It is 11.00 a.m. My day started with running a few errands and now its time to settle down and work on a 2000-words article for a client. However, my mind seems to be lingering between what the earlier part of the morning was, and a thousand and one things (well, they are not that many) I need to do later in the day and in the coming days.
I am disoriented.
The wandering mind is not doing me any good. I am wasting time, feeling anxious and compromising on my productivity and efficiency. I need to get my head in the game, right away.
Most of us have been to this place – where you need to muster focus to be able to work excellently on a task, but you don’t seem to be able to put your act together.
The exercise below works for me all the time. It takes less than 5 minutes and is accomplished in 5 simple steps. Sit at your desk or find someplace you can be silent and still.
1. Take 5-10 deep breathes
Breathing consciously presences you. It brings you to the here and now and reminds you that this moment here is what matters most. Research has also shown that breathing consciously helps you shift from negative emotions and low-frequency vibrations to empowering emotions and higher frequency vibrations.
Low-frequency energy is associated with lack of focus, lack of confidence, and confusion while high-frequency energy is associated with confidence, focus, diligence, concentration, and creativity.
You perform better when you are feeling good and operating at a higher frequency. By the time you are done with the ten breathes you will be at a higher vibration frequency and feeling better; therefore, better positioned to perform excellently.
2. Identify your end goal
The next step is to identify what is your end goal in this project. For instance, in my case, I want to complete and submit the 2000 words articles within 3 hours. Gaining clarity of your end goal gets you focused and efficient in accomplishing it.
3. Set an intention
Setting an intention, in this exercise, refers to paying attention to the fine details of the task at hand. You could visualize the steps involved in accomplishing it.
For me, setting an intention is about deciding how I want to show up for the project. For instance, I can set the intention to be clear, to be creative, to write articulately and to be diligent.
4. Invite your genius self
Do you at times work on something and feel that you delivered exceedingly well? Like your genius self was present when you were working on it.
Inviting your genius self simply means committing to bring your best self on the table. It has nothing to do with obsessing about a preconceived notion of super-intelligent force that is beyond your abilities.
5. Take 3 deep breaths
Now that you have clarity and focus on the task at hand, take another three deep breaths and get down to doing the work.
Doing this exercise 5 minutes before embarking on a task will significantly boost your productivity and efficiency. Depending on the how many different undertakings you have to accomplish in a given day, you may need to do it several times during the day. Alternatively, you could do it in the morning, setting end goals and intentions for the various tasks scheduled on your to-do list.
Go ahead, give it a try.