Mindfulness and Productivity

Mindfulness and meditation have been a part of India’s culture since time immemorial. Mindfulness has the power to improve the way one thinks, feels, and behaves. It is sometimes referred to as “staying in the moment” or being completely conscious of the here and now. A mindful person does not dwell on the past or constantly worry about the future but rather focuses on the betterment of the present. It improves various aspects of one’s life, including decision-making, problem-solving, and efficiency. 3 factors are considered essential to be mindful. They are – 

• Attention: Staying in and focusing on the present
• Awareness: Being conscious of your thoughts, feelings, surroundings, and environment.
• Non-judgement: Not labelling any experience as either good or bad but rather interpreting it as a learning opportunity for overall growth and betterment

All these aspects contribute to increased productivity. Productivity in today’s world can be described as one’s ability to work functionally and effectively and produce meaningful outcomes. All of us face various obstacles when it comes to being productive. Some of these obstacles include juggling multiple things at the same time or multitasking, digital distractions like social media and mindless scrolling, overwhelmingness, burnout, and fatigue.

Read More: Psychology behind Productivity

How Does Mindfulness Affect Productivity?

Improves Memory

Studies have shown that practising mindfulness regularly helps to improve working memory. Working memory can be described as the type of memory that stores the received information temporarily. Once this information in the working memory is paid attention to or made sense of, it moves to short-term memory. Mindfulness tends to give you more control over your thoughts and therefore over your feelings, emotions, and behaviour. This control over your thoughts further helps to avoid distractions, increasing productivity.

Increases Concentration

Mindfulness training can prevent your mind from wandering and losing focus. In today’s world where our concentration has been reduced to 30 seconds of vertical content, mindfulness becomes an essential practice to inculcate. It helps to return to the state of focus after distractions, aids in prioritizing tasks and avoids hindrance. One can focus better in the present and they are aware of their surroundings. This focus is essential to develop a workflow and stay on top of all your tasks, thus enhancing productivity.

Read More: 10 Meditation Techniques Everyone can (and should) Explore

Promotes Active Listening

We have often heard the phrase ‘listen to understand, not to respond’. You grasp the information that is presented to you when you listen to it. One must value their current interactions rather than only focusing on what they want to say. When one is fully present in the conversations around them, it reduces misunderstanding, improves interpersonal relationships, and fosters better collaboration. All these qualities are essential to maintaining a productive environment, both internally and externally. Mindfulness, thus, is very essential in professional settings and personal life. 

Emotional Regulation

When people are aware of their feelings, it is easier to control them and regulate them according to requirements and the environment. Productivity is usually a trait required in the workplace, where various issues like frustration, anger, and disagreements might arise. All these problems might cloud one’s judgment and make one react poorly to any circumstance. Recognizing your emotions and accepting them without any judgment helps to maintain composure. Taking three deep breaths before entering your boss’ office might work wonders.  

Fosters Work Engagement

Promoting the state of flow to maintain energy and enthusiasm as well as to stay immersed in what one is doing, fosters work engagement, therefore increasing productivity. It also enhances individual well-being since the flow state usually occurs when you are engaged in an activity you like. Furthermore, it improves clarity and attentiveness, making the individual more engrossed and occupied in their activity. In the state of the workflow, people are more authentic to their work and showcase their true selves in their work. It helps them to make conscious decisions and keep themselves engaged in their work-related activities.

Read More: The Connection Between Mindfulness and Flow

Happiness and Overall Well-being

There are two types of happiness in general – hedonic and eudaimonic. Hedonic happiness includes experiences of pleasure and joy, while eudaimonic happiness focuses on living a self-actualized and fully functional life. Mindfulness has been shown to promote both kinds of happiness in individuals. ‘Mindfulness to Meaning’ theory establishes that once one is more aware and centred on their thoughts and feelings, they become more adaptive towards various situations. To be productive, one needs to adapt to a diverse environment and still maintain good work and productivity.

Read More: The Neuroscience of Happiness

Time Management

Mindfulness also helps to cultivate effective time management skills that are very essential in the productivity of an individual. Practising mindfulness regularly encourages you to realize the crucial tasks you need to take care of first and move forward accordingly. One of the most effective activities to stay mindful regarding your tasks is the ‘to-do matrix.’ In this activity, you categorize your tasks in four categories – urgent and important (priority 1), not urgent and important (priority 2), urgent and not important (priority 3, as they can be delegated), and not urgent and not important (priority 4). In this manner, one can manage their tasks and complete them efficiently without feeling overwhelmed.

Read More: The Psychology of Time Management and Its Importance

Promotes Single-tasking

Multi-tasking is often discouraged due to various reasons. Some of them include easy distractions, divided attention, increased number of errors, and reduced performance efficiency. When you are single-tasking, you focus better and are completely present to understand and execute your task. It further helps to improve the quality of your work and therefore increases productivity, since all your cognitive resources are focused on a single task. Effective time management and prioritizing activities are also essential skills here.

