If you’re anything like me, you need to focus. There are times when you need to hunker down and get things done. Yet, your mind wanders. You daydream or think about what will happen later today or tomorrow. It could be a conversation, a meeting or a vacation you can’t wait to start.
Your lack of focus might come from no desire to do what you are doing, how hard something is or because you didn’t sleep well last night.
Many times the reason I am not able to focus well is because of the whirlwind around.
Focus comes from having “white space.” This is the place where you are able to shut down social media or email and think. To narrow down what matters the most right now.
I’ve heard John Maxwell say that leaders could stop doing 80% of what they’re doing and no one would notice. That feels high, but there is some merit to it.
Each day you must be able to say, “If I accomplish nothing else today, here’s what must get done.” That focus helps you to stay on track.
When you find your brain wandering, stand up, walk around, get some fresh air, and then return to something.
Focus for Your Church or Organization
Focus doesn’t just matter for you personally, but it has enormous implications for your team and your church.
Many teams lack focus. They are stuck in a whirlwind of activity, simply doing the thing right in front of them. In a church, this is easy to do because worship services come around with such regularity (every seven days), so there is a deadline to that whirlwind.
For our team, just like in our family, we talk through what is most important for the next 2-6 months as a team. What are we all going to be working on and moving towards?
Why Focus Matters in Leadership
Without focus, anything and everything is important.
This is where many churches and people get off track in their lives and ministries.
Focus says, this matters more than that.
That is hard to say because it determines ahead of time what you will think about, work on, spend money on, and give manpower to.
Whether you sit down and write this out or say it, you do this exercise each day.
The ones who accomplish things and see greater effectiveness are the ones who decide this instead of falling into it.
The days that I flop into bed with a feeling of “what did I really accomplish today?” are the days I wasn’t focused and allowed my day to get away from me.
Amazingly, as you read through the gospels you see the incredible focus that Jesus had. He was fully present wherever he went. Whether he was teaching, healing, resting, praying or spending time with his disciples, he was focused on what he was doing. When you think about what he did, you also get a sense of the things he didn’t do. He made the choices we have to make each and everyday: what will get our time, energy, and attention?
Josh Reich is the Lead Pastor of Revolution Church in Tucson, AZ. He is the area lead for Acts 29 in Arizona and speaks at a variety of conferences on church planting, leadership, and marriage. He is also the author of Breathing Room: Stressing Less & Living More. You can follow him on Twitter @JoshuaReich.
