A Serene Mind: Six Ways Meditation Can Make You More Productive
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"If the ocean can calm itself, so can you. We are both salt water mixed with air." -- Nayyirah Waheed, enigmatic 21st century poet. Some workers believe the best way to maximize productivity is to stay busy all the time. Yes, of course you need to stay focused, even driven at times. But I'd hope any regular reader of this blog would have realized by now that truly effective productivity involves more than just busywork--rest and reflection are also vital components. Now, I don't necessarily believe slow and steady wins the race (how many tortoises can really beat a hare in a footrace?), but just like quantity, hard work has a quality of its own. It's when you tweak hard work with smart work -- and never doubt you require both! -- that you win the productivity race. We all know that running around like Chicken Little accomplishes well, little. Sometimes, to induce effective productivity, you have no choice but to stop, drop everything a bit, and settle your heart, mind, and emotions. One way many workers do this--including the CEOs of major corporations--is using the ancient art of meditation. I'm not talking yoga here; meditation is simply a way to center yourself, grounding your emotions and flightiness. This can prepare you to do excellent, meaningful work benefitting everyone in your chain of production, from your ultimate superior to your downstream users. Let's look at six ways meditating just a few minutes a day can enhance productivity.
Modern business often doesn't support calm, reflective performance, but you still require such behavior in order to do your job well and benefit yourself and your organization. While meditation has some reputation for what James Randi calls "woo-wooâ silliness, it's much more useful than harmful, and can help you do your job better. Laura Stack, MBA, CSP, CPAE is an award-winning keynote speaker, bestselling author, and noted authority on employee and team productivity. She is the president of The Productivity Pro, Inc., a company dedicated to helping leaders increase workplace performance in high-stress environments. Stack has authored eight books, including FASTER TOGETHER: Accelerating Your Team's Productivity (Berrett-Koehler 2018). She is a past president of the National Speakers Association, and a member of its exclusive Speaker Hall of Fame (with fewer than 175 members worldwide). Stack's clients include Cisco Systems, Wal-Mart, and Bank of America, and she has been featured on the CBS Early Show and CNN, and in the New York Times. To have Laura Stack speak at an upcoming meeting or event, call 303-471-7401 or contact us online. |
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