Last week, I addressed how much more productive we could be on any given day. As addictive as time drains like social media are, though, something equally addictive and potentially devastating is workaholism. Thus, today, our aim is tempering productivity with more intentional, soulful activity.
One of the books I’m reading now as part of my massive reading challenge is Thích Nhất Hạnh’s The Miracle of Mindfulness. It addresses meditation, well, meditatively. Instead of simply saying “This is how to meditate,” it gets into why to meditate, and it offers abundant memorable life lessons. Meditation is a tried-and-true practice that transcends one’s religious or non-religious perspective. It’s present in a variety of cultures and worldviews, and its mental-health benefits are abundant.
Thích Nhất who?
Why should you take Nhất Hạnh’s wisdom into consideration? Well, not only did Martin Luther King, Jr. rave about his ideas, but he is considered by many as the father of mindfulness. Nhất Hạnh is also considered a driving force for bringing the concept of mindfulness to the Western world.
During the Vietnam War, he was exiled from his home country for refusing to take sides. This exile lasted 39 years. A year after the exile began, he persuaded King to publicly denounce the war. King was so impressed with Nhất Hạnh’s mindfulness in action that he nominated the man for a Nobel Peace Prize.
In his nomination, King said “I do not personally know of anyone more worthy of [this prize] than this gentle monk from Vietnam. His ideas for peace, if applied, would build a monument to ecumenism, to world brotherhood, to humanity.”
Mindfulness as a default
Not long after I decided to maximize my chores by listening to audiobooks at the same time, I started to read The Miracle of Mindfulness. One of the first lessons Nhất Hạnh teaches is that, while you’re washing the dishes, be present. Though this was the opposite of my new habit, it reminded me of the importance of mindfulness not just during prescribed meditation, but throughout the day.
This sort of intentionality not only helps train a wandering mind during future meditations, but it helps train a brain like mine that is addled with ADHD. In a paper published by the World Journal of Psychiatry, the research team concluded that “evidence suggests that certain meditative practices improve attention and may ameliorate the symptoms of ADHD by activating brain regions implicated in both sustaining and directing attention.”
Put simply, incorporating mindfulness into a busy day does wonders for the mindful. If you take the productivity advice I posited last week, it would be best to incorporate intentional mindfulness throughout the work day to avoid burnout. Mindfulness is the yang to productivity’s yin.
“Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the whole earth revolves — slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future. Live the actual moment. Only this moment is life.” -Thích Nhất Hạnh
If you think that daily mindfulness will get in the way of productivity, consider the fact that Nhất Hạnh published more than 130 books in his lengthy lifetime! I challenge you to incorporate intentional mindfulness in your everyday mundane activities. Be present when that’s the last thing you want to do, and you’ll find a courage to accomplish those tasks more frequently. Temper your productivity with mindfulness.
How does mindfulness help you to accomplish each day? I welcome your thoughts in the comments!
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