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Daily Steps To Mindful Living

Mindfulness

Avoiding Distraction: 10 Ways to Stay Focused at Work

I write this article sitting in a busy internet cafe. I am struggling to stay focused with all the distractions going on around me. Television blaring, music on the radio, beautiful women and all the distractions (Facebook) that are on the net itself.

So how can we avoid distraction and stay focused at work?

10 Ways to stay focused at work

1. Develop a firm resolve
The first thing you need to do is take a few moments to develop a firm conviction that what you are doing needs to be done and you cannot waste any time. I tend to waste the most time when I have nothing particularly pressing due so I feel like I can do it later. Develop a firm resolve that you need to work now.

2. Break the procrastination habit
Leading on from number one you need to fight the habit you have built up over the years to let your mind tell you it is okay to do it later. Sometimes we complain that we are distracted but in actual fact we are just procrastinating. Make sure you know the difference.

3. Set a goal
Each day you should set yourself several goals. A goal does not just have to be something that takes years to achieve – a goal is any ambition that you set to a timeline. If you want to get a work report done by the end of the day you need to set yourself that goal and write it down on paper. Written down goals are somehow more powerful.

4. Be strong
When a stunning woman walks past it is easy to do what everyone else does and stare. However, who does that really help? It doesn’t help you get your work done. It doesn’t satisfy your sexual urges (it makes them worse!) so it would just be better not to look up. Remind yourself that you are in control of your mind and be strong.

5. Be a rock, not a tree
I once heard someone describe an influencial political leader like this:

“Mr. X is not a tree. He is a rock. He doesn’t get blown around by the wind.”

It is important to understand the wisdom of this. It is important for you not to get blown around by all the external events that are taking place all the time. This goes for work, love, happiness, etc. If you allow the things outside of your mind to take hold of you it will not be long before you have lost control of your life. Be like the rock.

6. Relax
Sometimes when we are too tight and stressed we find it difficult to achieve any sort of focus. When your mind is tight it will be taken away by anything that enters the senses. For this reason it is important to stay loose and relaxed. When we are relaxed we are more able to work with our mind. Our thoughts will be clearer and we will have more control over them.

7. Disconnect the internet
If you really need to get some work done it is often a good idea to turn off the internet for an hour or so. Make sure you have everything you need and then just switch it off for a specific amount of time. When we have distractions easily available to is we will often fall victim to them. Identify what distracts you and then get rid of it if you start to feel tempted.

8. Avoid the coffee
Coffee makes us jittery and anxious. It is very hard to stay focussed when you have had a few cups of coffee as your body will simply not let your mind sit still for two seconds. If you need to drink while you are trying to stay concentrated it is better to drink green tea, water, milk or something that has a relaxing effect.

However, sleepiness can also be a distraction in which case you should check out the tips in this post on waking yourself up at work.

9. Close the door
One of the most simple yet powerful things you can do is simply close the door. People will not feel as obliged to “stop by” if the door is closed. Of course those that intended to come and see you will still do so, but this who are just walking past will not stop in. Don’t always have it closed, however, as this will dilute the potency of the message. I keep my door closed only when I am actively working.

10. Find a deep motivation
When I was in India I learned the importance of having a correct motivation. The old buddhist master used to say that when you have a correct motivation you will be more able to accomplish tasks in a meaningful way and you will be less likely to lose your way because the motivation really means something.

The best motivation you can develop is one that is focussed on helping others. If you apply this motivation to whatever you do your life will work out and become a very meaningful journey.

“As human beings we all want to be happy and free from misery… we have learned that the key to happiness is inner peace. The greatest obstacles to inner peace are disturbing emotions such as anger, attachment, fear and suspicion, while love and compassion and a sense of universal responsibility are the sources of peace and happiness.” – His Holiness the Dalai Lama

top image:Creative Commons License photo credit: DeusXFlorida

How to Get Excited About Going to Work Again


Creative Commons License photodipster1

Remember when you first started your job? You were thrilled with the work, stimulated by the people and just couldn’t wait to get there? Well… you can feel that again.

How to get excited about going to work again

I want to go through some simple techniques that you can use to get excited about work. They might not work for everyone but they should serve as inspiration for you to develop your own techniques.

