Living in the moment, also called mindfulness, is an approach to life where you attempt to remove any thoughts of the unchangeable past, or the unknowable future, and you only focus on the present.
The foundations of these teachings come from Buddhism, but more and more, these approaches are being used in western businesses because they are producing great results in terms of stress reduction and productivity.
The application of these concepts is often done in group and private sessions where attendees are taught to meditate, or sit still and quiet, and make themselves aware of themselves in the present. They are encouraged to do this throughout the day and notice the results.
It takes some time, but mindfulness has shown provable results for many organisations. In fact, top insurers are directing their business customers on how to use mindfulness to keep their employees healthier and lower their insurance premiums.
Here are three important of the reasons why living in the moment increases productivity.
Living in the Moment Increases Your Attention
When you are focused on the past and future, you are not paying attention to what is going on at the moment. If you think about this, you can easily see that thinking about anything other than the present will directly affect your ability to focus. When you focus on the task at hand and give it your full attention, your productivity will improve.
Living in the Moment Increases Your Listening.
Listening is an important aspect of productivity, particularly if you work as part of a team, or in a situation where your actions at work either influence others, is dependent on others or both. When you are focusing on the past or future, your hearing attention is vastly diminished, and you miss key details being told to you. The result is diminished productivity. It can also lead to very dangerous situations at work.
Living in the Moment Increases Your Vigilance
We have all had situations where we were not paying attention, because we were thinking of a past or potential future while doing something important. And we caught ourselves just before something bad happened. Many of us have jobs where we need to be constantly aware of important details going on around us in order to ensure our own safety, the safety of others around us, or the safety of property owned by the company that employs us. This need for vigilance is very important and being present in the moment can ensure that we have the highest level of vigilance.
Living in the Moment Reduces Stress
When you are not worrying about what you cannot chance and what may never occur, you can put your attention on what you can affect which is the present. As a result, you become calmer and less stressed. Stress ruins your focus and your productivity, so mindfulness increases productivity by reducing stress.
These tips provide a proven way to get healthier. Try living in the moment and see great results.
