How to Stay Focused When Your Small Business is Chaos (because it always is)

We can get a little verbose when we start talking about topics we love. So this one turned into two very easily. Prefer to listen on Spotify? We got you with staying focused episode one and episode two.

As your marketing besties, we owe it to you to be honest.
If you feel unfocused in your business, it’s probably because you are unfocused.

There are roughly 23,525 million things to do (on average) when you’re running a small business. Even your color-coded to-do lists, five planners, and 32 tabs can’t save you from the overwhelm. Most days, it still feels like you’re juggling flaming swords while riding a unicycle, and failing miserably at it.

But friend, we’ll be the first to tell you that we hear you and we experience this chaotic feeling alllll the time. That’s why in this post, we’re digging into what’s actually behind that distracted, scattered feeling, and sharing ways we pull ourselves out of the chaos and back into focus.

Why staying focused feels impossible

Let’s start with the obvious: the world is fighting for your attention.

Your phone buzzes every three minutes. You get Slack pings, email notifications, and “urgent” client texts at all hours. It’s no wonder your brain feels like a browser with 85 tabs open and 4 of them playing music you can’t find.

Here are some of the biggest culprits stealing your focus:

1. Constant task switching

You’re not crazy. Running a small business means you’re switching hats all day long, creating social posts as the marketer, then crunching numbers as the accountant, then next you’re the customer service rep talking an unhappy customer down, and then the toilet clogs and you’re the janitor, before you finally hop on a call as the CEO. But every time you shift gears, your brain loses momentum. It’s like restarting your engine over and over again. And once you task switch, it’s really hard to get focus back.

2. Overload (not laziness)

You’re not lazy, you’re overloaded. When your to-do list has 47 “must-do” tasks and you only check off half, it can feel like you accomplished nothing. That “analysis paralysis” creeps in when everything feels equally important….and then suddenly you freeze.

3. Accountability pressure

No one’s telling you what to do or when to do it. You’re the boss and the employee. That’s empowering but also terrifying. When you’re the only one keeping yourself on track, focus can slip through the cracks.

Ever heard of Parkinson’s Law? “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” It’s never been more true for us than when we’ve got a bunch of stuff to do, but it’s 85 and sunny, and the outdoors are calling to us.

4. Life insanity

Losing your focus isn’t always about tech or attention span.

Sometimes you’re unfocused because life is happening. Family stuff, health stuff, burnout, stress, these are the realities of being human. Your brain can’t hold all that and still expect to be in full creative CEO mode.

We’ve been through some really hard seasons, and when those tough times hit, no blog post is going to help you focus. You need to care for yourself and work on your own healing. Period.

5. Shiny object syndrome

Many entrepreneurs are dreamers. You get a new idea, a new tool, a new strategy every other day, and suddenly you’re building out 12 new projects before finishing one. Sound familiar?

Here’s the hot take: it’s easier to start something new than to do the deep, often boring work of finishing something that’s 70% done. The shiny object is sooooo much more fun!

If you’re constantly chasing the new shiny object or juggling a million ideas, tasks, and tabs, we’ve got you covered in our monthly newsletter. Sign up below!

It’s time to recenter your focus

Here’s the truth: you can’t do everything, but you can do the next most important thing.

When your brain feels scattered, zoom out. Remember why you started this business. What was the goal? What’s the “main thing” right now?

Ask yourself these questions:

• What’s the actual goal I’m working toward today?

• What’s the one thing I can complete that will move the needle?

• Am I chasing outcomes or just tasks?

If you haven’t figured out your north star yet, pause everything and do that first. Because if you don’t know where you’re headed, it’s easy to confuse motion with progress.

Keep the main thing the main thing

You don’t need to do more, better, and new all at once. You need to do the right thing, right now. Focus on what’s urgent and important, not what’s shiny and exciting.

Focus on outcomes, not tasks

If you pivot mid-day but it still moves you toward your bigger goal, that’s not failure—it’s strategy. Always come back to the outcome that matters most.

(Example: If your top goal is lead generation, it’s okay to shift from client work to building a killer proposal deck if that’s what moves you forward.)

How we stay focused (most of the time)

Optional: Come up with your own pre-fight ritual to get the blood flowing.

Real talk: we don’t have it all figured out. But here are a few of our favorite ways to stay out of the overwhelm spiral:

• One tab at a time. When we’re writing or doing deep work, that’s the only thing open. Email can wait. Checking social media can wait. One tab is all we need.

• No meeting days. We keep two days a week meeting-free for deep work. Don’t even try to holler at us on Wednesdays or Fridays. Those are sacred days at BBM, and we do our best to keep our client calls to only Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.

• Time blocking. We schedule dedicated chunks for specific tasks, not vibes-based “work.” Each month, we have a newsletter block where we plan and start creating the BBM newsletter, and anything that we need to deliver to our clients.

• Focus tools. We use PM tools, to-do lists, and shared notes. We like Trello and Slack, but to be honest, the tool doesn’t matter as much as getting it out of your head. Pen and paper are still the best focus tools we have!

• Phone boundaries. Leave it in another room, use focus mode, and only pick it up with intention.

• Task hierarchy. We like to create a list each morning that outlines:

• 1 non-negotiable priority (this is the thing that must get done)

• 2 important tasks (not urgent, but important and would really be great to do)

• 3 life tasks (nice if it gets done, but we’ll live to see another day if they don’t)

• Capture ideas, don’t chase them. When something new pops up, write it down and get back to what you’re doing. The best ideas for us tend to come when we move our bodies, whether that’s walking, doing yoga, or lifting weights. So we share voice notes and drop cryptic messages in Slack channels so we can chase down the train of thought more intentionally later.

• Ask yourself: “What’s the next most important thing?” and “What can I finish in the next hour that’ll make me feel accomplished?” Constantly reassessing your priorities can help you manage a workload that’s always shifting.

BBM Note: Building a business isn’t about getting everything done today. It’s about knowing what deserves your focus today so you can build momentum over time.

When overwhelm hits, shift your mindset

You can’t out-plan chaos, but you can change how you think about it.

Try these reminders when the spiral hits:

• I’m not going to get everything done today.

• Building takes time; I’m not in this for an overnight miracle.

• What’s the next most important thing?

• What one task can I finish before the end of the day?

• It’s okay to leave work on my desk and call it done.

You don’t need more apps; you need focus

Running a small business feels chaotic most of the time, but you can learn to thrive in it.
Keep your eyes on your north star, finish the thing that matters, and remember: you’re building something big, bad, and worth staying focused on.