1. Shift the focus to others

“Build your reputation by helping other people build theirs.” – Anthony J. D’Angelo

One of the best things I ever learned about work was when I was the Himalayas and I was having a cup of tea with a buddhist monk. He asked me what I did for a living and I told him that I was working as a cleaner while I worked my way through college. He asked me whether I enjoyed it and I said “not really”. After a while he said something that changed the way I looked at work forever:

“The worst thing you can do is go to work for money. When you walk to work you could think that you are going there to benefit everyone you encounter. When you are working you should think that every action you perform is for the benefit of others. That way, if you do that well, you will go home at the end of the day feeling content and happy.”

I tried this pretty seriously. I would keep my mind on benefitting others. When I cleaned the windows I would think “May all beings have clarity” and when I swept the floor I would think “May all beings be free from obstacles”. After a while my work became a meditation on helping others and I enjoyed it.

2. Connect with the people at your work
The worst thing you can do at work is make enemies with your work mates or boss. If you do that your work will be hell and you will think about it all day long. Recently my girlfriend’s work changed owners and within a few months everyone was depressed and angry. I watched it happen as if in slow motion – each day the workers hated the boss more and more and in doing so became more and more unhappy. They thought that by talking about him and pointing out his faults it would make them feel better – it didn’t. It just made them feel worse.

The funny thing was that the only worker that was happy was the one that made the effort to make friends with the boss even though he was a bit weird. It worked wonders.

The people at your work can become your best friends if you put the effort in. You see them everyday and you will have lots of things to talk about as the office is such a busy place. Try and make the effort and be the “bigger” person. You will be glad you did.

3. Become mindful
Mindfulness really is one of the keys to being happy. If you live a mindful life you live a life in the moment. A lot of stress, depression and unhappiness comes from thinking about the past and the future and not resting in the present.

Staying mindful at work means that you should stay focussed on your work without letting your mind wander to other things. How many time are you sitting at work thinking about being somewhere else? If you’re anything like me – most of the time! However, if we can bring the focus back to our work we will be much happier people.

4. Challenge yourself everyday

“Accept the challenges so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory.” – General George S. Patton

One of the best ways to bring the excitement back into your work is to set challenges for yourself on a regular basis. They could be simply ones like trying to get more work done than you did yesterday or they could be more long term ones like trying to work your way up into a new position. If you have a challenge like this you will be more focussed and driven.

5. Be thankful for the opportunity
One of the great things I learned when traveling in the slums of India is how damn good my life was back in Australia. I had health, wealth and education. I could quit my job today and probably find a new one by tomorrow. I have all the opportunities in the world.

One way to really shift your mind is to remember all the opportunities that you have in the job you are in. It will help you become excited about what you have as opposed to stressing about what you don’t have.

What Tyler Durden from Fight Club Can Teach You About Your Work

Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden

Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) can teach you a thing or two about your work. The question is… are you ready for the lesson?

Tyler Durden on Motivation

The first thing that Tyler Durden taught me was about my motivation for work. Am I there for the right reasons? Check out this quote.

Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy sh*t we don’t need.

Whether we admit it or not, we are all slaves to advertising and marketing. We think we need that better car, bigger house, sexier watch and so on. We really define our own personalities with the things we buy.

The next part of the lesson is that we will endure a lot of suffering to buy this stuff that we don’t need. People will work in offices they hate so they can add some other useless item to their collection.

The Solution:
A better idea would be to become mindful of your job and your motivation for being there. Work somewhere that stimulates yourself and benefits others. Realize that you are not defined by what you wear or own. Start defining yourself by your motivations and actions.

Tyler Durden on Ambition

The next thing that hit me from Tyler lesson on life is this quote:

We’ve all been raised on television to believe that one day we’d all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won’t. And we’re slowly learning that fact. And we’re very, very pissed off.

Everyone wants to be a movie star. Everyone wants to be like Britney or some other Hollywood loony. Statistics will tell you, however, that it is very unlikely.

Now this quote isn’t an attempt to crush your hopes and destroy your hard work. No. It is getting you to look at the reason why you want those things. Why do you want to be famous? What is it inside you that NEEDS to be loved and approved by others? Finally, if you don’t reach that goal are you going to be destroyed? Did you define yourself by what you thought you were going to be in life?

The Solution:
Start to be mindful of your motivations for doing things. Do you want to be a movie star so you can change the world or do you just want cash and power? Do you define your sense of “self” by your ambition or would you be happy if you didn’t achieve it.

Many people degrade the simple life but very few of us are actually living it.

The final lesson from Tyler:

You’re not your job. You’re not how much money you have in the bank. You’re not the car you drive. You’re not the contents of your wallet. You’re not your f*cking khakis. You’re the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world.