meditation Archives - Sajith Mathew

Productivity is the lifeblood of the modern world.

At least in workplaces. Even though we spent a large chunk of our working hours in the office, how much time are we really productive.
Or if we are working on personal tasks, how much time we drift around doing other activities.

If we have a productivity pill available, how many of us would try it. I guess, most of us. What is wrong in completing tasks or a week in a single day. No problem.
But have we ever stopped to think about the productivity craving and our best work? Do we produce our best work while we are productive, or while we are goofing around.

There are two parts to this equation.
If we are only concerned about a highly specific end result, then stressing ourselves to work hard is the best solution. This is what happens in workplaces.

On the other hand, if we are trying to produce a creative output using our mind, being lazy can produce wonders. This is what happens in creative fields, where the output has to be creative and vary among individuals. To clarify, being lazy does not mean that the person has to be necessarily lazy. It can be in a way others perceive the person to be. Especially in a creative field, when you engage maximum thoughts around a particular subject, the output can be immensely creative.

We have to identify our mental energy peak timings to maximize our productivity.
Most people have 2 sets of high mental energy peaks during the day.
I figured out my energy peaks and I take advantage of them. If you wish to know, I have one peak in the morning just after getting up which lasts for 2.5 hours and one late in the night, which lasts around 3 hours.
I allocate my most important tasks for these timings. Use your energy bursts effectively.

The second factor I do is to get into the flow state. This is where you are fully involved in the task at hand. It just seems to flow around with any stress.
I used to get distracted by the notifications, which I turn off now if I’m doing something important. Any kind of distractions take away to flow state, and it takes some time for you to be back in that state.

Meditation is an extremely important factor to consider if you wish to be a productive beast. Our mind is agitated by countless thoughts 90% of the time we are awake. Meditation helps us to calm down our thoughts and clear the mind. Our mind behaves as still water. What happens when we put our task into our clear mind, just like putting a stone in still water. Our mind focuses on the task at hand and generates thoughts in alignment with that task.

If you can put these factors into your lifestyle, you are on your way to become the productivity machine.

There are tremendous opportunities for us to develop in all aspects of our lives these days, in the digital age.
But the question is, are we using them?

Take control of your life by using habits

I am sure that you have heard about habits a lot before, maybe a good one or a bad one.
But basically these are activities we do unconsciously in our day to day lives, without putting much effort.

Why habits can do wonders in your life?

That’s why inculcating new great habits in your life will do wonders.
Initially, you will like doing a daunting task, but gradually this becomes a part of your life. And this automatically improves your lives without you even realizing it.

Power of keystone habits

There are few habits when you start, it automatically spills positive impacts into other aspects of your life. These habits are called keystone habits(coined by Charles Duhigg)
We are going to discuss a few of them.

Meditation

I thought meditation was only monks or someone who is exploring spirituality. But boy, I was wrong. I gave it a try and then stuck with the practice for life. When we hear about meditation, we feel it is a complex task which is very difficult to learn. But in reality, it is quite simple.

You can start off with Breath awareness meditation. You just want to sit in a calm place in a comfortable position and watch your breath closely. That’s it.

Meditation makes your mind calm. This helps in multiple aspects of your life. you will be able to make better decisions. You will be in a position to understand people more closely. This improves your relationships and overall happiness.

Exercise

We all have done some kind of exercise in our life. It can be running, walking, strength training, any kind of dance, sports, etc. Have you ever thought about what happens to us overall when we exercise. This increases our energy and mood. What more do we want?

The benefits of exercise is enormous as we all know, but the power lies in practicing it.

Visualization

I started using this technique 4 years back and fell in love with it.
You imagine with maximum possible clarity what you wish to achieve in life and feel as if you have already achieved it. That is what it is.

Affirmations

We are bombarded with countless pieces of information in your day to day lives. Most of them are negative, which in turn result in negative thoughts and emotions for us during most parts of the day. To counteract this, and to reaffirm a positive mindset and emotions, we practice affirmation technique.

We repeat positive statements to ourselves daily to keep us positive. This will make us believe in ourselves and our capabilities.

Final thoughts

We all have limited time in a day to spend for life-improving habits.
That is where it makes maximum sense to practice a few keystone habits which positively impact multiple aspects of our life.
We can start with a habit and gradually build on that momentum.
But I assure you that this act will transform your life in a scale you have not imagined!

How To Double Your Productivity?

#1 Practical Way To Get Your Life On Track