Taming the Monkey Mind Can Help You be More Efficient and Present

The human mind has been compared to goldfish, as we’re only able to hold our attention for so long. I disagree, I believe that there are different contexts in which we let our minds get distracted. Perhaps, we haven’t had adequate sleep, or there’s something in our personal lives bothering us that day. Do you ever notice when you’re interested in something, it’s so much easier to concentrate and get into a flow state—whereas the reverse is true when you have to do something you don’t necessarily enjoy?

Impatience runs in my blood. It has its advantages and disadvantages. Advantages? It makes me a quick worker. As an arduous to-do list girl, I don’t procrastinate because I hate the idea of having tasks left behind. However, I have realized that my adversity towards taking more time to do tasks, has its repercussions in some cases. Details or key instructions sometimes get missed. Under a personal context, I might say things that I regret the next day.

Luckily, there are ways to combat having a mind that always wants to jump to the next thing. There are benefits to slowing down and learning how to reevaluate a situation and regulate our emotions. It can enable us to have more cooperative and fruitful conversations with the people we work with, our partners, or family members. Over time, building this mental muscle can allow us to achieve deeper work at a higher frequency.

Establishing a Morning Routine Can Help Jump-Start the Day

I’m a morning person. I know that’s my window of productivity, so it’s been an adjustment to not do “work work” first thing in the morning. Starting your day like this can lead to brain drain later on because you’re fatiguing your mind before you even had a chance to think about what it is you actually want to accomplish today. 

It’s helpful to have clear-cut tasks. However, not setting a clear intention or not feeling well in your body before you commence a day of work, can lead you to be more impatient about having things done as fast as possible because, in reality, you’re quick to tire.

I can write because I just want to finish my to-do list, or I can write because I want to help illuminate someone’s capability to make an impact. The latter is much more value-driven and inspiring for me personally.

But if I don’t give myself the chance to think about this, that nail will never be put in place. 

Meditation can be helpful in achieving this intention. I’m not by all the best at it, so I have different ways of helping me achieve the same kind of result. Gentle stretching, breathing, journaling, reading something inspiring. Personally, I try to write a blog post every morning—because it’s an act for myself. It truly feeds my soul in a way. Before I give energy to anyone else, I have to first feed myself.

Take a Day to Reflect on Decisions

Although you might not realize, we make on average 35,000 decisions every day. Some high-quality ones (setting up a strategic partnership) and some low-quality ones (choosing that fast-food burger for lunch). It can be tempting to want to pass every decision off quickly but failing to think more concisely of how we approach a situation can lead to regrets down the line.

If I’m ever upset about something, I feel a surge of nasty retaliations arise in my mind. However, I know that if I respond this way, it’s won’t lead to any productive or kind conversations. If you’re trying to achieve productive collaborations, long-term relationships, and healthy dialogue, take a day off to reflect before you actually have the conversation. Go to the gym, sleep on it, see a friend, the point is to put yourself in a more relaxed state so you can think more clearly.

I found that by doing this, I couldn’t stay upset for more than a couple of hours. I was more ready to try to understand the others’ perspectives and this led to more constructive conversations.

Resolve and Reduce Distractions

If there’s something lingering on your mind, you’re going to keep going back at it throughout the day. Try to resolve these things early on—this could be technical things like making an appointment, paying your bank statements, or personal issues. If it’s personal, writing it down can help you process it, or talk about it aloud.

Distractions are everywhere in our environment. First, we must identify what will tempt us to deviate away from our core tasks. Number one for most people is probably phones. Locking your phone away for the period of time you’re working can be extremely helpful. Reducing the number of things in your workspace you can fidget or play with, removing noise from your environment, are examples of some useful tactics. Remember, your body can also be a distraction. If you’re feeling sore, tired, or in lack of movement, address these issues promptly before they grow to become agitating sources of distraction throughout the day.

Reframing Your Motive

Be intentional with your work. Ask yourself what am I adding to this? Am I really working at my best? 

If the answer is weak to these questions, it might be best to come back at it when you’re more ready to put your best foot forward. Rushed work rarely results in quality work. Of course, you’re not going to hit it in the ballpark every time, but it’s about increasing the frequency of times you do produce that level of high-quality work.

When we reframe our motive for getting a task done, from just checking it off, to be intentional about using our time to produce a quality piece of work, it’s more likely we’re working at a higher level.

Conclusion

We cannot control how we feel, but we can control the habits and reactions we form towards certain situations. The first step is developing a mental awareness of our triggers and temptations. Then, establishing mini systems do help us navigate troubling situations ( a fidgety mind, impatience..ect) when they arise, and removing elements that might serve as distractions to our work. The more we implement this and make it a habit, the more likely we’re able to rewire ourselves to produce better work and have better relationships.