It is amazing to me how complex the human body is.
Our systems are complex and require constant maintenance. We function poorly if we don’t eat enough or sleep enough.
This is something we all have felt before. I’ve been in seasons where I couldn’t get enough exercise or rest. It can be very difficult with work pressures, young children (I have 4), and other circumstances.
Perhaps you have arrived at work after three hours of sleep and a hot cup of coffee. Maybe you had to skip a meal or two to complete a project on schedule.
Humans also respond to certain stimuli. In other words, depending on the conditions, our performance can be optimal or suboptimal. We can create an optimal environment for ourselves if we can identify and recreate these conditions.
Project managers know how important it is to create optimal conditions. If you don’t take care of your team and your performance, it can lead to a decrease in performance.
Science comes to your rescue.
Science provides us with objective rules about how humans act and interact. It goes beyond biological science. Psychology can help us maximize our potential and work well, while sociology helps us to deal with others.
These scientific concepts can be used to reenergize your team and revive the mood if your project has not been a success.
Biology: Meditation can be used to improve focus and productivity
It’s not surprising that we are terrible at slowing down.
Project managers are often the go-getters, the hustlers, the overachievers, and the get-up-early-and-get-it-done personalities.
This is made even more difficult by the internet. Multitasking is a common occurrence. We check email on the phone, while browsing multiple browser tabs, and we often multitask. (I may have sent text messages and/or Facebook messages while I was writing this article.
Our attention is being diverted to more things than ever before. This has severely affected our ability focus.
Cal Newport discusses deep work in his book Deep Work.
Newport defines deep work “the ability not to be distracted by a cognitively demanding task.”
It doesn’t have to be difficult. Millions of workers around the world feel the same way.
We’ve been rewired so that we can excel at what Newport calls “shallow work”. Sometimes we work all day, but when it comes time to go home, it becomes apparent that we haven’t done much.
Meditation is one way to get rid of that problem.
Although meditation in a work environment may seem strange, it has real and immediate benefits.
Leaders such as Evan Williams, Jeff Weiner and Jeff Weiner have all used meditation to increase their performance.
The surprising effects of meditation are astounding. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, meditation may reduce stress, anxiety, high blood pressure and insomnia as well as other medical conditions.
Even a small amount of meditation per week can have amazing benefits. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Stout found that participants felt better after just two 30-minute sessions per week.
According to Harvard Business Review, CEOs use meditation to improve their focus, feel better and build relationships at work.
Try this simple breathing exercise if you are new to meditation. It takes only a few minutes to get you started on your day. It is a small price for better concentration and productivity to wake up 10-15 minutes earlier.
You can also lead your group through a meditative exercise. Meditation in groups can be more effective than meditation on your own.
Meditation is an integral part of many religious systems. Maybe you aren’t religious.