"Few of us ever live in the present. We are forever anticipating what is to come or remembering what has gone.”
- Louis L’Amour, an American novelist
Our mind has the soul of a gyspy. Often, it wanders trying to find something from the past to ponder upon or something from the probable future. On the bright side, it may lead to the "aha moment", or better known as ‘eureka’ moment, when we come with a brilliant idea. But if this wandering happens all the time, then it can distort the pattern of our daily lives, whether at home or in the office.
Imagine making breakfast but due to lack of mindfulness, you end up burning the food! If you now imagine a similar situation at your workplace. For example, missing out an important point in your sales pitch or forgetting a syntax in your coding or losing out on that important campaign as you were zoned out during the meeting? Did you just imagine these scary visual? Bet, the consequences of these office situations could not be more dramatic but also equally disastrous than your kitchen chronicle.
The wandering of the mind is often a result of a lack of mindfulness. At home, we can turn the tide in our direction since it is in our control but in office, managing situation can be a different ball game.
Shedding more light on why and how staying focused, having a sharp awareness and being in the present moment is crucial for productivity, The Art of Living corporate trainer, Ajey Vij, says, “One of the things that give us a lot of stress is the tendency of the mind to oscillate between the past and the future. If you observe the quality of your mind, you will notice that it does not live in the present moment, always. Does it? The answer is ‘no’.”
Elaborating on it, he adds that our mind is designed like a pendulum, it is either in the pastor in the future. When it dwells in the past, it experiences regret or guilt and when it is in the future, it experiences anxiety. The more mind oscillates between the past and the future, the most stressed it gets.
“Let me give you a few corporate examples. The world’s best cars, namely the Mercedes Benz, Audi, and BMW, etc. are manufactured in Germany. In fact, brands found in Germany are extremely strong ones. How is it that one country has the ability to be so perfect?
It is because the Germans have mastered the subtle yet powerful art of living in the present moment. According to one scientific research, it was found that an average German comes to work for eight hours every day, and his/ her mind is present 100 per cent in the job during these work hours. Their productivity is 100 per cent. That is the level of focus the Germans have and that is the amount of effort they put in any activity that they do.
“Suppose we come to work in the morning and we have a fight with someone at work. What is the thought process that goes on in the mind? You will observe, the mind keeps on replaying that conversation again and again. And the mind keeps on thinking that when this person said this, I should have responded in this fashion. We are stuck in the past. For the next half-an-hour, rather than being able to focus on our work, the mind is stuck to something of the past. And this is what stops us from being efficient. So the one thing we can learn to help us increase our productivity is, learning to live in the present moment,” shared Ajey.
When the mind oscillates between the past and the future, it can leave a residue of anxiety and stress on the doorstep of your present moment. In your work life, both anxiety and stress can hinder you from achieving your productivity. To overcome anxiety and stress, each one of you wants to be cognizant, well-balanced, grounded and awake? But how to achieve it?
Ajey says, “Meditation can be your quick go-to for training your mind to be in the present. It enables your mind to be and breathe in the present. When you meditate for a few minutes a day, it helps you to tackle the ever-changing dynamics of your workplace, workload pressures or the uncertainty of the future. Your mind gets uncluttered of all the trivial things in life and lets you focus on the present moment. Meditation acts as a powerful stress-buster helps your mind to be in harmony with the present.”
Being aware of the present moment has its own brownie points which you can cash in your work life. From being equanimous in resolving office conflicts to taking the strategic decisions with clarity, being mindful empowers you with a positive feeling with which you can handle any inevitable work-life stress.
Written By: Jaya Singh
Based on inputs from Ajey Vij, Corporate Trainer, The Art of Living.
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