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How Your Untamed Mind Affects Your Productivity

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Mindfulness and meditation

The human mind is always on the move, producing up to 100,000 thoughts per day, and in today’s busy world, your brain is bombarded with seven times as much stimuli as your grandparents experienced. Add to this the longer working hours, the traffic jams, the more distractions and the rising stress levels.

So what are the signs of an untamed mind? And how do we tame the craziness of our day to day life?

Here is a rundown and the answers below on how you can re-balance the wildness that disables you from producing the results that you desire.

 

What An Untamed Mind Looks Like

Monkey Mind meditationA mind, which is not content with existing in the present and jumps from thought to thought like a monkey that jumps from one tree to another, is known as an untamed mind or monkey mind. It gets easily distracted by the thoughts that pass through.

Buddha describes the agitated, easily distracted and incessantly moving behavior of ordinary human consciousness as the monkey mind.

 

 

How Your Productivity Is Affected

Productivity child studyMany people are so busy chasing a productive lifestyle that they often forget to sit back and think about their most important tool; the brain.

If you are a busy person, with a tight schedule and a lot of deadlines, you will generally send a lot of fight-or-flight signals to your brain, which will respond by being jumpy or scattered.

A bouncing mind fills you with anxiety and your thoughts sway from fear on one end to desire on the other and you are rarely able to focus on either for long.

An untrained mind is the most common productivity blocker and when it is pushed beyond its limit, the productivity gets affected. There are times when there are so many things to do and so many pulls on your attention that you just do not know what to do or where to start. You are not aware of your surroundings and you do not live in the present moment. This is due to untrained focus and you should learn to tune out your distractions, harness your mind and mental resources.

Switching between tasks frequently, doing several things at a time and not concentrating on the task you are doing now will only affect your work productivity and you cannot possibly do any of them to the best of your ability. You end up doing more, but the quality is compromised.

Your mind gets distracted with unimportant things and you tend to waste time and energy by concentrating on these unimportant things. This will cause stress, and a stressed out mind will not work effectively and this may further affect your productivity.

 

Meditation Will Help Tame Your Mind and Increase Your Productivity

meditating monk benefits of meditationYou can improve your productivity when your mind is at peace and this can be obtained with meditation. Meditation is a state of mind where you think about nothing and it provides clarity in thoughts that result in a blissful life.

Buddha has shown how meditation can tame the drunken monkeys in your minds and how they will grow more peaceful if you bring them into submission with a consistent practice of meditation. Regular practice of meditation will enhance your concentration power, creativity, focus, relaxation and mental faculties, which will lead to an increase in productivity.

Meditation helps you achieve mindfulness – the mental state of being completely aware of your surroundings and living in the present moment. Research shows that meditation can help you stay on task longer and be less distracted, and it also improves your memory and decreases stress.

 

Improve Your Focus and Productivity

staying focused and productiveBeing mindful will help you focus on the present moment and accept all that is around you. You do not worry about the past, future or anything that does not affect you in this moment. You will be able to accomplish more, in less time, because meditation will help you to focus on a task and tune out distractions. Being aware makes it easy to enjoy what you are doing and when you enjoy what you are doing, you give your best effort. Best efforts have far greater rewards than efforts you put when your attention is scattered.

With a focused mind you will learn to let go of non-essential activities that prevent you from taking your time and doing your best on the important things.

A clear mind knows what is important in life and what is a complete waste of time and energy, and this knowledge will help you break from the time-wasting activities.

 

How A Tamed Mind Works

tame mind zenA clear, tamed and focused mind promotes a sense of peace and well-being, which makes you feel good about everything you do, and this in turn increases motivation and happiness in doing your tasks.

Several scientific studies have proved that meditation reduces stress hormones and gains stability for the mind to focus, and it helps improve everything from productivity to severe depression.

 

Happier and healthier people are more productive and creative.

 

Increase your productivity by controlling the incessant chatter that goes on in your heads, which if unchecked, can drive you nuts.

Reduce stress and increase your focus with meditation and this will improve your productivity as well as your efficiency.

Avoid the ineffective practice of multi-tasking and enjoy life at a more relaxed pace and get everything done effectively.

Something that really helps me is to build healthy habits and new routines to help keep me focused and my mind clear and calm.

Incorporating the following into your morning will set a productive tone for the rest of your day and help to keep your mind clutter free.

– Prioritise your ‘to do’ list

– Meditate

– Exercise before you start on your ‘to do’ list for the day

– Eat a well balanced breakfast before you do anything!

Creating new habits won’t always feel natural or easy at first but if you keep persisting they will become part of your day and start to work their magic to create a clearer mind and a more productive lifestyle.

 

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Charlene Barry is the fun loving founder of This Is Project Me, a wellness, spiritual and inspirational channel on YouTube that inspires others to live the life of their dreams with passion, love and joy. Charlene believes in serendipity, wellness and spirituality and is an Ayurvedic and Lifestyle coach; helping people live their ideal life through Ayurvedic medicine, Meditation, Yoga and Balance.

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Podcasts

Achieving Success Through Meditation & Higher Consciousness – Deepak Chopra

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Deepak Chopra Meditate for Success

This is a post I am uber excited to share with you.

I was up nice and early at 2am Perth, Western Australia time this morning to chat with the amazing spiritual thought leader and best selling author Dr. Deepak Chopra to find out how Entrepreneurs can take advantage of meditation and tap into a higher consciousness for success.

