064: How Mindfulness Makes You Productive

Welcome to Productivity Paradox from inkWELL Press, a podcast focused on  finding success and happiness through the power of productivity. Each season, Tanya  focuses on specific strategies to help you discover your own priorities and purpose.  Season five is all about investing in you.  

 You can also join Tanya for more interaction and support in her free Facebook  group at inwellpress.com/group, and now, here’s your host, Tanya Dalton.  

 Hello, hello, everyone. Welcome to Productivity Paradox. I’m your host, Tanya  Dalton, owner of inkWELL Press, and this is episode 64. Today’s episode is brought to  you by the Peak Work Performance Summit, a free five-day online summit that I’ll be  sharing more about later in the show.  

 Today, though, I want to focus on how you can really begin investing in  yourself. All season-long, we’ve been talking about this idea of investing in you, but  how do we do it? How do we really start implementing this? I feel like so many  people live their lives without any real direction and they just live it as it comes, and  they’re fine living their daily life by default, but, really, you need to create structure for  yourself and take your life in the direction that you want to go in.  

 Investing in yourself allows you to become the best version of you in all the  areas of your life, spiritually, mentally, financially, in every way you could really think  of. Investing in yourself makes others more likely to invest in you. It helps you think  and prioritize your values that can really improve the quality of your life.  

 Women, in particular, can have a really hard time prioritizing themselves and  investing in themselves, because we’re often conditioned to prioritize spending time  on others or we believe that self-care is trivial and maybe even selfish, but it’s not.  Taking care of you helps you take care of others in return, so I want you to focus on  yourself like this is an investment. Investing in you is an investment in a project, a  project that you’re paid to do and that you’re required to get real results. You might  even want to ask someone to hold you accountable if that helps you make progress.  

 There are so many different ways that you can really invest in yourself. I want  to focus in on five easy ways. The first one is look for learning opportunities. Just  because you’re not in school, it doesn’t mean you should stop learning and, even if  you are at school, it doesn’t mean you can’t extend your learning into things that truly  interest you. Make time for continued development, time to study subjects outside of  what you took in school. Maybe you want to learn to code or maybe you want to take  an art class.  

 You could consider attending seminars and conferences. Live events, webinars,  conferences all provide education, networking and career opportunities, as well as an  opportunity to meet experts and influencers and people you admire. It’s a great place  to network and meet others with similar interests, or consider even things that are  

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local like checking your local bookstore or library to see if there are author visits.  That’s a great way to dive into new ways to learn.  

 The second way you can invest in yourself is through reading, reading as much  as possible, and keeping up with current events. That really piggybacks off that idea  of continuing your education. Book clubs and newsletters with a weekly event or  even a roundup can really help with this.  

 Many successful people attribute reading to really helping them develop  themselves. Bill Gates, Stephen King, Oprah Winfrey, all avid readers and make time  in their daily schedule to read. According to research conducted at the University of  Sussex, reading gave the best return on reducing stress levels by 68% after just  reading six minutes. I don’t know about you, but a six-minute investment to reduce  my stress that much, that’s something I’m really interested in doing.  

 Dr. David Lewis, who conducted the test, concluded, “Losing yourself in a book  is the ultimate relaxation,” and, if that doesn’t convince you, Elon Musk, when asked  how he learned how to build rockets, he replied, “I read books,” so reading is a great  way to invest in yourself.  

 Another way to invest in yourself is through writing. Writing is almost  therapeutic because it gets your emotions out on paper. It helps you put into words  what you want and it enhances your creativity, your communication skills, and it  makes you into a better thinker.  

 Seth Godin says, “There’s no more urgent reason to write. You’ll not only  improve your communication, you’ll learn to think more clearly as well. The person  who benefits most from your writing might be you.” It can be as simple as keeping a  journal to help you really integrate writing into your daily life, and you don’t have to  write long. Five minutes is plenty of time.  

 The fourth thing you can do to invest in yourself is develop new skills. Take  what you learn when we talk about all those new learning opportunities and grow it  into a true skill. Make learning a lifetime goal and process. You could learn a new  language. Take an art class. Get a certification or an extra degree. It’s really up to you.  

 I’m a part of a foundation from my local community college, and I believe  community colleges are one of the most underutilized resources in any community.  The amount of classes and continuing education they offer is astounding and,  generally, at really good prices. You can find classes on cooking to technology to  honing in your business skills in areas like marketing. Make time to develop these new  skills you learn and allow them the space to grow, because learning new skills  encourages your creative thinking.  

 The fifth way you can really invest in yourself is by making time for your health.  Both physical and metal health are extremely important, but we often feel like we  don’t have the time, so make sure to create a plan that you have in place to preserve  your mindset when you have stressful times, and build in breaks that incorporate your  health into your regular schedule. For exercise, you could try to go for a walk or get  exercise during your lunch break.  

