Critical Focus Time In Internet Marketing

The first “lesson” from Ed Dale’s mentoring program was on what he calls Critical Focus Time or CFT. Basically it’s about committing yourself every work day to a certain amount of time during which you will only work on actions critical to your business.

This is something I’ve frequently struggled with for 2 reasons:

1. I’ve not been committed enough to the outcome to practice getting good at CFT (see internal motivation post for more on this).
2. I’ve misunderstood, in realtion to internet marketing at least, exactly which activities should/shouldn’t be done during my CFT blocks.

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1.  Critical Focus Time Takes Practice

A mistake I’ve made in the past is to think that a commitment  to being focussed is sufficient to make me so. I’d start out all keen and determined and then discover that creating a new habit was not as simple as saying as I was going to do so. I’ve learned that, like any new skill it requires consistent effort.

For example, one strategy I’ve found to be helpful is to work in 45 minute blocks – what I call the 45/15 rule. I’ve been applying this idea for a number of years, on and off, and reaping the benefits. But I forget to do this every day. It has not yet become a habit so I’m still practising. I have to remind myself each day to set the timer and then discipline myself to stop when it goes off.

So, don’t expect to get your CFT right the first time you try it. Chances are you will need to practise until it becomes a useful habit. While you’re learning accept that you will make mistakes and let that be OK. If you see this in the context of learning a new skill you will be more motivated to keep practising until you’ve cracked it.

In order to get the most from your Critical Focus Time:

- Remove All Distractions – turn off your phone, clost your office door, ask your family/colleagues not to be disturb you for your allotted time, etc.

- Set A Timer – start with 10 minute blocks is you’re new to this, working up to whatever you’re optimum work block length is. You will need to expereiment and find what works best for you. However, never go beyond 45 minutes as studies have shown that this the the maximum amount of time we can focus for effectively.

- Take Regular Breaks Between Sessions – up to a maximum of 15 minutes for the 45 minute block. Use that time to get up from the desk and away from the computer. Do something that requires you to move our body.

2.  Critical Focus Time for Internet Marketing

Here are the tasks that Ed counts as IN:

- activities that directly relate to bringing money in
- content creation
- link building including using Market Samauri Rank Tracker for finding and making back links
- outsourcing guides
- prospecting, e.g. active Joint Venture making (by phone not email) or looking for clients
- creating/tweaking PPC campaigns

Tasks That Are Not Included in CFT

- anything passive
- learning
- answering emails
- editing writing
- ANY social media (I was a bit surprised at this one!)
- exploring new keywords
- checking ranking

So, now you know what and what not to do in your CFT sessions. Make a commitment to how many blocks you will do each day. Start small and work your way up and, remember,  practice, practice, practice.

———– An update on this post can be found at more on critical focus time.

Technorati Tags: critical focus time, ed dale mentoring, improve focus, Internet Marketing Coaching, time management

Related posts:

1. More On Critical Focus Time
2. Internet Marketing – My Personal Grist For The Mill
3. 5 CFT Challenge – Critical Focus Time Block 1
4. 5 CFT Challenge – Critical Focus Time Session 2
5. Critical Focus Time Backwards