Mindfulness Makes You More Productive
"I don't have time" is a counterproductive lie. Stop believing it.
What if it was plainly obvious to you what was a waste of time and what deserves your time, energy, and attention?
What if you had a rule of thumb that could make all of the decisions in your life for you?
Working 1:1 with me, you will learn, articulate, and abide by your top priority so that you can be true to your heart and spend more time and energy doing what you care about most with the people who inspire you.
By learning your unique design, we create a guide for your future. You will learn new skills and build a new path forward that can guide you through any storms coming.
Inquiry → Teaching → Building
Set up a consult to clarify what the most important decision is for you every day, the decision that makes the rest of your decisions for you.
Mindfulness, embedded within a culture and values system, will lead to more productive and more fulfilled people.
The excuse, "we don't have time" for mindfulness needs to be flipped on its head: You don't have enough time to NOT practice mindfulness.
Before you read on, stop, and breathe. Close your eyes, put one hand on your chest, the other on your belly, and feel your body expand as you inhale, and contract as you exhale. Once you feel like you’ve disrupted the beta wave momentum of jumping from one thing to the next, stay with it a bit longer. Once you think, “I’ve had enough”, take three more breaths.
I’m very serious.
Take a moment and claim a pause for yourself before continuing, and let your mind catch up with your body - or vice versa.
There is always time to pause, breathe, and remember what you care about and why you might be engaging in a specific task.
What were you rushing ahead to do anyways?
Stress & Productivity
The practice of pausing before jumping into a task is powerful for many reasons. if you were in an elevated state when you sat down at your desk, it helps to organize your thoughts. Insights can emerge as you count 10 breaths. Your body and mind can relax and stress can begin to dissipate.
“Stress negatively impacts work productivity, company culture, and an organization's ability to meet its business goals. Job stress makes employees more prone to error, poor work performance, mental health issues, burnout, and conflict in the workplace.”
People who manage stress levels think more clearly and work more effectively. They know how to prioritize their work better and can think more strategically. It doesn’t even take a total cultural overhaul to get there, although the impacts of a more mindful work environment will certainly shift your culture.
Do you work reactively or proactively?
Think about it: You sit down at your desk: what do you do first? Hear from a distracted co-worker? See if there is an email from a boss or customer that needs your immediate attention?
Most people start their workdays reactively, not proactively. When you do this, you forfeit your personal agency and authority immediately. You are no longer in charge.
What if, instead, you put on headphones, and listened to relaxing music while doing a simple box-breathing technique? (Full explanation and practice session here) What if, as you executed the technique, you had an affirmation or intention statement that you repeated to program your work day?
From Forbes,
“Dr. Michael Woodward, author of The YOU Plan, echoes the need to take several mindful minutes at the beginning of your day: ‘Don’t allow yourself to be bum-rushed by frantic co-workers lost in their own confusion. It’s not unusual to wake up to a long backlog of e-mails just screaming for your attention. The challenge is taking a moment for yourself before diving head first into your day.’”
Think about the movie Braveheart, and the infamous, “Hold!” scene. The English Army was charging, hard and fast. The Scottish response had to be timed perfectly. (It’s a bit gruesome or I would share the link, feel free to YouTube it if you need a refresher).
The English soldiers are like your co-workers and emails trying to knock you off your plan for the day. Not only are you inviting distraction, but you are also opening yourself up to chaos.
Steady.
It requires and builds restraint to sit down at your desk, even (especially) if you’re late, and say,
“The best way for me to accomplish my tasks and execute the core functions of my job is to make sure that I am in an optimal state of mind. Everything else can and has to wait.”
It’s 3 minutes, maybe 5. Everything can wait 3 minutes.
So, how do organizations build a culture where this is encouraged?
First, during any initial programming phases of new hires, model a mindful approach often. Begin meetings with 3 minutes of breathing. People may be running from one meeting to another and these practices help the mind and body transition more seamlessly.
You could even have a mini questionnaire as people begin their workday: How would you rate your current state of mind? What is your top priority for today? Did you do your breathing?
Some people will roll their eyes, at first. Building habits takes time and will, individually and organizationally.
Invest in longer “mindful breaks” where folks relax and do practices like non-sleep deep rest (NSDR) or Yoga Nidra. Focus on scientifically validated results and practices to avoid resistance on spiritual bases. Yoga Nidra, or NSDR works to systematically relax the body, extend exhales to calm the nervous system and lower heart rate, and often involves visualizations or inquiries into the unconscious mind.
NSDR actually improves your capacity to focus.
“On the Huberman Lab podcast, Dr. Huberman explains that practicing NSDR has “neurochemical replenishing effects.” Specifically, NSDR can restore levels of dopamine, aka the motivation molecule. Dopamine deals with drive and determination, helping to concentrate when you need to. “NSDR can reset our ability to engage in the world in a way that’s very deliberate,” says Dr. Huberman.”
Even 10 -12 minutes can make a huge difference.
A Little Goes a Long Way
Bottom line, mindfulness should be a core value and should permeate every email, meeting, and interaction. This doesn’t require a total overhaul. It’s little moments, stacked, linked together, across people and teams, that begin to embed the value.
If you can encourage your people to take time to themselves each morning before jumping into their day, they will be more focused and have a clearer set of practical priorities to guide their focus throughout the day.
This will lead to more productive and more fulfilled employees.