My Fool Proof Focus System

There’s 1 skill that sets elite entrepreneurs above the rest.

1 skill that can, quite literally, change your business forever.

Focus.

Without it, your work quality won’t be at the level required to get results, it’ll take you a whole day to get done what should take 2 hours and you’ll never make consistent progress.

But focus exists in 2 contexts.

The macro - This is the long run and bigger picture. It’s sticking to 1 business for a long period of time and not jumping from ship to ship.

The micro - This is the more traditional sense of focus, the short run. It’s the here and now. What exactly are you concentrating your attention on?

In this email, I’ll break down the fool proof micro focus system that I personally use every single day and that’s allowed my clients to bang out 5-7 hours of deep focused work every damn day.

To start, there are 2 things you need to understand for this system to be effective.

• Systematic Power

There’s a reason you need a focus system.

Systems are powerful. They have this innate ability to create leverage - meaning you get out more than what you put in.

You see a system allows for repeatable results. If you follow the same system, you’ll always get the same outcome.

They also lower the friction and make the goal outcome of that system easier to obtain. Systems make working easier.

But most importantly, systems open the door to iteration and improvement.

A system can simply be a series of steps you follow to obtain an outcome, in this context - focusing.

Hence, if you’re not happy with your outcome - your level of focus - you can easily change 1 step of the system and see how it impacts your focus.

Without a system you are quite literally guessing at what you’re changing and the impact of that change.

• Micro focus

Remember, micro focus is you focusing right here and right now.

But what exactly does that mean?

Well to focus you are locking in and concentrating your attention, cognitive focus and brain power on 1 specific task.

That is it.

You’re choosing something and giving it your entire being.

The Focus System

This system has a number of steps, or components. All are important and play a role.

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• One Task At A Time

Oh would have guessed, to focus you have to work on 1 task at a time haha

But seriously, 1 task.

And with this, the tasks you do should be performed in order of priority - you see, your willpower and focus are like batteries.

They start the day fully charged but as the day goes on they get used up.

Hence, you should do your highest priority, most important task (and therefore, your hardest task) first each day when your willpower and focus are at their peak.

Take 5 minutes to plan this all out and schedule your day the night before.

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• Caffeine

Should everyone use caffeine? No.

Should everyone try it in an appropriate way as a tool to focus? Yes.

I typically don’t take caffeine in my first work block to allow my adenosine system to clear out and prevent any afternoon crashes (although there’s some new debating science on the necessity of this, I still think it’s a good principle to follow to stave off caffeine reliance)

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• Water

Your level of hydration will play a massive role in your cognitive power and ability to focus.

If you lack water or electrolytes, your neurons can't fire as fast or efficiently - hence you feel slower and struggle to focus.

And look, you’re not a child. I’m not going to harp on about how important it is to drink water. Just do it.

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• Chargers

Yes, chargers. The last thing you want is your laptop dying in the middle of a work block.

Even if you’re working at home and your charger is in another room, you don’t want to have to break focus and flow to go get it - so be prepared.

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• In a room alone

People can be some of the biggest and most annoying distractions.

And yes, it’s easy to be a dickhead and tell people where to go, but people don’t often listen.

Plus, you shouldn’t take it upon yourself to expect other people to cave to your every desire - take it into your own hands and get into a room alone where no one can distract you.

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• Opal

Opal is an app that blocks other apps and websites on your phone.

You can set it up to lock any and every app on whatever schedule you want.

Look, everyone knows they need to not go on their phone when working - but nobody does it.

We’re all completely addicted to these little dopamine devices so unless you make it impossible for you not to go on it (using Opal), you will go on it.

Just do this. Don’t think about it. Just do it.

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• Intermittent Fasting

When you eat you have to digest that food.

That redirects blood to the gut, meaning there’s slightly less blood and energy for cognitive work.

And if the food you eat is full of carbs your insulin will spike and fall - meaning you crash.

If you struggle to focus in the morning, feel tired and full of brain fog, don’t eat until lunchtime.

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BONUSES

These next 3 techniques are techniques I add when I’m feeling rather unfocused.

I don’t use them all the time or regularly, but they’re useful.

• Binaural beats

40hz binaural beats on Youtube, thank me later.

• Breathing technique

Take 25-30 breaths before working.

Each breath should have a 2-3 second inhale through the nose and a sharp 1 second exhale through your mouth. On your last exhale completely empty your lungs.

• Spot Sighting

Before you start working, choose a small point on the other side of the room and stare at it for 1-2 minutes (feel free to blink).

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Will This Work For You?

So here’s the big question, should you use this system?

Well, it works. Every technique is based on science and at the very least it forms a good template - it’s the exact system I give to my clients which we then optimise to suit them personally.

So my recommendation is to use this as a base and then adjust it to you based on data.

Track your performance, focus and effectiveness whilst using this system and then make decisions and change 1 thing at a time.

But don’t just blindly change things.

You should never blindly change things - whether that’s in your business or in your performance.

If you blindly change something you’re guessing. You don’t know what impact it’s going to have.

Instead, use data.

Make accurate, measurable changes that will push you in the right direction.

Don’t just make a change without knowing why that change and don’t just make a change without measuring the impact of that change.

Data doesn’t lie.

With my clients we track everything and it’s amazing to see their focus go from typically 50-65% to 90-95% every single day using this exact system.

And if you want my help to unlock peak performance and 10x your focus so you can take yourself and your business to the next level, click here to apply to work with me.​

-- Ross