#47: Steal My 7-Step Focus Routine and Make Real Progress on Your Dreams

Your dreams deserve more than scattered energy and half-finished to-do lists. They need your focus. 

In this episode, I’m sharing the exact 7-step focus routine I use behind the scenes to move my dream work forward — even when life gets full, messy, or distracting (which, let’s be honest… is most of the time). 

This isn’t about being more productive just for the sake of it. It’s about creating a rhythm that actually supports your creativity, your energy, and your ability to follow through on the things that matter. 

These steps are practical, but not rigid — and the goal isn’t perfection. It’s momentum. We’ll cover everything from how I plan the night before (so I don’t start the day in decision fatigue), to how I remove distractions instead of resisting them, to how I customize old work instead of reinventing the wheel every time. 

You’ll also hear the mindset shift that helped me stop using all my creative energy on logistics — and start channeling it into actual progress. 

3 TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE 

1️⃣ The way you treat your time is the way you treat your dreams. 

2️⃣ Creative energy isn’t random — it can be scheduled and supported. 

3️⃣ Letting things be easier doesn’t mean lowering your standards — it means honoring your energy. 

🎧 If you’re ready to stop letting distractions leave you feeling tired and scattered and ready to give your dream the structure it needs to grow— press play.

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Transcript

Speaker 3 0:01

You're never too busy, too tired, too old, or too anything to pursue your dreams. Welcome to the Distracted Dreamer Podcast, where you'll learn how to move all those never ending distractions aside and chase your dreams with confidence.

