The reality of the finite nature of time is never more apparent than when you're doing something that you really love. For whatever reason, time seems to move particularly fast when you're engaged in a passion project, having a wonderful day, or experiencing some other great thing. For me, I have ideas of things that I'd like to do with Catholic Husband on a daily basis. Each idea has its own unique opportunity and could lead to other great things. However, I know that the key to success in any endeavor is focus. Without focus, nothing can be accomplished.

Each great idea that you have should be captured in some way, shape, or form. Write it down, keep it in Evernote, email it to yourself, or put it in an idea folder. No matter what you do, make sure that it's saved somewhere. Review your ideas on a regular basis, especially when you're between projects, and organize it into a prioritized list. Then, work your list. All ideas are great, but not all ideas should be completed first. Your prioritized list can not only help you know where you're going, but keep your focus right where it needs to be.

One technique is to have three projects that you're working on at a time. This may sound like it's the opposite of focus, but let me explain the system using Catholic Husband as the example. One of these three projects is the primary focus. The primary project is the one that gets most of your attention. My primary project is running the blog. Every day, I spend most of the work time that's been allocated to Catholic Husband working on writing, editing, and preparing blog posts for publishing. Your other two projects are secondary. The reason that I have two additional projects is so that when I'm feeling tired or blocked in some way with blogging, I can still make forward progress on other projects. It also keeps my pipeline built. While blogging is the primary project, I have book writing and web maintenance as my secondary projects. Catholic Husband is a little bit unique because while my primary project likely won't change, yours probably will. Regardless, a three project focus will help you move through the tough days and round out your progress.

It's important to give some consideration to each idea, even if you can't start work on it immediately. Creative energy is a good thing and it might even flow over into the other projects that you're working on. Each idea might be a game changer, so don't let any of them slip away.

Focus is the biggest challenge that any success faces. Along the long road leading to a success are plenty of distractions and exit signs. By capturing each idea and maintaining a regularly reviewed idea list, you can ensure that you stay focused on what's most important while stimulating your creative energy.

Tags: Productivity