You may have heard of mindfulness and dismissed it as nothing more than the latest hippie trend. However, mindfulness as a technique can actually be hugely useful at home and at work. Amongst other huge benefits, such as reducing stress, it can help you to increase your productivity levels. Here’s how.
The Mindfulness Boost for Productive Living
By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try, the world is beyond winning.– Lao Tzu
By improving your focus
If you are easily distracted, then mindfulness can help you to focus on the task at hand. Regular meditation practices will teach you how to shut out distractions and narrow down your focus to just one single object. This will help you to get more done without pausing for myriad things you don’t need to think about.
By helping you to plan
One of the key elements of mindfulness is to focus on the present time, rather than worrying about the future or the past. This can seriously help with sticking to a to-do list. If that sounds like a contradiction, it isn’t. Rather than getting overwhelmed by all of the things that you need to do, you will be better at breaking them down into individual components which you can complete one at a time. This will help you to get tasks done quicker, rather than stopping you from getting anything done while you worry about how it will all fit in.
By making you more rested
Many of us struggle to sleep because we simply have too much to think about. When that major project needs to be done sooner rather than later, it’s easy to stay up all night tossing and turning. The only thing this causes is an inability to focus in the morning with a tired brain, leading you to get even less done. Mindfulness can help you to shut down your thoughts and get that much-needed rest. After a good night’s sleep, your productivity levels will shoot up.
By making you more creative
Studies done at Leiden University in the Netherlands revealed that those who practice mindfulness can become more creative. This leave you receptive to new ideas and creative solutions to help you make your projects flow more smoothly. Being more creative can help you to get projects completed ahead of time or to make them even more successful than initial projections. It can also help you problem-solve major issues and surmount stumbling blocks without wasting time and resources. This is a huge boost for productivity.
By increasing your empathy
How does an increase in empathy help you to be more productive? First of all, it makes you more able to see things from others’ perspectives, which can help you to see and solve potential issues with your project. It can also help you to get along better with members of your team, and reduce conflicts. Because you are also feeling calmer, any conflicts which do arise can be settled peacefully, allowing the project to move ahead without disruption. This is very important for working in a team, and especially for motivating a team to work harder if you are a project leader.
By making you more positive
Mindfulness can help you achieve a more positive attitude. Rather than dwelling on or stressing out about problems, you will be focused on moving past them. You will be able to let go of stress and anxiety which might otherwise get in your way. Positive thinking is a key part of productivity, as it helps you to keep moving forward even when things get tough.
If you want to improve your productivity, you’d be hard pressed to find a better option than mindfulness.