0:28

Well, hello. Hello, my fellow Dreamers. It is so good to have you back for another episode. I'm your host Carlene, and if this is your first time here, I am so happy to meet you and have you join all the great conversations that we have around our dreams here on this podcast. Now, today I wanna talk about something that might be the missing link between you thinking about your dreams and actually doing something about them. Because here's the thing, if you're not focused, if your energy is scattered and your brain is foggy, or you keep getting distracted all the time, how can you expect to bring your dreams to life? It makes it kind of hard. So focus, it isn't just about checking things off of a to-do list. It's actually about creating the space that your dreams need to grow. So in today's episode, I'm gonna share something with you that's very practical. It is my personal seven step focus routine. Now, this is the same routine that helps me get more done in one hour than I used to get done in an entire day. And more importantly, it helps me stay connected to the work that actually matters to me. And listen, this isn't about hustling for the sake of being productive. And it's not about willpower either. It's about being deliberate. Now this routine, it's really easy to steal and I want you to steal it. In fact, I hope by the end of this episode you'll be inspired to make it your own. So grab a cup of tea or whatever your favorite beverage is, or take me on your walk or keep driving in your car with me and, and let's dive in. Now the first step to establishing some focus actually happens the night before. You wanna start doing that step or the work on your dream. So what you do in the evening, it matters just as much as what you do in the morning. In fact, how you wrap up your day, it can determine whether you wake up feeling focused or completely foggy. Now, this isn't about having a rigid schedule or a hyper planned life. It's about removing the friction between you and the work that matters. So what I do is I finish each day by writing down the three to five most important things that I wanna get done tomorrow. And sometimes it might only be one thing because it's kind of a big thing. You just kinda have to be careful that you don't overwhelm yourself. You don't need a list of five things. It can be one or two things, and now this part is key. It is to schedule those things on your calendar. Yes, you might have heard it, um, called time blocking. And it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if you use a paper planner or a digital calendar, or a sticky note or a to-do list app. What matters is that whatever tool you're using, that it works for you. Because let's be real. The worst feeling is starting your day and immediately spiraling into, huh, what should I work on today? And that indecision, it steals your momentum. The morning is the worst time to make that decision. And you're more likely to choose the easy, inconsequential things to tackle first, because you know, you're just waking up. You need to get going. Right? But no, no, no, no. You want to make these decisions the night before so that that doesn't happen. Here's how this looks in my world. Okay? Y all know I wear about 20 different hats in my business on any given day from working on a digital course to managing certifications, to handling admin tasks, podcasting, networking, coaching, running my membership and if I leave it up to how I feel in the morning, I promise you I will not be working on the most important thing. So instead I decide the night before. Let's say tomorrow I'm gonna record a couple podcast episodes. That's my big focus. I'll go ahead and I will start before I start, that is actually a thing that I work on with my clients. I'm like, what can you do to set yourself up before you start? So it's called starting before you Start, which means for me, I would be setting up my equipment and charging everything and letting my family know, Hey, I'm recording at 10:00 AM so don't ask me if we have any more laundry detergent right then and there. Okay, I'm gonna be recording. Because all of that is energy and I don't want to use up that energy in the morning. So this little act of planning ahead, it sets the tone. It helps me feel grounded and not rushed, and it removes the decision fatigue and it makes it way more likely that I'll actually follow through on the work that moves the needle on my dreams. Here's my challenge for you. Go ahead and try it. Try it tonight. Write your top three things that you wanna get done tomorrow. Block them out on your calendar. So I have a paper planner and I look to see, oh, when are all my appointments and everything tomorrow? Oh, I have a two hour gap here. Ooh, I can schedule some time to do some recording in those two hours. Yep. So I block them out. It is an appointment with myself and I honor that appointment as if I was meeting with somebody else. After you block them out on your calendar. I want you to set up what you need and make it easy to start. So that might look like you opening up your computer and the whatever tabs or websites you need to open, or maybe it's loading up your car because you have to go someplace, like whatever it is, maybe you need to be wearing, um, a special outfit or something. Lay that out the night before. Don't leave all those decisions for the morning. Because tomorrow, oh, tomorrow is going to thank you tonight for doing everything that you did. Okay. Step number two to focus is to identify your tiger time. Let's just start with a simple truth. Not all hours are created equal. You know those magical hours in the day when you're just like you're on fire, and when your brain feels sharp and your ideas come faster, and you can actually finish a thought, that's your tiger time and your job is to guard it like a treasure. Now, I am stealing this from one of my mentors, Amy Porterfield. She talks about tiger time all the time. Means for you to be fierce in protecting that time. So my