Deepak shared a lot of step by step advice for entrepreneurs who are ready to start taking action for a more healthier and balanced life to handle each day with energy and high levels of productivity. (more…)

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Spirituality

4 Yoga Principles That Will Make You Unstoppable in Business

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Yoga for Business

Most people associate yoga with sweaty spandex-clad people who greet the day in downward dog and spend hours twisting their bodies into pretzels.

But yoga isn’t just a fitness fad; it’s an ancient practice dating back thousands of years that’s known to deliver a host of incredible benefits.

Not only is yoga good for the mind, body, and spirit, but it can also be a valuable tool for enhancing your business. I discovered this almost by accident a few years ago when I began practicing Kundalini yoga. Almost immediately, I saw a return on investment in yoga that was just as direct as investing in research and development, a product, a website, or a great new staff member.

 

The Benefits Yoga Can Bring to Your Business

There are a number of benefits that every entrepreneur can derive from yoga, including:

 

1. Improved physical wellness

The entrepreneurial life is physically demanding. Constant traveling, long days and nights, eating out, and being exposed to nasty germs and rapidly changing temperatures during flights can put a tremendous amount of stress on your body.

Yoga provides a foundation of fitness, flexibility, and strength and gives you a major energy boost. There are also poses that are specifically designed to strengthen your immune system, which can allow you to avoid productivity-crippling illnesses. I haven’t been sick once in five years, and I attribute this to my yoga practice.

 

2. Mental wellness

When running your own business, stress comes with the territory. The meditation portion of yoga is perfect for quieting the mind, allowing your subconscious to solve problems, and creating order out of chaos.

It may seem counterintuitive, but sitting quietly helps me get more things checked off my to-do list than anything else. I experience less distraction, less stress, less anxiety, and less disappointment when things don’t go as planned.

 

3. Spiritual and karmic benefits

Our thoughts, words, and intentions boomerang back to us as experiences. What you love, you empower; what you fear, you empower; and what you empower, you attract. When we generate personal merit through our work on ourselves, we live in a way that keeps us aligned with the universe, and our decisions and their outcomes amplify our success.

My colleagues and I have seen a direct benefit from yoga in the opportunities that it has created for us through the law of attraction. When you put positive intentions out into the universe through your practice, you’ll start bumping into the people and circumstances that can help your business in the most unexpected places. More and more, we’ve found ourselves saying, “A funny thing happened…” It’s magical, mysterious, powerful, and way easier than striving and grinding all day on our own.

 

Yoga Journey Bhagavad Gita Quote
 

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4 Powerful Yoga Principles to Apply to Your Startup

Aside from the benefits, yoga also teaches a number of principles that apply to almost any endeavor in life — especially entrepreneurship.

 

1. You must persevere when things get difficult

What happens on the yoga mat is a microcosm of what happens in life and business. You have to show up for your practice even when you don’t feel like it.

You have to hold a pose longer than is comfortable to progress and reap the benefits. It’s not about doing as well as others. You have to do your personal best to see results.

 

2. If you don’t know where to begin, just begin

Master yoga teacher Yogi Bhajan once said two things that still ring true for modern entrepreneurs.

First, “there is a way through every block.” You just need to see it and act, and it will be clear. Second, “When the time is on you, start, and the pressure will be off.”

In business, action delivers every time. If you don’t know what to do with one of your entrepreneurial endeavors, just begin moving forward, and a solution will present itself, or you will learn from the action you took and correct more quickly than you would have by staring at your navel.

 

3. Don’t let self-doubt get in the way of your success

Another one of my teachers, Ravi Singh, teaches the concept of “right livelihood.” Simply doing something is not enough. You must do it right and with precision.

As entrepreneurs, our worst enemy is our self-doubt. To overcome it, focus on those actions that create the highest value, and know that you are impeccable. Only then will the outcome of your work be equally impeccable. The quality of your business is a direct reflection of the quality of your self-view.

 

4. Always stay positive

Yoga urges us to be joyful and ecstatic regardless of outcomes. Every entrepreneur experiences failure. I’ve failed many times, but looking back, I can see how each step brought me closer to learning a critical business or personal lesson that helped me grow. Work to discover how everything you experience as an entrepreneur elevates you.

Most entrepreneurs don’t spend enough time investing in themselves. But yoga delivers more than any business conference or seminar ever could. Yoga aligns your energy and consciousness to help you create prosperity, eliminate self-defeating thoughts, enhance your creativity, and attract the investors and team you need in order to be unstoppable.

Yoga has also helped me tap into my internal resources and make my company a reflection of the good I want to do in the world. Making a difference and making money are not mutually exclusive.

When you live a passionate, balanced life full of positivity and good intentions, you’ll create immeasurable wealth for yourself, your employees, your customers, and the world.

 

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Interviews

The Questions You Have Always Wanted To Ask A Spiritual Leader

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buddhist_boot_camp, timber hawk eye interview

It’s not often we get to sit on the floor, barefoot and in lotus position while interviewing a spiritual author whose journey and teachings have positively influenced the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.

(more…)

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Spirituality

8 Athletes & Entrepreneurs That Embrace Yoga as the Edge to Success

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Athletes and Entrepreneurs Who Practice Yoga

Incredibly successful athletes and entrepreneurs continue to embrace yoga as a powerful tool in gaining the mental and physical edge necessary to become a consistent top performer in the field and boardroom.

The improved mental clarity gained from their practice allows them to remain calm in the face of pressure to make the tough plays when the game is on the line, or when game changing strategic decisions need to be made.

The enhanced energy and physical strength from a regular practice provides them the level of vitality necessary to be at the top of their game through an entire season, playoffs and championships, or during the long days of building and running a thriving business. (more…)

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