By JOHNNY CARCIOPPOLO / Community Columnist

How do you find your business focus when so many things are coming at you at once? Here are some helpful hints to get you started:

• Start with a clean inbox. Delete all subscriptions and emails that you have not looked at in a month; answer any emails that need attention and then delete them; create folders for emails you find useful and will use again in the future.
• When scrolling on social media don’t bookmark every little thing. Take 5 minutes and decide whether or not that program is right for your business or not and then move forward either in action or inaction; don’t bookmark it or save it in your favorites for a rainy day.
• Rather than be bombarded by all kinds of offers and limited-time-only ads and special discounts, get-in now ads, decide what you need first and then go out and seek that out. Do you need a graphic designer or a seminar on marketing? Then seek those things out, but do not under any circumstances buy into some advertiser telling you that you need this absolutely to be a success in business. Stay focused on one thing at a time.
• Rely on referrals from other businesses and friends rather than all those ads you click on (you’re making them money when you click).
• Use technology to your advantage. Set an app for timed chores and goals; use an online calendar or notepad; take some time before stepping into to business to research which apps and which technology tools will work best for you and for your business.
• Just like in life and in relationships, you pick and choose your battles. Don’t choose endeavors that are too costly or time-consuming. Those will take up too much energy. If something in your business isn’t working, take a step back and see if you can do without it. If so, move on to the next phase of your business. Don’t spend time on something that isn’t working, trying to figure it out. Sometimes going back to the drawing board pays off.

Create a focus strategy – yes, on paper:

• Every good business should have a focus strategy. We all lose focus in business, but if you have a focus plan of action, you can refer to it. Can you delegate, farm something out or outsource, can you step away for a bit and revisit the situation to see where you fell off track? Is it worth getting back on track or should you change the course. Write these questions down so that when something does fall by the wayside, you regain your focus more easily. Rather than focusing on problems, you can then reset your mindset to focus on creating a solution.
• When your focus is off, what are your go-to tools to get back on track? Do you need to take a break or do you need to have a team meeting? Have a strategy in place for when you lose focus.
• List the top three strategies that work for you and have those memorized (delegating, allowing for a time out or taking a nap and recharging your battery or walking in fresh air or walking away, calling for a team meeting or brainstorm session, create a mastermind group).
• Learn when to walk away and when to dive straight in. Write down the pros and cons of continuing to delve through and what the pros and cons are of walking away – will you make money if you keep going or lose money? Questions like these help you to regain clarity and focus.
• Taking breaks are important. It’s great to work hard at your dream and to keep focused, but in order to stay focused, it’s important to allow for breaks, as well.
• Giving yourself time to dream and to daydream. Give your brain a well-deserved break every once and a while. It’s important as a business owner to take time to play, dream and daydream.

Writing things down on paper tends to make them become a reality. They seem to become part of a checklist or a to-do list of some sort. Here are some great tips to set yourself up for business success.