In this guide, I will share a powerful guided meditation for productivity and focus. And I’ll explain why meditation helps with productivity.
Let’s be honest, we all want to be more productive. We want to get things done faster and achieve more. And thankfully, meditation can help.
By meditating, you can learn to tune out distractions, focus your mind, and work in more productive ways.
Let me show you my favorite meditations for productivity, and then we will discuss the science.
Let me show you how to get the most out of meditation.
Come meditate with me today!
Guided Meditation For Productivity And Focus
(Script)
- Sit comfortably. Make sure your feet are squarely planted on the floor shoulder-width apart. Your knees should be directly above your ankles and not locked. Your spine should be straight and relaxed. Slightly lower your chin to elongate your neck.
- Place your hands in Gyan mudra by extending your fingers and curling your thumbs and index fingers so they touch at the tips. Place your hands palms-up on your thighs.
- Close your eyes and begin to breathe mindfully. When we are using meditation for productivity, we want to train the mind to focus on one thing even when there are distractions going on. To do this, we are going to focus the mind on the space just beneath the middle of the nose. So, start to focus on this point.
- Naturally, certain distractions will occur. These could include internal distractions such as thoughts and external distractions such as the doorbell ringing. What we want to do is keep the mind focused on the spot just beneath the middle of the nose. When distractions occur, remind yourself that they are temporary and unimportant. Continue to focus on the same spot.
- Continue for twenty minutes.
More Types Of Meditation For Productivity
As well as the method above, there are other meditations I would like to recommend.
Ultimately, the best meditations for productivity and focus are ones in which you focus on one thing. In other words, “Focused Attention Meditation”.
Try the following.
1. Zen Meditation
- Sit or kneel facing a plain wall (yes, the wall is important).
- Close your eyes three-quarters of the way. There should be a slight opening in your eyes.
- Cup your hands and place them on your lap.
- Meditate on your breath for 108 breaths.
Note that this is also one of the best meditations for studying.
2. Simple Breathing Methods
If you’re a beginner meditator, there’s no sense in trying to use an advanced meditation technique. You’ll simply spend all your time trying to work out what you’re supposed to be doing. Hence why it is better to start simply. Instead, try breathing meditations.
When you do breathing meditations you will relax your mind and remove any stress and anxiety. In turn, this will make it easier to concentrate, which will boost your productivity levels.
Breathe in for four. Hold for four. Breathe out for four. Hold for four. Repeat 108 times.
3. Practise mindfulness in the morning
If you want to have a productive day, meditate in the morning. By spending just twenty minutes meditating in the morning, you will increase your productivity for the rest of the day.
There are lots of good meditations that you can do in the morning. For instance, you can simply eat breakfast mindfully. And you can also do some mindful stretching to wake-up your body. You can even brush your teeth mindfully or shower mindfully.
4. Samatha meditation
Do you ever struggle to focus on just one thing? You know, you’re trying to get your office work done but you keep checking your phone and going on Facebook instead. You probably do right? After all, who doesn’t?
But there is a solution. And the solution is to train your mind to focus on one thing. Anything. Seriously, just meditate on a candle, a certain sound, or your breath… just choose one thing and practice focusing on it.
5. Walking meditation to ground you
Have you ever noticed that when you go for a walk you clear your mind? Then, when you return to work you are more able to focus and get things done?
That’s why I always go for a walk at lunchtime. It does so much good for my mind. And it makes me more productive at work.
What’s even better than a simple walk, however, is a mindful walk.
Mindful walking is precisely what it sounds like: you meditate on walking. Just go for a slow walk and focus on the process of walking. Notice how your feet move, how your legs swing, and so on. This will help to ground you in the present moment and thus will make you more productive.
The Link Between Meditation, Productivity, and Focus
Scientific research has proven that meditation improves productivity and focus [1]. Indeed, this is one reason major companies like Google now hold corporate meditation classes for employees
. But exactly how does meditation make you more productive?
To answer that, we need to look at the nature of both productivity and meditation.
Science of Productivity
Productivity means the efficiency of our work. It is usually measured as input against output, such that the more work we put in the more results we expect to get out of it.
Many things influence productivity.
For instance, neuroscience tells us that we need the right amount of dopamine to get a sense of reward for motivation. We need the right amount of the stress chemical noradrenaline too, which creates fear of what might happen if we procrastinate. And we need acetylcholine, which enables us to focus. We also need a strong prefrontal cortex because that is the most important part of the brain for productivity.
Meditation helps with all those things.
Benefits
- Neuroimaging scans show that meditators have enhanced neural activity in the prefrontal cortex compared to non-meditators. This means that while non-meditators are being distracted by unwanted thoughts and the “Monkey Mind”, meditators are more able to concentrate on work.
- Meditators are better at making decisions and less inclined to procrastinate.
- Meditators have more self-discipline. A study found that teachers have a 64% increase in dopamine after one hour of meditation.
- Meditation changes the effect of norepinephrine. Dr Herbert Benson and researchers at Harvard Medical School found that meditators do still produce norepinephrine, the stress chemical. However, the hormone’s effect is blocked. This means that the body is still affected by noradrenaline. Therefore, we get a boost of energy from it. However, the “fight or flight” response is reduced. And so, we are not distracted by stress and anxiety.
- Meditation increases acetylcholine in the frontal lobes. In turn, this increases focus and attention.
Conclusion
I challenge you to spend one week doing the guided meditation for productivity that we looked at above. You will see significant results from continued practice. Of course, to take your meditation further, book an online meditation lesson with me.
SOURCES:
1: Amishi P. Jha, Jason Krompinger & Michael J. Baime, Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience volume, https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/CABN.7.2.109#page-1
2: Want to Raise Your IQ by 23 Percent? Neuroscience Says Take Up This Simple Habit, MELANIE CURTIN, INC, https://www.inc.com/melanie-curtin/want-to-raise-your-iq-by-23-percent-neuroscience-says-to-take-up-this-simple-hab.html
3: Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness, Sara W. Lazar, Psychiatric Neuroimaging Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1361002/
Paul Harrison is a passionate meditation teacher who believes in genuine, authentic meditation. He has more than 15 years experience in meditation and mindfulness. He studied meditation in beautiful Oxford, UK, and Hamilton Ontario Canada, and earned his degree at Staffordshire University.
“My goal is to provide the most authentic meditation sessions so you can harness the power of your own mind for personal transformation” – Paul Harrison