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 In 2004, researchers at Leeds Metropolitan University found that workers who  exercise around lunchtime felt better overall about their work and were less stressed.  Despite having used energy at lunchtime, they also felt less fatigued in the afternoon.  

 My friend Jamie has done a great job of finding ways to pop in exercise  throughout her day. She works for blocks of time and then, for her breaks, she drops  down and does some tricep dips or some pushups. She actively works to incorporate  exercise.  

 Now, if you’re in a place where you can’t drop and give me 20, you could walk  up and down the stairway. Small movements add up. Sometimes, I leave in the  mornings and I go for a Pilates class or I’ll go for a walk around my warehouse when I  need a mental break. Incorporating exercise doesn’t have to be hard. It doesn’t have  to be difficult and it doesn’t have to be expensive.  

 The other part of taking care of your health is taking care of your mental well being. Giving yourself white space, space that isn’t cramped full of tasks and errands,  that is so important for your own well-being. People often ask me how I come up  with big ideas and plans, and, honestly, I actively carve out time for my brain to  breathe. I give it space to play. I drive to Charlotte regularly, which is about a two hour drive, and during at least one way, I drive in silence, no music, no podcast, just  me alone with my thoughts, and I love the space. I find that it’s incredibly helpful for  my own mental peace.  

 I shared earlier this season that I went on a white space vacation last month,  where I completely unplugged from work, no communications from my team, which  actually worked two ways. It allowed me time away, but it also helped ensure I had  systems in place, so my team felt confident in making choices and moving forward on  work without me there.  

 Being mindful is so important, and it’s so important to take the time to give  yourself that space. That is an investment in yourself. This is an area I think so many  struggle with because white space can feel like a waste of time. After all, you’re not  running and doing things. You’re being still. I want to explore this idea a little bit  further in just a minute, but, first, I want to take a minute to talk about today’s  sponsor.  

 If you’ve ever wondered how you can take your performance to the next level, I  have something I know you’re going to love. It’s an online summit called the Peak  Work Performance Summit, and it’s something I have watched myself for the past  two years. Why? Because it features some of my favorite thinkers in the world of  psychology, business, wellness and productivity, so we’re talking about New York  Times bestselling authors like Charles Duhigg, Gretchen Rubin, Shawn Achor, Jeff Goins, Marshall Goldsmith, all names you’ve heard me mention here on the podcasts.  

 For five days, they’re sharing their best strategies for getting things done, and  tickets are completely free. This is a great example of investing in yourself, and it  doesn’t cost you anything. Go claim your free spot at inkwellpress.com/peakwork.  That’s “peak” with an A.  

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 Okay, I want to get back to this idea, this idea of really investing in yourself  through your emotional well-being and mindfulness because I really feel that this is  one of the parts that’s difficult for a lot of people. If you’re not prioritizing what  matters, other people in life end up forcing their priorities onto you, and that usually  focuses more on your output, not your happiness.  

 Our lives are just a series of moments, one after another, and we can use those  moments to be busy, indulging I what we want, staring at a screen, or we can try to  use a few of them to be still and silent to help ourselves grow and find a little bit  deeper meaning. When you’re focused on productivity and busyness, sitting in  silence feels like a total waste of time, not to mention, even if you do try, your  thoughts are going 500 miles per hour, and trying to stop thinking is like trying to  stop a runaway train.  

 If you’ve ever experienced this, that is a sure sign that you need a little more  mindfulness in your life, so I want to talk to you about meditating, because  meditating is a great way to incorporate mindfulness into your day. Meditation helps  you be still, and it retrains your mind to simply be present. It creates space between  what’s happening and your reaction to it.  

 Dr. Matthew Lippincott is a researcher who focuses on organizational  leadership and mindfulness. He interviewed leaders who actively use mindfulness  throughout their day. 100% of the participants linked mindfulness to improvements in  their professional and their personal lives. 100% experienced more productive  responses to the emotional states of others. 90% experienced openness to new ideas  and input from others. Businesses, big businesses are starting to take note. They’re  noticing the effect of mindfulness on their employees and have started instigating  programs for them  

 Aetna, a healthcare company, launched two mindfulness programs in 2010 to  help reduce stress and improve reactions to stress in their employees. They studied  the outcomes of these programs and saw such a significant improvement in  perceived stress levels and the various heart rate measurements that they ended up  offering the program now to their customers as well.  

 Intel is another business that began offering mindfulness programs to their  employees. Using a scale of one to 10, after taking the program, they saw their  participants report a 2-point decrease in stress and feeling overwhelmed, a 2-point  increase in new ideas, clarity, creativity, focus, quality of relationships, and a 3-point  increase in overall happiness and well-being. Obviously, creating the space to be  mindful makes a huge difference.  