tiger time, it's around 10:00 AM to noon. I'm focused, I'm caffeinated. I've already gotten my workout in. So I have all those feel good chemicals from working out going for me. But your time might be different. maybe you're a 6:00 AM creative person, or maybe you're a night owl. So whatever it is for you, just honor it and then block your time on your calendar. Make it visible. You have to see that appointment. Set a reminder because that's when the big, dreamy, creative stuff gets done. Not the emails, not the laundry, not your group chats. Think of this as the time that you do the deep work. Okay? We are moving on to step three. Of my focus routine that I really do want you to steal, I encourage stealing. Step three is to fuel yourself and your space. Have you ever sat down to focus only to get up like five minutes later because you forgot your charger, then you got thirsty, then you ended up folding socks instead of writing that pitch or finishing that client project? Yeah, I know I do that too. What I do instead is I prep my space so that I can focus. So I have water, I plug in my charger. Sometimes I light a candle because you know what? Little rituals help bring big focus. And you know what, let's, let's go back to the water thing. Speaking of water, did you know that dehydration actually causes you to lose focus? Yeah, it's true. You know that afternoon headache that creeps in and then disappears after you finally remember to chug your water bottle. Yeah. That's your brain saying, please, I'm thirsty and I can't think straight. Hydration is key for clarity, focus, and attention. And you know, I think back to being a kid in school. We had a water fountain and we were allowed to visit like twice a day. That was it. Yeah, now we're all walking around with giant water bottles, like, they're like our emotional support animals. And honestly, it's really smart. It's necessary, but it's not just the water that your brain needs. So if you want to really give your brain a boost, you wanna front load your meals with protein. Protein is a catalyst for your brain. It helps kick things into gear. So if you're blending up a smoothie, throw in some protein powder or some nut butter. If you're a coffee person, try adding a little collagen or oat milk with protein in it. Your brain is going to thank you. Fueling your body and your space, it is part of honoring your energy and feeding it, because when your body has what it needs, it's like boom, you can focus. Okay, step number four is to remove distractions. Don't just resist'em, don't leave all the distractions sitting there. If you can remove a distraction, why wouldn't you? Don't put yourself in the position of having to mentally block something out of your focus. When when I do this, this one, it changes everything because if you're relying on willpower to keep you focused and not get distracted, you're already losing because willpower is fleeting. Willpower is a wish. It's not a strategy. So instead of trying to resist the distractions, just remove them. Put your phone on, do not disturb during work hours. Here's one this somebody suggested. I haven't actually done this, but it's actually genius. Um, they remove the batteries from their TV remote. So that they won't be as likely to go for that Netflix binge. It's like if you put another barrier in the way to the distraction, you're less likely to go sit on the couch and watch Netflix for two or three hours. And the other thing to do is if you're working on your computer for your dream, whatever your dream is, close all the tabs on your computer except the one that you're working on right now. Now I know it sounds extreme, but research shows that average office worker switches tasks or gets interrupted every three minutes. And it can take over 25 minutes to recover that deep focus. Holy cow, that is a lot of wasted time. But this is deeper than just losing time. Every time we let distractions run the show, we're teaching our brain that the world gets to interrupt our dreams, and it's time for us to say, Nope, not anymore. Okay. Step number five is to name your win before you begin. Here's what I'm talking about here. Before I dive into a focus session, I write down exactly what I plan to accomplish in crystal clear, measurable terms, so I do not write down. Work on the podcast, like what does that even mean? But I know what this means. Outline solo episode number, whatever it is, and come up with a title for it. Can you hear how specific that is? I know at the end of the focus session, if I accomplish that. Working on the podcast, I don't know. That's not measurable. And that leaves me feeling like, well, it's not done, it's not recorded. Why can't I work faster and just finish? Well, because that's not even realistic to do that in 90 minutes. So I'm not gonna write down working on my podcast. It's not specific enough. Here's another example. You could write down work on the book. It's the same thing, but instead of saying work on the book, you wanna write edit chapter three and finalize the ending scene. See very specific. You will know if you achieved that and if you stayed focused. And if you didn't, that's fine. Guess what you do? You schedule another focus session to finish. Yep. And so these are called process goals and they help you stay focused and feel the momentum because when you know where you're going, you don't waste time. Second guessing the path that you're on. So next time you sit down to work, ask yourself, what does success look like in the next 90 minutes? That's it. Put the blinders on. What does success look like in the next 90 minutes? And then you go after it like a tiger. All right, step number six to focus is to let it be easy. Uh, this is my saving grace when I'm tired or overwhelmed. Because sometimes even with all the structure in the world, you hit a wall, you get stuck, your brain fogs up, you spiral into overthinking, and when that happens, I have to take a breath and I have to ask myself, how can I make this easier? What's