How you react to things can greatly impact whether or not the outcome you seek in any given situation is achieved or lost. After all, reactivity and productivity are not necessarily synonymous with one another, and sometimes, the more reactive you are the less productive you can become. The solution, however, is simple: mindfulness. To be mindful means to be more aware of the different stimuli and occurrences that impact your life on a daily basis so that you might heed a more responsible reaction and incur a positive result. In our modern, non-stop world this can be very hard to do, which is why mindfulness must always be deliberate. Research has shown that actively training yourself to be more mindful can actually alter your brain in terms of how you engage with yourself, other people, and your career and environment. When done properly, mindfulness can help your brain automatically begin processing information in your prefrontal cortex, the rational part of the brain, rather than the limbic system which controls fight or flight reactions, allowing you to be more in control of your decisions and ultimately your life. So the question really is, how does one become more mindful? Well, we have the answers!
Practice Active Mindfulness For At Least10 Minutes Per Day
For a majority of people, the best time to do this is in the morning after you’ve first woken up and you’re still not at the point where all the stress and worries of the day have kicked in – but it can be done anywhere at anytime. All it takes is 10 minutes of stillness. You can listen to a guided mindfulness-training program or meditation session, and let it really harness your focus and bring greater awareness to your breathing, your body, and everything else around you; ultimately bringing you greater clarity.
Leave Yourself Time In The Mornings To Process Things
Your mind is much more creative, inquisitive, and focused first thing in the morning, so whether or not your do your mindfulness training first thing, you should still give yourself 30 minutes to an hour to just let yourself be. Don’t urgently check emails or start letting yourself fall into an immediate task. Instead, try to use this time to strategize your success for the day and communicate meaningfully with the important people in your life.
Shut Out Notifications
Every notification is a distraction, and can greatly hinder your focus if you have to stop every five seconds to read a new email or text – so try this instead. For just one week, turn off all your notifications and alarms for every app, and commit yourself to only checking/responding your apps and emails once an hour, or once every few hours if your job permits. By taking that added pressure off yourself, you’ll find yourself less stressed out and more capable to handle things as they come.
Only Do One Task At A Time
Though there are times for healthy multitasking, like eating while watching a movie, or sightseeing while riding a bike, multitasking has no place in the professional world. Countless professionals have reported the negative effects of multitasking on productivity and overall mental health. By letting yourself get overwhelmed by more than one task at a time, you are compromising your ability to really put your all into any one project, and leaving yourself in a position to always feel behind. Instead, any time you feel you mind begin to wander, simply tell yourself no, shut everything else out, and actively focus on what you were doing.
Schedule Your Mindfulness
Make an alarm that goes off every day, or mark it on your calendar or in your datebook, just make sure you actually schedule the time you wish to set aside for your mindfulness training so that you can hold yourself accountable for every missed session and can note your own progress as the weeks go on. If it helps, convince a friend or coworker to join you, and compare progress as you both embark on your journeys together. You owe it to yourself to make mindfulness a priority in your life, so start today.
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