Benefits of focusing in your work/life
Many people, especially at work, ask me how I can stay so focused for so many hours and being able to remember most conversations or facts while managing and directing multiple projects, activities, decisions and tasks at the same time each day. Well, the truth is that the continuous daily practice of mindfulness and meditation is of great help for this.
For me, focus and concentration are a muscle that I exercise every time I sit down to practice. By concentrating on some part of my body with closed eyes watching as my mind shifts or wonders, I gently return to that anchor, body part, or breath that I originally decided to focus on.
What I do with this is practice compassion with myself and train the focus muscle which will help me later in daily life so when I come to a meeting I will be 100% focused in that moment and if my mind changes or I wonder about other things during the meeting, I will return to the present moment. It sounds normal and logical, but I have actually seen many people who during a meeting are doing anything else, such as answering emails, reading the news, chatting, arranging other agendas, and a host of other things.
It is understandable because we really have many things on our minds and many obligations but the first benefit of the approach is that it reduces your stress level because you limit your mind to less things at that moment. If your mind is jumping like a monkey from one tree to another, you will not have understood exactly what was discussed in the meeting added to everything you have pending and that will stress you out even more, don't you think?
So as a suggestion, here is a very small concentration and meditation practice to exercise your focus muscle.
While you are sitting or lying down, take two or three deep breaths, inhaling deeply and exhaling completely while all your muscles relax, shoulders, legs, chest.
Choose a part of your body that you will use as an anchor and place your concentration or focus there, for example I generally choose the nose because it is where the breath passes through and I focus my attention on the tip of the nose. Concentrate on it and on your anchor.
With your attention on the sensation of the breath passing through your nose, look for characteristics of the breath, is it hot or cold? Is it choppy or smooth? Is it clean or not? If the mind wonders about external things or changes places, kindly and delicately observe the thought, do not stay in it and let it go without fighting. Try this for 10 to 15 minutes and then go back to gently opening your eyes.
I hope you have found it useful and remember that it takes spending a little bit of time every day having discipline and continuous focus for at least a few days to really see and feel the effects of the practices in daily life.