Mindfulness practice to Improve your Productivity

The best way to capture moments is to pay attention. This is how we cultivate mindfulness - Jon Kabat-Zinn

Mindfulness has become a new normal these days. Mindfulness is living in the moment and understanding what we are doing without any judgment.

It’s a natural human tendency to multi-task to manage your busy schedules, like talking over the phone while shopping, listening to music while eating. While rushing to finish your mandatory tasks, you don’t realize that you are missing the present moment and are not focusing on what you are doing right now.

Mindfulness is the practice of deliberately bringing your attention to the present moment and accepting it without judging it if it is “right” or “wrong”. It can be practiced in different ways with the ultimate goal of refocusing the mind on the existing moment.

Practicing mindfulness benefits both personal and professional lives. Research shows that mindfulness at work increases the ability of the individual to work under stress by improving their focus and attention. It helps in increasing your productivity at work by achieving more within the stipulated time without letting you feel stressed out.

Ways to boost your productivity at work by practicing Mindfulness:

Below are the ways to boost your productivity at work by practicing Mindfulness:

1.???Give your day a good start:

The first hour of our day shows a significant impact on the rest of the day. So always make sure to have a good beginning so that you can make the rest of your day more productive.

Practice meditation daily at least for 10-15 minutes as soon as you wake up. This helps you gain focus and maintain calm by controlling your thoughts.??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????Meditation can be practiced by self or by learning and following the instructions from books or videos. But practicing meditation under the supervision of a professional is always advisable as they guide us in the right way.

Make sure to meditate in a distraction-free environment to gain more benefit. Initially, you might feel difficulty in concentrating but regular practice makes it possible and easy.

Daily workout or Yoga to maintain your physical health and eating nutritious breakfast, avoiding negative thoughts are more important to keep you focused and active throughout the day.

1.???One task at a time, no multi-tasking :

Multitasking has become mandatory these days to accomplish the necessary tasks managing your busy schedules. People assume that working on different tasks at a time saves time but that’s not true.

Multitasking consumes 40% more productive time of the individual compared to working on a single task. It also leads to stress and burnout, decreases the overall efficiency, and lack of motivation, all these resulting in decreased quality and productivity.

So to be more productive, it is advisable to focus on a single task at a time instead of switching between tasks. So focus on one task at a time and move to the next task only after completing the current task as it helps you to maintain focus and attention.

2.???Take a break, if you feel distracted:

It is almost impossible for any individual to maintain continuous focus at work as they come across many distracting factors like an argument with a colleague or any other personal issue.

Working continuously without taking sufficient breaks results in stress and exhaustion reducing your productivity as it hampers concentration. Taking timely breaks helps to maintain concentration that in turn increases productivity.

So may it be working from the office or working from home, it is important to take breaks on time which refreshes and recharges you to be more attentive and active.

Have a rubber band on your wrist and if any time you feel distracted, snap that rubber band so that you can instantly get back into the moment.

You can work on your favorite hobby during break time so that you can feel relieved instantly and can start working afresh again. For instance listening to the music you like the most, spending time with your family/pets, taking a walk, etc.

3.???Avoid distractions at the workplace :

Distraction at the workplace might be anything; attending personal calls, chit chat with a colleague, or surfing the internet. These activities reduce productivity by deviating your focus. Focusing on your work and work-related discussions yields good results in performance.

Make it a habit to turn off the notifications on your mobile phone and to keep it in silent mode while at work.

Don’t browse social networking sites at the workplace as they create more distractions and waste a lot of your time without your notice.

Take care of personal calls during the break time only unless there is an emergency.

4.???Prepare a to-do list for the next day:

We have already discussed that it is important to start your day with certain activities to make it more productive. Similarly, it is also important to end your current day by following a few rituals/habits.

Before you leave office:

Quickly review how your day has been so far and prepare a plan to make the next day better than today. Prepare a task list for tomorrow by prioritizing the tasks based on their importance, urgency, and duration to finish the task.

Start your day with the most important and demanding tasks as you feel more active during the start of the day followed by medium priority work. Then keep the low-priority tasks for the rest of the day.

Make a list of pending tasks if any and make sure to finish them the next day without fail to avoid piling up on work.

Conclusion:

Mindfulness at work will not only help you stay well balanced and feel better; it will also improve your productivity and help you get desired results.?It is common for humans to get stuck in the past or worry about the future ignoring the present. They tend to forget the fact that “now” is only the actual life that we have and can experience. So it is most important to live in the moment to make our life more meaningful.