one tiny step that I can take? Or can I have a little chat with AI to help me out instead of spiraling or. Is there anything that I can delegate, delay, or delete? And now here is a great example from my business. I get asked to do presentations and workshops for different companies, and for a long time, my default was to create something totally new every single time. And let me tell you. That is not easy. It's time consuming. It's overwhelming, and frankly, it made me dread what should have been an exciting opportunity, and it took me a while to learn this lesson, but when I learned it, it changed everything because I realized, hey, I've already created so many workshops and presentations that really work that are impactful. Why not pitch those ideas again? Oh my gosh. It just seems so obvious, right? And you know what? When I did, they always land and it turns out things that I've already created and delivered still have value. They're still helpful, they're still impactful. So now instead of reinventing the wheel, I go back to what I've already done and customize it for the specific audience. That part's easy. It's fun. It doesn't burn me out. So let me ask you this. How can you make the next step on your dream easier? Maybe it's reusing something that you've already built. Maybe it's saying no to something that's not aligned, or maybe it's allowing your work to be, uh, good enough instead of perfect. You know, whatever it is, give yourself permission to find ease, because ease isn't cheating. It's smart, and honestly, it's what makes our dreams sustainable. Alright. The final and seventh step is to take a real break. Mm-hmm. Here's the deal. Your brain is a muscle. And like any muscle, it needs recovery. I am learning about this from my aura ring. I have been terrible about recovery, uh, just in general in my life. And I have to tell you, this last month I've been doing really good. It's been telling me you've been taking breaks, throughout the day, which means that your resting heart rate is where it needs to be at night so that you can sleep better. But here's the trap about taking breaks. Most of us think we're taking a break when we're actually just switching tabs, like we're scrolling on Instagram. Mm. Not a break. Uh, we're thinking about work while we're doing the dishes. Yeah. Still not a break or we start a new project. Mm, no, not a break either. A real break is when you disconnect from the task and give your brain actual space to breathe. And I get it. It seems counterintuitive to take a break when there's work to be done, but taking regular breaks, it actually boosts your memory. Your creativity and your concentration, because when you push through without rest, you're not being productive. You're just pushing yourself toward burnout. You will experience more stress, more exhaustion, and lose the ability to do your best work breaks help refuel and refresh your mind, and that allows you to maximize your efficiency. I want you to know something. Taking a break doesn't make you lazy and it is not putting you behind. It's actually moving you forward and taking a break is not something you should feel guilty about. And yeah, success. It requires hard work, but it also requires smart work. You have to take a break or you'll burn out if you don't. Now rest looks different for everyone. So sometimes it means taking the day off or blocking time for a walk outside or going to your favorite workout class. That's a big one for me. Um, or taking a quick nap, whatever helps you recharge and reset. That's what you should do. When you finish a focus session. Don't skip this step. And if you need to take a break during a focus session, if you notice that you are losing focus, that is your sign that you need to take a real break. Do not scroll on your phone. Do not go to the tv. Do not start texting. Take a real break. Get up, move your body. Go outside. Stretch, drink water. Pet your dog. Talk to a plant. It doesn't really matter. And then come back, because here's the secret. A break isn't breaking the routine. It is the routine. Okay, we're gonna wrap up here and I wanna leave you with this, especially if you've been feeling scattered and tired or like you can't follow through on the projects that matter most. It's not that you're lazy or that you're broken, or that you're unmotivated. You probably just don't have a focus rhythm yet. But after listening to this episode, now you do. So go ahead, steal this, steal my focus routine, make it yours, tweak it, play with it. Add your own touches. Because here's the truth that no one talks about, is you can't go after your dreams if you're not focused. It is not enough to want your dream, whether that's writing your book or launching your business, or changing careers or creating more art or more peace or more meaning in your life. Dreams don't grow in scattered energy. They need your presence. They need your care, and they need your time. And most of all, they need your focus. So this seven step routine is about more than productivity. It's about giving your dreams, the structure they need to actually come to life one focused hour at a time. So wherever you are today, just know this. Your dream is still possible and it's waiting for you to come back to it with focus and clarity.

Carlene 22:02

Alright, my sweet friend Thank you so much for being here with me today. And remember your dreams. They are waiting for you and your time. It's now and I'll be back next week. Ready to welcome you to our next conversation. Oh, and one more thing. This is the legal language. You know, the stuff that the lawyers put together, and they say that I need to read this to you. So here we go. This podcast is presented solely for educational and entertainment purposes. I'm just your friend. I'm not a licensed therapist. This podcast is not intended as a substitute for the advice of a physician, professional coach, psychotherapist, or other qualified professionals. Got it? Good. I will see you in the next episode.