Software startup guys (and gals, I presume) have a real tendency to get distracted. You are idea people and you tend to have lots of energy. So trying to build a software startup as a side job is especially challenging.

For example, my day is broken up into two parts: Technical work and Entrepreneurial work. My day typically begins at 5am with writing ASP.NET software which includes javascript, CSS, HTML, and C#. This has nothing at all to do with entrepreneurial stuff.

The second half of the day begins around 2pm. This time is for doing marketing, writing blog posts, podcasting, or working with business partners. Again, it’s pretty intense work that has nothing at all to do with software development.

Without some method of getting focused quickly one of two things can happen quite easily: 1. Only one kind of work gets done (bad), or 2. I’m working late into the night (very bad). The first is hell on the startup; the second is hell on the family, and we cannot have that.

So here’s the steps I take to get focused quickly to get everything done:

1. Eliminate all Realtime Status Updates — Make all of the following go away:

• Email
• Instant Messaging
• Twitter
• Anything else on the desktop that can update you about what’s going on in the outside world.

2. Write Down What You Plan To Do FIRST– Write just enough detail so you can focus without stopping. It is vital that you do this before you start working so, if you need to look up something online, you can do it quickly and get right back to work.

3. Set a Time Limit — This is a biggie and works wonders. When I do this it makes me stop analysing, researching, and planning and get to work. It is amazing what placing limits on yourself can do. If you have to, use a stopwatch. Set it for, say, 2 hours. Decide to get up and walk away when that watch goes off no matter what. It’s hard the first seven times. But on the eighth time it gets easy. Trust me. Get up and walk away even if it is for two minutes and you have to come back and shut the computer off, or whatever you do to stop working. Walking away helps me because I usually need about a 2 – 5 minute “cool down” period before stopping any particular work. So set the watch and GO. Start working as fast as you can.

This routine takes practice but, if you give it just seven days, you have so much momentum you’ll never want to go back.

Good luck and happy executing!