 Let’s talk about how we can incorporate mindfulness in a very easy way, and  that is through meditation. Now, you might be thinking meditation is a little woo-woo,  or it seems like sitting still for long periods of time would be terribly boring, or you  might be sitting there, shaking your head, thinking, “I’ve already tried meditation. I  can’t stop thinking. Meditation just won’t work for me. I just can’t do it.”  

 What I want to do here is I want to help you change your mindset and your  approach, and, spoiler alert, it’s not actually about not thinking, and it doesn’t require  

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huge amounts of time to really see the benefits. Most problems with meditation  stems from assumptions that you already know how to do it. You already know what  it is and you already know what it’s going to get you, but, really, meditation isn’t  about trying to quiet the mind or having some sort of transcendental experience.  

 Meditation is simply about being present with whatever is happening to you  moment to moment. It isn’t about the absence of thought. It’s about recognizing your  thoughts. Sound a little too zen? Okay, let me break it down for you.  

 You have no control over your thoughts and, when they pop in your head, you  can’t learn to just quiet your mind. What you can learn is to stop trying to control  your thoughts and just observe your mind, and you’ll find that it naturally begins to  calm.  

 Watching our thoughts and our feelings allows them to come and go with less  judgment, and we become more comfortable looking at who we are. We realize we  are more than our problems, more than our thoughts or our feelings as these come  and go. You might feel like you aren’t making any progress and wonder if you’re even  doing it right. It’s okay. Allow those thoughts to come and go as well.  

 Headspace, a meditation app, does an excellent video visually showing what  this means, so I’ll be sure to post that in my show notes for this episode because I  really think it’s worth watching. You’ll be able to grab that at inkwellpress.com/ podcast under episode 64, but I want to give you a couple of simple meditation tips  just to get you started.  

 Start by sitting comfortably. For some, this might mean sitting on a cushion on  the floor, but, for most beginners, this isn’t the most comfortable position. Try sitting  in a chair instead with your feet resting flat on the ground and your back upright.  Whatever is the most comfortable for you will work as long as your back can stay  comfortably straight.  

 I often meditate while sitting on my bed with my back against pillows. You can  feel free to email me if you’re a meditation expert and tell me that’s not how it’s done,  and I’ll reply and tell, “It doesn’t matter. What matters is that you do it,” so get  yourself comfortable. Stay in the present and observe what goes on. This is what  meditation is really about, simply noticing where our thoughts are that are going  through our mind and what sensations are going on in your body, and you accept this  experience without judging it.  

 You might have negative thoughts or even a constant stream of ideas and  emotions. That’s okay. Just try to sit back and see them like you would clouds passing  by. Start small. You don’t have to meditate for an hour or take a 10-day silent  meditation retreat. Instead, set yourself up for success. Challenge yourself to  meditate for three minutes a day for seven days. If you’d like to continue sitting after  three minutes, feel free to do so.  

 To make this easier for you, I’ve got a download to help you work through a  seven-day meditation challenge. You can grab that at inkwellpress.com/podcast.  

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Just scroll down to episode 64, and you’ll see the download there along with that  video I talked about earlier.  

 A seven-day challenge is a great way to start. It’ll help you pick a time and a  place that you want to meditate in, a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed, and  then we’ll choose a day to start your seven-day challenge. It could be today. It could  be next Sunday. Whenever it is, plug it into your calendar and block off that time.  Make it even easier to get started by setting up your space with everything you’ll  need ahead of time.  

 After doing the seven-day challenge, you’ll find that it’s easier to create a  regular routine. What’s really important is that you find a time that works for your  regular schedule. That, for you, might be later in the day or during lunch. For me, it  worked out best during my morning routine. I wake up a few minutes earlier. I  meditate for at least three minutes, and then I also meditate before diving into a big  project during a focused block of time.  

 This allows me to get that residual attention cleared away so I can be more  fully present for the task I really want to pour my energy into and, speaking of energy,  that’s actually our topic for next week. We are going to be talking about how you  invest your energy into yourself, how do you make yourself a priority and how do you  focus in on that. I’m really excited because that will be our final episode for this  season on investing in yourself.  

 This week, in my mini episode, the Weekender, I’ll be talking about another way  that you can incorporate mindfulness outside of meditation, and I’ll be sharing a story  about how my husband, John, does that in his daily life.  

 In the meantime, I’d love for you to sign up for my newsletter at  inkwellpress.com/podcastemail. When I have a download, like I do today for our  challenge, you’ll get that sent to you automatically. I’ll even have a link so you can  watch the video I talked about in today’s episode. It’s a great way to get the  resources I talk about without having to go all the way to the website, but I do want  to make sure and encourage you to grab that challenge and do the seven-day  challenge to try meditation. Three minutes a day is all I’m asking for. All right, until  next time, happy planning.  

 Thanks for listening to Productivity Paradox from inkWELL Press. To join  Tanya’s free group, simply go to inkwellpress.com/group.