Dot Connector Blog

If you focus on results, you will never change. If you focus on change, you will get results.

-Jack Dixon

How important is mental focus? It’s simply the number-one key to becoming legendary at what you do.

We have a saying at Quicken Loans: “what you focus on, you find.” Oprah and followers of the book The Secret – say that “like attracts like.”

However you choose to say it, the power of focus is what separates those who are good from those who are great.

However, your daily life can easily compromise your ability to focus. Let’s take a look at a recent day in my professional life as an example:

• 623 emails across 4 email accounts
• 23 social media requests, messages, etc.
• 13 incoming phone calls, and 9 voicemail messages
• 2 conference calls and 3 one-on-one meetings
• 1 presentation to some of my Clients
• 1 contract negotiation

How do I maintain focus when I have all of these things challenging it? Of course, I stay organized with to do lists, manage my voicemail, and keep my email management system in top shape. But, as I tell people all the time, you’ll always have 100 things on your plate, but are you doing the right things?

Patrick Rhone has written about his Today Card. The Today Card is a note card he keeps with 3 simple things he would like to accomplish that day. Patrick’s post inspired me to go back to a similar tradition I used to keep, specifically using a Top 3 list to help me focus.

I’ve re-adopted and improved on my old Top 3 list technique. It’s insanely simple, and has increased my ability to focus exponentially.

Here’s my secret to using a Top 3 list to achieve mental focus every day:

1. For 5 minutes right now, think about what you really need to focus on. This should be time where you focus only on important things that will move your project, career, etc. forward. Mentally ban thoughts about an email you have to respond to, a person you have to call, etc. Use this time to deliberately force yourself to mentally focus on what you need to do.

2. Write down the Top 3 things you need to focus on. I like to write this list down in my moleskine notebook, but you might prefer a sticky note, or a note card, like Patrick. Your goal is to use this Top 3 list to guide what you do tomorrow.

3. Tomorrow morning, do one thing from your Top 3 list before you open your email. I am TOTALLY SERIOUS about this. Email is a gigantic distractor and priority-changer. Do not let it prevent you from maintaining focus. By doing at least one thing on your list before opening your email, you set yourself up for a successful day.

4. At the end of the day, check your Top 3 list, cross off what you’ve accomplished, and write your list for tomorrow. It’s CRITICAL that you write your list for tomorrow at the end of the day today. At the end of the day, you still have the day fresh in your mind. Also, by doing this, you’re not spending time tomorrow morning figuring out what to do.

That’s it – the secret to mental focus is the Top 3 list! If you really use this technique (including #3 and #4 above), you’ll be amazed at the mental focus and clarity you have.

To quote another saying (from Dan Gilbert, Chairman and Founder of Quicken Loans), “nothing clarifies like clarity!” Good luck!

Effortlessly working with our peers is one of the things that is so hard for many to attain, yet so easy to take for granted. In this post, I’ll discuss my top 5 characteristics for effective relationships at work.

My top 5 characteristics for effective relationships:

1. Proactive and “connecting-the-dots” communication is commonplace. Do you let your peers know proactively about project developments that may impact them? Do you look our for ideas for your peers when reading the sunday paper or watching TV with your family? Do you “see” new ideas and things they might think are valuable? It’s amazing what you can find when you focus on helping your peers. And it’s even more amazing at what will come back to you when you help them out. Just showing that you’re looking our for the interests of those around you is a powerful technique to more effective relationships!
2. Trust (at a personal level) in each other. Trust is way more than sitting in meetings/calls and talking in cubes. Trust is about having faith in those around you, and cultivating relationships with them at every opportunity, especially through breakfasts, lunches, dinners, etc. with them. The single best thing you can do to improve a relationship with someone is to take them out for a meal and ask “what can I do to help you?” and then do it!
3. Collective responsibility. If you have trust in each other, you can share responsibility when times (inevitably) get tough. When a problem occurs, do you jump in together and solve it, and THEN figure out why it happened? That is the true test of the effectiveness of your work relationships.
4. A focus on process. Everyone likes to be successful. But jointly coming up with repeatable ways to have your peers and project teams succeed is an even better goal. If you show others you care about them, especially through creating processes that support them, you will earn their trust. If you involved them in this process, you get new perspectives, new approaches, and even better ways to collaborate!
5. Pride and caring in what you do. The most effective work relationships are also build on a foundation of shared pride in the work being completed. If you’re not proud of it, why do it? Put your “collective stamp” on everything you do together, and your relationships will grow!

In future posts, we’ll cover other aspects to having effective work relationships, which is key to enjoying what you do, and having fun doing it!