Feeling Distracted At Work? Meditation Can Help.

You’ve probably heard meditation can help calm your mind and ease your anxiety but did you know it’s been proven to help you focus at work as well? Now more than ever, we have so many distractions, especially with new working environments. Some of us are back to the office full-time, others are still working from home, or have a mix of both. 

According to a study by Harvard researchers, the human mind wanders a whopping 47% of the time and when your mind wanders, you become more stressed out and unhappy than when you stay focused on what’s happening in front of you. A recent follow up study from the University of Cincinnati not only supported the Harvard research but found that mindfulness meditation helps prevent your mind from wandering and keeps you on task. They also found that mindfulness meditation also prevents distracting thoughts from interrupting 

So what does this have to do with work?

The research found that meditation can lead to you making less mistakes, which is crucial for being successful at your job. They discovered that with just 20 minutes of regular meditation, the brain begins to detect and pay attention to mistakes closer, which can help increase the way we function and our performance. 

Getting started

Meditation can seem intimidating, especially in the beginning. You might be worried about how much your mind is going to wander or your hands are going to fidget. We’ve broken down a few simple steps to help you incorporate meditation into your routine. 

1. Environment & Time of Day. When you are first getting started with meditation, it’s important to create a routine. Try to practice in the same location, where you are free from distractions, and time of day. This will help train your mind and create a habit. 
   
   
2. Start Small. While longer meditations have incredible benefits, you can start by exploring shorter five minute practices and work your way up. 
   
   
3. Explore Meditation Apps. There are so many great meditation apps that can help you get started. A lot of them focus on breathwork which can be a great way to distract yourself as you are getting used to your new routine. Some of our favorites are Breathwrk and Headspace. 
   
   
4. Patience, Patience, Patience. This might be the most important piece of advice, don’t beat yourself up if your meditation doesn’t go as planned. There are days where our thoughts are going to be more busy than others. If your practice doesn’t go well, try again tomorrow.