How I cured my shiny object syndrome
For years I was the idea guy, the entrepreneur and creative type who constantly jumped from idea to idea.
I believed that success in this world was the result of brilliant moments of inspiration that come in deep thought and brainstorming.
At times, I would come up with what I believed was the next brilliant idea for a creative project or plan to take my career to the next level. Yet, time after time these ideas floated away after weeks of excitement never to be heard of again.
I was full of ideas, but a failure in terms of execution.
I had what many creative’s and entrepreneurs call shiny object syndrome. I jumped from shiny object to shiny object, focused on whatever caught my eye at the current moment.
I struggled and could not focus for the life of me, and this lack of focus slowly became self destructive holding me back from achieving my goals and ambitions in life.
The first step to curing the shiny object syndrome was admitting that I had a problem…
Researching the cure
I began diving through book after book on goal setting, focus and productivity looking for the solution that would help me focus and stay on track. After reading countless books on these topics, I began to see a trend emerge.
The greatest creators, artists and entrepreneurs of all time were not great because of divine moments of inspiration. Instead those creators were great because they were organized, focused and regularly committed to improving their craft.
Scott Belsky explains this perfectly in his book ‘Making Ideas Happen’.
Creativity X Organization = Impact
We all know these people, the outrageously creative and brilliant minds who can’t seem to organize their life, and that lack of organization holds them back.
While they may be at the top of the scale on creativity, their lack of organization stops them from really making an impact with their work.
I was a walking example of this problem. With no organization to focus my efforts, my creativity and ideas ran rampant.
I was making zero impact...
The cure for my shiny object syndrome
The Focus Sheet next to my computer during a regular workday
After reading book after book, and being overwhelmed with productivity idea and ‘hacks’, I finally built a simple technique that forced me to focus.
I call it The Focus Sheet and I use it every single day to organize my life and my goals.
This sheet has given me the ability to work remotely and travel the world.
It has given me the focus to build a blog of loyal followers over the past four months.
It has given me the focus to write my first book.
This sheet is not totally original; instead it combines many of the ideas and brilliant breakthroughs of the great authors that came before me.
This sheet enables you to keep your quarterly, monthly and weekly goals top of mind with your daily to-do list.
It gives you accountability to constantly check back in and make sure that the work you are doing is actually moving you toward your goals.
The Focus Sheet Overview
The purpose of the sheet: To help you stay focused on your goals, both personal and professional.
What you need:
The Focus Sheet – You can download The Focus Sheet here, or you can draw it on a blank piece of paper
Post it notes
Pen
A list of your Quarterly Goals
How it works:
The Focus Sheet works by giving you one central location to manage your day-to-day tasks as well as store your quarterly, monthly and weekly goals.
This is a place to store both your personal and professional goals. Do not separate the two on different sheets, instead keep them all in one single location.
The problem many people face is they separate their goals from their daily productivity tools. This causes them to consistently push their goals aside and become reactive to their environment.
The Focus Sheet teaches you to become proactive and stay focused on your goals.
The Focus Sheet Consists of 6 areas:
Quarterly Goals
Monthly Targets
Weekly Objectives
Todays Tasks
Tomorrows Tasks
Someday/Maybe List
This sheet is a combination of written goals, and post it notes containing your monthly, weekly and daily goals.
Below you will see an example of a blank Focus Sheet that you can print out, and a second one with instructions on how to use it. If you don't want to print this out, you can simply draw it on a blank piece of paper.
I challenge you to try this out.
This technique completely changed my life and gave me the ability to focus and achieve my goals.
I know it can do the same for you.
The Focus Sheet - Front
The Focus Sheet - Back
The Focus Sheet - Instrucitons Front
The Focus Sheet - Instructions Back
How to make The Focus Sheet work for you
The Focus Sheet is not a worksheet that you are going to fill out once, and then file away to never think about again.
This is a tool that you are going to use every single day to become more productive and work toward accomplishing your dreams and ambitions.
This tool will sit right in front of you on your desk as part of your daily workflow. Capturing everything from the simple tasks of the laundry that needs to be done, to the more complex projects of writing a book, hitting your sales goal or remembering your partners anniversary.
In order for this tool to be effective, you have to embrace it and implement it into your daily life.
Learn the art of follow through & achieve your goals
In my book The Focused Creator, I explain The Focus Sheet in more detail as well as other methods and techniques to follow through & achieve your goals.