Finding focus is a constant struggle, especially when you're in a position that requires you to respond to other people (clients, contractors, employees). Between the outside forces that tug at our attention and the internal tendencies to procrastinate and spiral off-topic, it's very easy to feel overwhelmed.

I'm a long-time entrepreneur, and I've worked as a manager (of clients, contractors, and employees) and as a contractor (where multiple people can affect my time and responsibilities) — plus I've battled with my own tendency to procrastinate and screw around.

Out of all that, I've found a few factors that make a big difference for me:

1. Take the time to plan up front.

Most of the time when I'm having trouble focusing, it's because I'm not clear on what I'm supposed to be doing. When I have a clear plan, it's easier to spot a next step, so things tend to happen without such a huge mental effort on my part to get started.

2. Remove your distractions.

Email pings and vibrating phones give us the illusion of being busy and productive, but typically they only distract us. When it's time to work on a project, give yourself 1–2 hours of distraction-free time and put your phone in airplane mode and close your email. It feels scary, but no one will begrudge you 90 minutes of focus time (and if they do, fire them).

3. Group tasks by context.

Trying to write an email in the middle of crunching numbers or writing code requires a complete mental shift in focus and context, which uses up a lot of cognitive resources. Minimize the switching by trying to group tasks by similarity: writing emails and entering expenses, for example, have similar contexts, so they could be grouped together.

4. Stop multitasking.

We're all bad at it, and everyone loses when we do it. Instead, break projects into small tasks that can be managed in a day or less, and work on one task until it's complete before starting anything else. For each project you're no longer multitasking, you'll see about a 20% increase in productive time.

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I've coached people on productivity and focus frequently, and while there's always variability in how motivated people are by default, there's no personality type I've found that isn't capable of making huge productivity and focus improvements with a few small adjustments to their day-to-day habits.

You can read more about how I stay productive here:
http://lengstorf.com/scheduling-maximum-productivity/

If you'd like to work together to review your specific situation and put together a tailored plan to help you feel more in control and less scattered, I'm happy to get on a call.

Good luck!