Boosts Creativity

When the human mind is free from distractions and stress, creativity flourishes. With continuous and regular practice of mindfulness, a mental space is created for novel ideas and their effective execution. Creativity requires divergent thinking, which includes coming up with various solutions and ideas for a single problem. One cannot think divergently if their mind is cluttered or preoccupied with other thoughts. When you are creative, you find various ways to showcase your peak performance, increasing productivity. 

Better Performance

All the above qualities that are cultivated with the help of mindfulness help in driving an individual to peak performance. In a workplace, mindfulness will help you to focus better on the allotted task and enhance performance as a result. The decision-making is also strengthened, increasing self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is the belief of an individual in their abilities to achieve their desired goal. Mindfulness helps in prioritizing tasks and focusing your attention on what is crucial. Along with improvement in decision-making, it also aids in reducing errors, leading to enhanced performance at work.

Mindfulness Techniques to Enhance Productivity

Mindful Breathing

This is a simple exercise where you deliberately pay attention to your breath as it flows in and out of your body. All other factors and distractions around you are minimized when you focus only on one thing. Here, you sit comfortably with your back straight and without any support. Now, close your eyes to eliminate the visual distractions and focus on inhaling and exhaling. If you feel your mind wandering, gently bring your attention back to focus on the breathing pattern. 5-7 minutes of this exercise every day can aid in increasing mindfulness. It calms your mind and reduces stress.

The Raisin Exercise

For this exercise, you can pick up any edible item with a different texture (like raisin). Now, you pay attention to the object and focus on how it feels when you hold it, what it looks like, its smell, its taste, and your skin’s response to it. This exercise aims to increase your attention on the object in front of you, promoting mindfulness. This activity can be done individually, from the comfort of your home, in group settings, and with a facilitator. A facilitator can help better with this experience by guiding you through every step of the way.

Body Scan

The body scan is a great exercise and activity for relaxation, reducing stress, and increasing focus and concentration. In this activity, one pays a great deal of attention to every part of their body, one after the other. It begins with making yourself comfortable on a chair or lying on your back. Now, a facilitator is needed to guide you through this process of body scan. They ask you to be aware of your breath, the feelings on your skin, the texture of the surface you are lying on, and the feeling of your clothes against your skin. The facilitator also asks you to pay attention to every body part individually and note its sensations. The body scan starts from the toes, knees, and thighs and gradually moves up to the face and head. This activity makes you composed and reduces stress.

The Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro technique is a very useful technique used to maintain focus and keep up productivity. It includes taking mindful breaks to avoid getting overwhelmed and distracted, enhancing effectiveness. Here, one works with their utmost concentration for around 20 to 25 minutes and then gives themselves a break for 5 minutes. In these 5 minutes, they do mindful breathing, stretch their body, and observe their surroundings. This break is very essential for the brain to function properly. It helps prevent burnout and sustains the focus and energy of an individual. It might also enhance the workflow.

Mindful Seeing

This exercise can be done individually or with the help of a facilitator. Visual stimuli are required for some to foster mindfulness. For this, you can find a window with a view. Then, you are asked to observe everything you can see. It includes all the objects, their colours, textures, patterns, and more. Do not fixate on one thing. Move your eyes around and be observant of the surroundings. It can be easier to get distracted when you have multiple stimuli in your area of vision. When you notice yourself getting distracted, gently pull your attention back to observation of the things around you and your surroundings. This activity helps to reduce tension by taking a mindful break. It will help you to focus better and ultimately be more productive.

Pitfalls of Mindfulness

Where there is good, there is bad too, and therefore, there are a few pitfalls to mindfulness. Not everyone has the liberty to focus their attention on the present and not think about the past or the future. 

• Mindfulness can result in disrupted sleep due to a constant state of heightened awareness. This state can give rise to overthinking and overanalyzing every little detail.
• It can lead to emotional problems in those with unresolved trauma and underlying feelings. Mindfulness may act as a trigger to their emotion.
• These days, mindfulness can be seen turning into a superficial trend and its true meaning is lost behind this commercialization and high cost, which is not affordable for everyone.
• Mindfulness is a process that requires time and effort. When people do not see the results immediately, they tend to discontinue the practice and see it as ineffective. 
• This process might make individuals think more and act less. If one is always fully immersed in being mindful, they may not take the necessary actions required from them. 

Conclusion

Mindfulness can be described as the ability of a person to ‘stay in the moment’. Mindfulness can work as a great tool to enhance productivity. Various studies have found that introducing mindfulness training at the workplace has shown a difference in the productivity of the employees. It helps in various ways, like, effective emotional regulation, encouraging active listening, time management, work performance, boosting, creativity, memory, and concentration. Mindfulness can be fostered with the help of different activities like the Pomodoro technique, body scan, the raisin exercise, mindful seeing and breathing, etc. Mindfulness also has pitfalls including sleep disruptions, emotional problems, and time consumption. It is essential to choose these practices wisely and incorporate them to improve focus, achieve a calmer mind, and lead a productive life.