Meditation, that is what you need. I hear this a lot, especially lately.
Working from home or remotely isn’t new to me. Today, everyone else is working from home, that is new to me. I have always wished for that but never knew it would be so difficult to manage. I always believed, if everyone worked from home, they will value their time, our time and understand how more efficient they will become.
I forgot that, when working from home you go through phases – check out my blog on the 3 phases you go through when working from home – before you are fully efficient. That is why, everyone is very stressed today. Of course the pandemic effect is another factor contributing to stress, which also impacted me directly and led to more stress and sometimes inefficiency.
Working from home or remotely can be very difficult and stressful especially with family around. Many distractions and responsibilities add stress to our daily lives. Lately all the discussions are about that, many recommended meditation. Mental health is a must to maintain your stress level low and be able to handle the communication with others efficiently and of course perform better. I never realized it, but before the pandemic, I used to dedicate time for my mental health, without calling it so. Today, I am not, I don’t have time to, because of others. So I thought I would dedicate this blog post to explain more about the importance and benefits of meditation and suggest some exercises that will help you improve in no time. This blog is in collaboration with Bushra Khan RTT therapist. Find out more about her here.
Why is Meditation so Important When Working Remotely?
Meditation as defined by headspace.com ” isn’t about becoming a different person, a new person, or even a better person. It’s about training in awareness and getting a healthy sense of perspective. You’re not trying to turn off your thoughts or feelings. You’re learning to observe them without judgment. And eventually, you may start to better understand them as well.”
Meditation is not about shutting your mind, it is teaching it how to focus on one thing at a time even when there is chaos around. When you start meditating, you learn how to focus, you train your brain to focus on one thing and stop thinking about all the other things that are weighing you down. When you focus on a task, you will do it in a more efficient way and faster, you will therefore be more productive and be able to accomplish many tasks and feel less stressed. The mind cannot multitask.
So if you are always overwhelmed and feeling that none of your tasks are being done, on time, that is when you need to learn how to pay attention to one thing at a time and meditation is an amazing tool to help you learn how to focus.
What is amazing about meditation is that you can do it anywhere, there are tons of applications that can help you start gradually and make it a habit. Here are some meditation tips you can do every morning and night that Bushra shared with me to help you start your meditation journey and improve your mental health.
Morning Ritual
When you wake up in the morning, before leaving your bed, sit down, put your hand on your legs and repeat this breathing exercise 20 times.
Breathe through your mouth from the lower stomach, hold for 5 seconds and then breathe out.
Close your eyes and focus on your breathing, after some repetitions you will start feeling the bliss, that is when you apply gratitude. List your intentions for the day with the affirmations and feel that the tasks you have to do today are already accomplished and you are happy about that.
Say “I am so happy and grateful that I have successfully finished (list your tasks here)” you can also say “I am so happy and grateful that I have had such a productive day, I finished all my tasks on my to do list, I feel awesome”. By doing so, you are sending signs to the universe and you are telling your mind that throughout the day you will be focused on these tasks, and by feeling that they are already accomplished, you will be able to do them at ease in a calm way.
Then, you start thinking about the way or how you accomplish these tasks. Plan mentally, calmly, your way through. Bushra says that when you want to achieve something, it is based on 5% strategy and 95% mindset, your mindset is everything.
Night Ritual
One hour before going to bed shut down on external distractions, don’t listen to news, don’t go on social media, after all whatever you will sleep with you will be waking up with. So prepare a cup of tea, chamomile is a great one, sit on a chair outside, read a book you like, watch a movie you like, engage in actions that will relax you and calm you. If you are very stressed take a hot bath with salts and drink your chamomile tea.
When you get to bed, meditate for 10 min and focus on how amazing you feel after such a productive day. Think of the person you love or a pet and bring that face in front of you and during these 10 min sit with the feeling of love, gratitude, happiness. If you are still feeling nervous and aren’t able to sleep, put some meditation music in the background it will bring your mind to calmness and your brain waves will calm down. You can find meditation music on YouTube, try finding 30 min videos so that the music shuts down after 30 min.
While Working
If you are feeling overwhelmed or blocked while working, leave everything, get up and take some fresh air. You have reached your cut off point, don’t force yourself. Exercise deep breathing while walking for 15 min. After you are back at your desk, you will see everything with a fresh eye and work will flow. Don’t hesitate to take a break.
If you are the type that doesn’t do anything when you are overwhelmed and you complain a lot. Pick up one task, and just do it, don’t think a lot about it, just start.
My Experience with these Exercises
I have tried applying these tips recently, so I am still new here, but I can feel the difference. I am more focused and I am able to finish more tasks calmly. I am also able to say no to tasks that will overwhelm me or also schedule them in the future so my schedule isn’t overloaded.
The night before writing this blog, I had decided that I will publish this blog the next day. So I woke up early before anyone else so I can have my time and write it calmly. It didn’t happen as planned, but because I was focused and determined to finish this blog post, I decided not to open my phone and sit and write it down even if I was distracted. I also had temptations to open my phone and check my messages, maybe it was more like a habit, but I keep thinking that I needed to finish this blog post.
If you want to learn more about Meditation and how it can help you, I strongly recommend you dedicate time to read about it and the reviews of those who use it. When you are looking for a therapist to help you, no matter where you are around the world, contact Bushra, she will take you step by step through a process that will help you become more efficient and productive regardless of the distractions around you.
It gives me great satisfaction to write this last sentence, I hope these tips will help you become more efficient and have more time to enjoy life.
