2 Simple Tools To Stay Focused

Posted In Mindset and Productivity | 7 comments

One of the hardest things for me is to stay “on task” and focused on ONE THING.

Not sure if you can relate to this, but I suffer from Internet Marketing A.D.D…. BIG TIME. Seriously, I’ll go from my email, to facebook, to writing my stuff, to email, to SMS, to… you get the idea.

So, I’m constantly searching for better ways to get things done. And I figured I’d share with you some tools I use to keep on track, particularly when I’m in the “product creation” or “blog post writing” mode.

So, let’s start with Exhibit A:

I don’t use my blog posting mechanism to write my post… nor do I use it to write most of the content for my reports. Using my web browser to login to my WordPress blog or opening up MS Word to write is asking for trouble…

Instead I use a simple tool called Dark Room (on my PC) or Write Room (on my Mac and iPad). (Note: dark room is a free software for the PC. Write Room is $24.99 for your Mac OS and $4.95 for iPhone / iPad).

Dark / Write Room is a minimalist text editor that offers a “distraction free writing environment”.

Here’s what the writing environment looks like:

You can see it’s pretty sparse… by the way, it will not allow you to add images or do any other “fancy” things (you’ll have to do that in Word).

The cool thing about this software is that it allows you to fill the entire screen so your entire desktop “disappears”… all you see is a black screen and the ‘retro’ looking green fonts.

Couple that with exhibit #2 and you’re well on your way to getting things done a lot faster:

 

Exhibit B:

I spoke about this in the newsletter entry on the pomodoro technique (check out the post for details on
this). This is the single coolest time management / anti-A.D.D. tool that I know of. And the best part is, it’s free… and it’s simple to use.

In short, the technique involves focused action in 25 minute intervals with a 5 minute rest period between each session.

I actually use a little app on my iphone as my timer (see the image on the right).

If you have a regular kitchen timer, that works too!

Another cool tool I learned about recently was the Chromodoro extension for Google Chrome. This only works if you use Google Chrome as your default browser… but it adds a timer right on your browser.

If you’re using Firefox, you can also use the Simple Timer add-on, which works in a similar fashion.

I personally prefer the iphone app / kitchen timer, simply because I use Dark Room to write my content… which means my browser is closed.

If you have trouble staying focused, I highly recommend you try these tools out for size.

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Leave A Reply (7 comments So Far)

  • http://commercialtreadmill.org/ Nancy

    Thanks for the share!
    Nancy.R

  • http://arindamchakraborty.com Arindam Chakraborty

    EDIT: I meant, regarding the timer tool.

  • http://arindamchakraborty.com Arindam Chakraborty

    I do have FF but it crashes a lot :( I was wondering if there is a desktop tool / timer tool that can do the same job? :)

    • Steven

      Yes. It’s called an “egg timer”. :)

  • http://businesscreditworkshop.me Joe

    I can definitely relate to getting distracted with emails, forum posts, txt messages and even opening multiple tabs on firefox! I get on one task and then get distracted from another. Fortunately, I am stubborn enough to usually not shut down the PC until the job gets done though.

    I always make TO-DO lists when working on my blogs and doing internet marketing. I have a notepad by my desk and use the good old fashioned check off system. I make sure to get the tasks done that are going to generate revenue and traffic to the site and when an idea pops in my head (that would normally take me off task), I jot it down on notepad and save it to my desktop as an ideas document.

    Recently (about 5 minutes ago), I discovered todo.ly its a free to do list tool that is simple to use. I already setup a few tasks and find it to be feature-rich, yet straght-forward. There’s no ads either, so the eye doesn’t wonder as much. So I’ll be using this new system to manage the projects on each site that we have.

    • Steven

      Thanks for sharing. I had not heard of todo.ly before, so I’ll definitely check it out.

      I use a to do list as well. And I re-arrange the to-do list every single day… plus my white board has a list of the day-to-day “must remember” list of stuff I need to take care of (that doesn’t change on a daily basis).

  • http://quickcashsystem.org Martha Mayo

    Hi Steven,

    This post is so “on target” for me. Another A.D.D. person here!

    Thanks for the heads up on Write Room. I just purchased a Mac laptop and this will be perfect addon.

    Your “putting blinders on” and “time” tips are incredibly valuable.

    You rock!

    Martha

Steven
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