Start a Meditation Practice

“Meditation more than anything in my life was the biggest ingredient of whatever success I’ve had… Meditation has given me centeredness and creativity. It’s also given me peace and health.”
– Ray Dalio, billionaire founder of Bridgewater Associates

When most people think of meditation, they feel intimidation. Focusing on your thoughts can be scary, especially when starting out.

Luckily, you don’t have to meditate for 4 hours per day to start reaping the rewards. Focusing on stillness and your breathing for 5-10 minutes per day is all you need.

If meditation isn’t your thing, you could even benefit from some basic breathing exercises to get centered and focused.

4. Plan Out Your Day the Night Before

Take the time every evening to plan out the next day. Use your task management system of choice to understand which tasks must be handled the next day and craft a to-do list.

Instead of doing this in the morning when the coffee is battling your desire to go back to bed, you’ll begin your day with a clear focus of what must be done.

5. Minimize Distractions

Distractions come in many shapes and forms, especially for freelancers. You might have other people at home distracting you, social networks and humors links, or even business related distractions. How can you cut these out?

• Have a private space with a closed door. Tell everyone in the house that this is your time to work. Make it clear that this is how you pay your rent and ask to be left alone.  
• Use a site blocker extension for your browser. Are you a Reddit lurker or Facebook addict? It adds an extra step (disabling the extension) between you and your distraction, which might be enough time for you to realize that you should focus on work.
• Set aside time for distracting business tasks. Business distractions can often be the worst, because they feel productive. Avoid this trap by setting aside time for emails and other distracting tasks that clutter your day.

6. Delegate Nonessential Tasks

You don’t have to go it alone. Getting someone else to help you with things like administrative duties, invoicing, project management and other things can enable you to get more done.

Affordable virtual assistants have helped countless business owners streamline their day by taking items off their plate. Sure, it will eat into operating costs, but the gains made from your focus will (ideally) offset the expense.

Be the Mosaic

When viewed up close, a mosaic is a chaotic collection of dots of various sizes. When you step back, you see that they form a detailed, beautiful picture.

Your daily habits are the chaotic dots. But as you do these small tasks, they can morph together to make something beautiful. Use these small things everyday to grow your business and create a picture for the world to admire.