Get Focused And Start Making Money

April 8, 2008 | Motivation

I don’t like to write similar articles about the same sort of topic if I can help it, but this is something I feel I really need to drill into new affiliates (and to some experienced affiliates also). Being focused is one of the key factors that drives you to success. If you can’t stay focused and see your goals, how are you supposed to know where you’re heading? If you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, then it isn’t there.

One of the worst mindsets you can be in as a webmaster is where you do little work, yet still expect things to ‘just happen’. You can check your stats religiously waiting for ‘the change’, but if you’re not feeding fuel into the fire then you will be whittling away the hours waiting for something that just isn’t going to take place. This why you need to keep a clear head, and get focused with your work.

This is how I keep myself focused…

I always have a list of things to do

This for me is the most important thing that helps keep me focused and helps me to get down to work. If I don’t have anything in front of me reminding me about work that needs to be done, I’m pretty much lost. If all my work plans are stored up in my head, they just become too overwhelming, and I just end up falling into the downward spiral of stat-checking instead.

It may sound pretty daunting to always be faced with a never ending list of tasks, but I always see a dollar sign attached to each piece of work that I am faced with. This helps to remind me that the more I get done, the more money I will be making in the near future. Whilst some things will not directly affect my earnings, as long as I am developing my sites in some way I can be sure that it will be contributing the final figures in my monthly payments.

I avoid all distractions

• I never have MSN/Yahoo/Skype or any IM programs on
• I rarely have any music playing in the background

I will admit that I keep my web browser running, as this normally helps contribute to research, or for when I intend to have a quick break. But I’m pretty strict with this, and I don’t spend too much time browsing around pointless stuff that just leads to further procrastination. Of course this is assuming that I do not need to browser to do work, for example if I’m writing content in Word, designing in Photoshop or modifying my sites in Dreamweaver.

The more distractions you have whilst you work, the more opportunities you have available to you to prevent you from being focused on the work at hand. So make sure you set yourself up to be as productive as possible when you sit down at your desk.

>The fewer distractions you have, the more focused you are.
>The more focused you become, the harder you will work.
>The harder you work, the more money you will be making.

It’s a simple series of events, but it is one that works perfectly well.

I set myself goals

If I’m being honest, I never used to set myself goals in the past. Setting goals always used to sound like one of those things that ‘other people’ did to try and help themselves get more motivated, probably ending in little to no success. However, I realised that setting yourself goals can have a powerful effect on the way you approach your work.

If you set yourself realistic goals, you have something to shoot for each time you get down to work. This helps to drive you to get things done, as it is a great feeling to achieve your goals and cross them off the list. You will be surprised at how good it feels to complete your own personal goals, no matter how small they may be.

Without goals in front of you, your overall work ethic is a little more lax and you no longer push yourself to achieve more than you would be able to if you had something to aim for. So never underestimate to power of setting yourself goals.

Just make sure to set your goals as follows:

• Set your goals around how much work you can get done, rather than based on results.
• Set goals over short periods of time; they are much easier to stick to and complete.
• Set attainable goals so that you do not overly stress yourself.

If you follow all of these rules, your work will be incredibly focused and your productivity will be at an all time high. So stop reading, and start making some money.

April 8, 2008 | Motivation