setting an example for your children of what it looks like to chase your dreams with determination and purpose, even as the world around us prepares to slow down for winter. So, here’s my challenge to you. Start small, but start today. Look ahead at next week, find one two hour block for your first focus time session. Choose one task, frame it in results oriented language and give it your full, undivided attention when that focus time comes and be ready to blow your own mind with all that you’re able to accomplish.
Until next time, remember that your dreams are worth your focus. Now go out and make them happen one focus block at a time and I’ll see you next week.
Thanks for listening to this week’s episode of How to Quit Your Job: A Mom’s Guide to Creating a Life and Business You Love. If you want to learn more about how I can help you stop making excuses and start making moves, head on over to www.jenna.coach. I’ll see you next week.
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