We've all been there, stressed to the max because we have what seems like a hundred fantastic ideas in our heads but only what feels like a few minutes to work on them. They are all great and would help grow your business, but it can be overwhelming. But how do you narrow in on "the one"? How do you keep from being distracted from the mundane tasks that have to be done to keep the lights on? How do you sift through all of the clutter and find your focus?

The Mind Dump

I have an exercise that we are going to do together. Get out a blank sheet of paper and pen. Are you ready yet? We are going to do a mind dump. By getting rid of the clutter in our minds, we will set up an excellent canvas for creating our future masterpiece. So start writing, just write, every idea that you have about your business, anything in your personal life that you need to remember, just get it all onto paper. I'm gonna give you a few minutes to get this part done.

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The Sorting Hat

Okay, that wasn't so bad, was it? If you are a very visual person, you might want to break out the highlighters or grab another sheet of paper. We are going to sort this crazy mess of scribbles on paper. (If you managed to write all of this without perfect penmanship, I am jealous, my mind dumps look terrible!) Let's get to sorting; business and personal is a good place to start. Both of these will no doubt be able to be broken down further, but this gives you a chance to make sense of the noise that was in your head.

The Sorting Hat 2.0

Alright on to the next step, the part where we determine what matters. Chances are your mind was filled with useless clutter, ways to procrastinate and the lyrics to a Taylor Swift song. Grab your business list and let's break it down. Some lists I always seem to have our Product Ideas, Blog Post Ideas, Emails to send or check (ugh! email, I heard it used to be cool to have your computer tell you every time you got mail, that would drive me crazy!). Your lists are probably entirely different, and that's awesome. Just sort them into appropriate subcategories.

Cause, Priorities 

Now for the fun part! Prioritizing! Okay, maybe not that much fun but when you realize that you have free time at the end of the week you will be like "Heck Yes! I rocked this week because I was a BOSS!"

Deadlines? 

Does anything on this list have a deadline? Give it a big fat number 1 next to it. You will have multiple number "1"s, and that is perfectly ok. This system just tells you that this needs your attention ASAP. If something on this list has a deadline now is the time to ask yourself why you have been putting it off. Was it a project you agreed to do even though didn't jive with you? Have you just lost focus on it because a better idea came along, and you didn't want to give it up, yet? Have you just outright pushed it back because it isn't making you money?

These questions will help you down the road as you are determining new projects to work on. If it has a deadline, but it isn't something that you are fully committed to and can gracefully back out of, do it! Sometimes it is ok to quit. Bet you didn't see that one coming. If something isn't working stop trying to force it, just move on to something that will work.

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Money Maker?

Will this make you money? This is a very difficult decision because technically sharing a post on social media about a new book you are launching doesn't directly you make you money, it might. It could bring a few customers back, and they will purchase. So yes, marketing will make you money. Will writing a blog post make you money? Again, maybe not directly but they may see a link on your sidebar to an e-course and dive further and sign up. Will checking your email make you money? Chances are this is a no! Unless your long-lost relative died, and you inherited their multi-billion dollar estate.

Focusing on tasks that generate revenue are crucial to running a successful business. Watching funny cat videos will not help you make money (but it is okay to take a break.) This just helps break your list down so you know what level two projects you should focus on after your deadline tasks. Unless of course, you are not in the business to make money.

Goal Getter

Will this help you reach your goals for the year? If you have something on your to-do list, that is not going to help you grow you need to evaluate while it is there. Depending on the goals you set for your business this probably intertwines very closely with levels 1 and 2. If you set a goal of reaching a million page views on your blog by the end of the year, you are going to need to do two big things. Write amazing content and share it everywhere on the internet you can find.

There are many types of goals you can set for your business and while they may not directly say "make more money" they all should revolve around that. (Or at least all of mine do.) I know that to earn more money I need to create more and promote more.

You can now repeat the process with your personal life tasks.

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Find Your Focus

With all of your lists carefully divvied up and ranked by priority and some tasks eliminated it makes it much easier to find your focus in an otherwise cluttered world. Hopefully, this project gave you a bit of inspiration and clarity in your business. I like to repeat this exercise anytime that I am feeling overwhelmed.

Since you stuck around all the way to the end, I have a bonus for you. Printable mind dump and sorting worksheets, cause plain paper is boring, and you are creative.

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