Scattered Attention? Not a Problem

Let's talk a bit more about about clarity.  At some point we all get a bit overwhelmed by all the tasks involved in setting up a business. The most common concerns people report have to do with marketing, finding a niche and building a website.

But there's something much more basic to focus on first - our attention. It's good to know where our attention currently is and, if you are like most people, attention seems to scatter to a million places when we're starting something new.

Brainstorming a new idea often leaves us feeling flustered and scattered. And this is okay.

When I meet with someone in this situation, they typically use words like confused or overwhelmed to describe their experience. So we spend some time honoring the expansiveness of this space because it is useful and normal to consider many options.

My job is to help them capture all their thoughts. It's most commonly known as a brain dump though I like to call it a Thought Flow. Whatever you call it, it's an exercise that can feel oh, so, good as you get all those flowing thoughts out of your head and onto paper (or device).

So if you find yourself scattered, be happy. It's your mind making all sorts of connections from that idea of yours. Honor it. Be okay with your attention scattering.

Lean in, enjoy it.

The Brain Dump

And give all those thoughts a place to land by writing them down. Below's a sample of a document I used to give participants at the beginning of our Getting Things Done workshop circa 2013 to get you started. (If you happen to be more comfortable speaking, feel free to record them instead.)

Capturing all the thoughts swirling in your head is a great first step to gaining clarity so in the next post we'll continue exploring your idea with some additional clarifying questions.