Introduction
Using meditation for productivity benefits was one of the best decisions I ever made. I am not exaggerating when I say meditation can help change any aspect of your life. Whether it’s sleep, focus, or just being mindful, meditation is a key component of all of those things.
The best part of meditating is that anyone can do it, for any amount of time. Meditating is just an overall powerful tool, and should be in your arsenal of productivity.
You can literally double your productivity just by meditating everyday. So, without further ado, let’s get into why meditation is a GOAT of productivity.
The Science Behind Meditation for Productivity
Meditation is not just some “fad” created by people who pretend to know science. No, meditation is scientifically backed and has been for years. This stigma around meditation that makes it seem useless has really ruined some peoples productivity.
It’s almost like in our society today, people just trust what they get at face value with no research. However, meditation is not useless, and studies show that the benefits of Meditation include:
- Stress reduction
- Enhanced self-awareness
- Longer attention span
- Helps fight addictions
- Improves sleep
- Decreases blood pressure
This list is only touching the surface. For example, meditation also helps lower anxiety. So, meditation has a lot of benefits, and only someone who’s ignorant wouldn’t take it up.
The Most Important Benefit of Meditation
The craziest advantage of meditation is that it increases the grey matter in our prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex is what is responsible for decision making, so meditation is literally making a part of our brain bigger. Who doesn’t want a bigger brain?
The most important benefit of meditation (in my opinion) is the lengthened attention span. In a world where everyone is addicted to the internet and short form content, a long attention span can be key in succeeding. Especially if you struggle with internet addiction, meditation has the power to help you quit.
So, you’d be a bit silly not to take up meditation after hearing these benefits. Like, do you want a smaller brain?
How to Start a Meditation Practice for Busy People
So, I get that you’re probably wondering when you should meditate. Well, there’s no easy answer to this, especially since a lot of you are probably busy. However, I think there’s 4 places where meditating can really be effective, and should be implemented (especially if you’re busy).
You don’t need to meditate 4 times a day, but just pick one of these times. I’ll go over where you can meditate/how to meditate in the next section, however, for now this is just when you should meditate.
In The Morning, so that you get Meditation for Productivity
The morning after you wake up is one of the best times to meditate. Furthermore, it’s the time when I meditate almost every day (sometimes I do it at night too). Meditating in the morning is the perfect way to start your day effectively.
You get to become focused early on, and that same focused energy carries on for the rest of the day. For example, I can literally tell when I’ve forgotten to meditate in the morning if I feel unfocused all day. Meditating plays that strong of a role in my productive life.
In addition, another benefit to meditating early in the morning is you get it over with. In the beginning, you won’t want to meditate. It’s boring, you won’t feel a difference, and you’ll probably think it’s useless. However, if you want to get past this stage in a more efficient way, you should meditate in the morning.
Completing a new habit in the morning makes it easier to do. So, I recommend to meditate in the morning (especially if you’re busy).
At Night before You Sleep
This is another perfect time to meditate. As stated earlier, meditating can do wonders for your sleep, and studies show that people who meditate sleep quicker and longer. This increase in sleep is due to two fundamental qualities related to meditation.
Meditating should also be part of your night routine.
First of all, meditating is based around focusing on your breath. During this focus, you’ll get tired since your using a lot of energy to just focus on your breath. Getting tired before you sleep is perfect for sleeping quickly
The second main advantage of meditating before you sleep is the calming affect of meditation. You’ll take your mind off life, and that’ll help destress you before you sleep. This is important in both the sleep quality and quantity.
There are other factors that help you sleep better, which you can check out this blog for.
Before You Work on Your Most Important Task
This is similar to one of the reasons for sleep. Usually, working on your most important task can be stressful. Whether it’s a project due tomorrow, or a test you’re taking, it can cause thoughts of stress and make you restless.
Well, meditating is the best way to calm yourself before this task. It allows you to control your anxiety and stress, and just help you focus on the task specifically.
Anytime You’re Free
Some of you might be insanely busy during these times, and just can’t squeeze in time to meditate for productivity. Well, the good news is that you can meditate anywhere. Meditating is so powerful that it can benefit you during anytime of the day.
So whether you’re in the bathroom, or you’re playing some video games, you can meditate at anytime
How Do you Actually Meditate for Productivity?
Meditation for productivity is actually much simpler than most people assume. Most people think you have to be a monk and able to clear your mind of thoughts. This is stupid, and ironically, you want your mind to have thoughts.
So, here’s the most basic way of meditating for focus:
- Pick a time to meditate. If you’re just starting out in meditation for productivity, you should make it 30 seconds long. 30 seconds doesn’t help in focusing, however, it helps in building the habit of meditation.
- You can increase this time the more you meditation
- Close your eyes and start the timer. It’s important that your eyes are closed and you’re just breathing in and out.
- Focus on your breath until your thoughts take you away. You will 100% be distracted by your thoughts while focusing on your breath, however, the next step is the most important step.
- Once you realize you’re focused on your thoughts, you take your focus back to your breath. Think of this as 1 rep of meditation, the more you do this the better.
- Keep repeating this until the timer goes off. Now you have finished meditating for the day.
The process is, as you can see, really simple. There are several types of meditation, as I’ll discuss in the next section, but this is the easiest one.
Types of Meditation for Productivity, Focus and Clarity
There are thousands of different types of meditation you can do. I really recommend you research different meditation strategies, as there are lots that go past meditation for productivity. I will only talk about the meditation strategies I’ve used previously, so this section will be short.
Guided Meditation for Calmness and Clarity
I started off my meditating journey with guided meditation for calmness. Due to my stress, I used to really rely on this type of meditation. It’s usually long, and while you focus on your breath, someone will be talking to you.
I remember one of the guided meditations I followed would take me on a trip through my mind, and help relax my body. Another one I had would help me take my mind off any tasks I had to do. The point is, there’s an abundance of guided meditation meant to help clear your mind.
It’s also really easy to find them. Just go to YouTube and search up “guided meditation for stress relief”.
Guided Meditation for Focus
This is useful for those who struggle to keep their breath focused. You can just search up a guided meditation for focus, and click on a video where they’ll tell you to stay focused, and to control your breath. For example, some of them might just keep repeating “breathe in, breathe out” just to remind you of your breath. This helps keep your mind focused on the breath, not your thoughts.
Conclusion
Meditation for productivity is one of the best things anyone can do. It benefits you in all aspects of your life, and doesn’t take much time up from your day. It’s also really easy to do, and has 1000s of different types for all aspects of your life.
Comment down below your experience with meditating, and how meditation for productivity has improved your productivity
However, you should never forget that
Nothing changes if nothing changes
