Mind your Mind!

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Mind your Mind! / 019: 06 Dec 2020

The Mind is defined as that part of our brain that thinks – generates thoughts, feelings and memories – and most importantly for our working life, combines all cognitive faculties and generates intelligence. As knowledge-workers, we really need to nurture and take care of our mind. Our goals and objectives are typically about achieving a certain position in society or building wealth or losing weight. These objectives are achievable only if we take care of our thoughts, or ‘mind our mind’.

As humans, we live under an illusion of control. But what can we really control? Factors like age, career, relationships, investments or the economy occupy a large part of our mind, but in reality we can control only our mind’s response to these events. This ‘minding of our mind’ determines our progress in life, and our ability to live peacefully despite knowing that these events are out of our control. And that is the difficult part – Buddhist principles refer to ‘monkey mind’; a mind that is always unsettled, restless, capricious, whimsical, fanciful, dissatisfied, indecisive, or confused – so how do we gain some control, at least in our working life? This is the focus of this article, since as knowledge-workers, we need to bring our best states-of-mind to work consistently. While there are many management gurus and coaches and self-help books offering excellent advice on the topic, this article looks at simple, everyday hacks that one can employ, and which are easy to remember and practice. Read on! 

1.      ‘Me’ time – a.k.a. meditation

I compare this to the booting of our computers. For a few minutes before we start and end the day, all our positive thoughts, intentions and feelings need to be reaffirmed. I have personally felt the benefit of this ‘me’ time, especially during stressful times at work, when I can remain calm

2.      Resist and Delay impulsive response

Before responding to a nasty e-mail or provocative call, I delay my response for a while. Maybe the other person has a point, after all. Avoiding impulsive knee-jerk reactions cuts short a long chain of action-reaction-counteraction, and keeps us stress-free and ‘mindful’

3.      Stagger exciting and draining tasks

Doing tasks we love keeps us energised, while doing some others drain us of energy. If we do too many draining tasks in succession, our mind is not at its best. Sandwiching the draining tasks between the exciting ones has really helped me stay in the moment, and to ‘mind my mind’ better

4.      Empathise with the other person

Empathy is simple – as humans we can easily put ourselves in another’s position. This has helped me understand new perspectives, and get the best out of any conversation or meeting through better mindfulness. It also reduces stress, and helps delay impulsive responses

5.      Let go of grudges

As they say, forgive because it is for your own good. Holding grudges from past interactions – real or imagined – will always bias your perception and result in skewed decisions. Letting go of grudges is really liberating and empowering

6.      Just breathe deeply!

If you cannot remember any of the above, just remember to take a deep breath! Research has found that stress always impacts the way we breathe – we tend to take shallower and shorter breaths when we are stressed. It will always help you to calm down and stay mindful

To summarise, I quote the famous saying by Lao Tzu, “Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny.” It all starts with watching your thoughts, or ‘minding your mind’!

I hope you enjoyed reading this. Do write in with your comments and feedback – even if only a couple of words – to enrich this conversation. Warm regards, Krishnakumar.

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