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RSS feedsDo you ever get so wound up by the pace of life that the days seem to pass by in a blur, permanently stuck on fast-forward? Living in this absent-minded way you can miss out on so much, as well as undermine your productivity and performance at work. There are times when it is really essential to actually be present: to pause and focus right down on to the 'here and now'.
In Eastern philosophies, the process of tuning into the 'here and now' and not being continuously distracted by past, future, or imaginary concerns is known as 'mindfulness'. The idea is that if we can make ourselves more aware - more 'mindful' - of the present moment, then we will generally experience a greater sense of wellbeing. Plus it can give your career a boost, by reducing stress levels and helping you think more creatively and spontaneously.
Our very perceptions of time can be distorted simply by rushing around with our heads brimming with thoughts and ideas. This can cause us to lose touch with what we are really thinking. We become less objective and prone to making errors. We can also become screwed up by our imagination, worrying about illusory events that will probably never happen - or thing that we cannot change anyway.
Loosing perception of time? Becoming screwed up about things that will never happen? This brings us neatly to meetings. While these techniques have already begun to be incorporated into mainstream psychological treatments for disorders such as stress, anxiety, and depression, they can also work wonders if you apply them to that traditional bugbear of working life - the meeting.
Mindful meetings
Meetings are either wonderful opportunities for generating ideas and action-planning for moving business forward - or dysfunctional and tortuous opportunities for modern-day gladiators to battle with their egos. They are ripe, in other words, for a mindful makeover.
Approaching a meeting in a mindful way involves getting into the right kind of psychological mindset. You're attempting to get a more objective sense of what's going on in the meeting, so the normal kind of pre-meeting preparation is essential. Then use the suggested techniques (see box) to focus your mind on to the meeting itself.
Mindfulness means having a perspective that's objective enough to recognise when distracting and unhelpful thoughts are entering your mind. Then, don't fight the thoughts: acknowledge them for what they are, and return your focus of attention to the present - to the meeting pure and simple.
Let's take a typical meeting scenario. Person A seems to you to have their usual smug expression, while person B keeps taking everyone off on a tangent, and the whole thing seems to be the usual waste of time.
Don't try unravelling the meaning of these thoughts. Concentrate on attending to the meeting and making the best possible contribution. Don't let yourself get into unnecessarily competitive discussions just because you want to have the last word, or prove a point. The time for self-analysis is after the meeting, when you can unravel why someone looking smug bothers you so much, or why you feel the need to always be right.
If you get distracted, the key thing to do is recognise that you've been sucked in and to get back into mindful mode ASAP. This takes practice and is initially rather like trying to recognise when you're deep in concentration (or watch yourself fall asleep!). But after a few attempts, it becomes easier to switch into being mindful and have a clearer perspective on what's really going on in the meeting.
Making a difference
To see the difference a mindful approach can make, compare these before and after scenes:
Before
You are in a regular sales meeting, and although you're listening to the discussion, your mind is elsewhere. The sales director really irritates you. Her last presentation was a disaster and you have serious doubts about the company's ability to deliver. And you have never forgiven her for being newer to the company than you, five years younger than you - and having won promotion over you.
As she speaks, you find yourself raising and lowering your eyebrows, doodling on her handouts, and waiting for the perfect moment to put her down. The real business of the meeting is lost. She may remind you of aspects of yourself that you dislike, or represent a genuine personal fear.
Whatever the reason, you are clearly absent - not remotely tuned into what's going on. The fact that you're not contributing to the discussion in a fully engaged way can only erode your performance and compromise the best possible outcome.
After
If you applied the mindfulness philosophy, things would be very different. First, you would be more aware of these potential mental traps, of the dangers of your contribution to the situation becoming side-tracked by fears, concerns or other negative emotions. With practice (see the simple exercises in box), you would become much more aware of your dominant mental state.
Gradually you would learn to respond and engage with the meeting in ways that were purely relevant to the business at hand. Instead of secretly resenting your colleague, you are now actively encouraging her, picking up on themes and elaborating useful contributions. And by thinking specifically about the issues raised by the meeting, you come up together with an innovation that will have a real impact on the effectiveness of your working day.
Simple techniques for becoming more mindful
Although some people are naturally more mindful than others, we can all improve our mindfulness through practice. Try these simple techniques whenever you think of them:
- Take something you're wearing like a ring or a watch and just concentrate on how it feels on your skin. Does the metal of the ring cut in slightly? Or is the buckle of the watchstrap dig into your wrist? Get used to switching between being aware of these sensations and what's going on around you.
In a meeting this would involve switching between tuning into the ongoing discussion and being aware of the tangible physical sensations. Eventually you'll be able to simultaneously merge both together.
You need to keep part of your mind 10 to 15 per cent in touch with what your body is feeling at any moment, while you pay attention to whatever else you are doing and keeping a general openness to whatever the feelings are in your body. It's the psychological equivalent of walking across a rope bridge and holding on to the handrail.
- Achieving mindfulness helps to liberate us from the more limiting aspects of our thinking. Once you have the basic idea, you can achieve mindfulness through practising a series of simple exercises.
Focusing on part of the body such as an arm or a thigh, being aware of the sensations, the muscular tension, the feel of cloth rubbing against the skin, can enhance the process of concentration. This helps us tune into what's really going on around us and inside our heads. You can remind yourself to be mindful every time you walk through a door.
- Another technique that can quickly get you into the right mindset is to become a spectator. Your aim is to almost stand outside of yourself and watch the process of a meeting from the perspective of someone watching from the sidelines.
- Charles Tart, professor at the University of California, suggests that beginners use a musical body exercise. When listening to a calming passage of music imagine 'listening' to the music with your feet. OK this sounds odd but it does focus you on what different parts of your body actually feel like.
Move through your body, ankles, calves, knees, thighs, and so on. The aim is to keep part of your in touch with what your body is feeling at any moment, while you pay attention to whatever else you are doing and keeping a general openness to whatever the feelings are in your body.
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