Meditation at the workplace-the thought may seem impractical to you. You may be picturing your workplace right now and think that with all the added workload and pressure, making time to meditate is impossible. You wanted to find out ways to improve your performance and taking a break from work to meditate doesn’t sound like useful advice. Well you heard it right, meditation can benefit you in many ways, and one of them is improving your productivity.
Today’s business world is competitive. You need to have a combination of talent, intelligence, and excellent interpersonal skills if you wish to make an identity. But the added stresses and tight deadlines can adversely affect your performance. You get angry, start snapping on your colleagues, are unable to maintain focus and end up making mistakes that may cost you your job. There are unhealthy habits such as continually sitting for long times, gulping unhealthy snacks that affect your health; meditation has a solution to all of these.
How Can Meditation Benefit You at the Workplace?
1. The Secret to Better Sleep
Like our body, our mind needs to relax as well, that is why sleeping for 7 to 8 hours is considered vital. But as technology has become an integral part of our lives, and the routines are getting busier each day, we are depriving our brain of the rest it needs. Research has revealed that 1 in every 3rd American adult doesn’t get enough sleep. Lack of sleep can also make you irritable, and you may end up having fights with co-workers.
Meditation can improve your sleep patterns thereby enhancing your work efficiency and performance. A common reason behind the inability to sleep is the constant chaos that goes in our mind. From worrying about our job security to planning the next day’s tasks our brain doesn’t get time to doze off. Mindfulness enables you to quiet your mind. It’s one of the primary healthy lifestyle habit. As soon as the thoughts shut off and you feel the peace around you, it becomes easier for you to relax and sleep.
How does it work?
Lie down in your bed and focus on any aspect of your breathing, or repeat a specific word or a rhythm and focus on it. Do this a couple of times, and you will feel relaxed, the thoughts at the back of your mind will fade, and you will be able to sleep peacefully. This technique isn’t just for sleeping, but it can also help you maintain attention during the day at work. You can also listen to calming music, imagine a color or an image and use it as a point of centralization.
2. Reduces Anxiety and Stress
Just as the distractions adversely affect our sleep, they also lower our productivity. Work requires you to concentrate entirely, but the buzzing phones, flooding inboxes and disruptions all around you make it difficult for you to focus. Research shows that our attention spans are also getting shorter; the credit goes to our social-media-obsessed lifestyles of course. In such circumstances, it is hard to train your brain to live in the present.
Additionally, your job may demand you to complete several tasks at once, you are working on a presentation, and suddenly you have to find out another report and brief the boss. At the end of it all, you find yourself frantically running around the workplace to get everything done by the end of your shift.
Instead of working hard and still not achieving the results you want, work smart and practice mindfulness. When you have active control over your mind will be able to pay attention to one task at a time and streamline everything.
3. Help you to Regain Focus
If you aren’t able to think straight or your creativity is getting crushed or dealing with lack of focus, stop whatever you are doing for 5 to 10 minutes. If possible go to a quiet location as moving out of the stressful area for some time helps. To calm your mind, you can use the visualization technique. Close your eyes and think of any place that gives you a sense of pleasure and tranquility.
You need to feel the sensations as if you are there at the moment. Imagine the sun setting, feel the breeze touching your body, hear the soothing sound of waves, whatever helps you relax. Once you feel fresh and stress-free, open your eyes and focus on the present situation. You will feel a sense of positivity, and your brain will be much more active and responsive as a result you will notice a significant improvement in your performance.
4. Improves Listening Ability
Meditation also enables you to listen and analyze situations efficiently by allowing you to be aware of your surroundings. The ability helps you succeed in work life as the attentive body language leaves a good impression on your colleagues and moreover on your superiors. It also aids you in responding in a meaningful manner. Thus you perform well at presentations and meetings.
5. Benefits Your Social Life
Mindfulness also improves your social skills. Work requires you to participate in gatherings actively or meet clients over lunch/dinners. Such interactions can be nerve-wracking for some people, and they may get flustered. You can use the power of meditation as a stress-reliever before going for such gatherings. Once you are free of all that anxiety, your confidence will boost, and you will find yourself actively engaging in conversations and socializing.
6.Makes You Happy
Studies have indicated that when you meditate your mind releases chemicals that give you a sensation of happiness. And you know what they say happy employees are productive employees. It also boosts your creativity and improves problem-solving skills. When you feel relaxed, you are less prone to negativity, and therefore you refrain from indulging in conflicts and try to find solutions to problems. A lot of people don’t take constructive criticism positively; they may lash out or stop believing in themselves. Being mindful lets, you handle such situations tactfully; instead of getting upset you learn from your mistakes and improve the quality of work.
Owing to the enormous benefits of meditation many organizations are introducing meditative sessions and imparting knowledge to their employees. However, you must keep in mind that the activity requires persistence and consistency to achieve long-term benefits. So make meditation a part of your routine, and you will see the change yourself.
