Creating a Better Life

Get More Done by Doing Nothing

I’ve been asked by Ellesse of Goal Setting College to participate in a group writing project started by Ben of Instigator Blog: What’s Your Top Productivity Tip?

Mine is Doing Nothing.

At least that’s how it would appear to my culture’s go go go do it now get it done yesterday attitude.

Of course, we can never really do nothing (which I learned from Simpleology 101), and this is no exception.

I’m talking about the practice of insight meditation, also known as Vipassana.

The technical, Buddhist “religious” reason for practicing insight meditation is to free oneself from suffering and to achieve enlightenment, but when I first read about this project, I immediately made a connection and realized that meditation offers many productivity benefits as well.

The bottom line in this practice is learning to experience what is going on now.

Not yesterday, not tomorrow, but now.

Not 30 minutes ago, not later today, but now.

For this project, I think it’s more appropriate to write about why I practice, rather than how to practice. While I’ve dipped my toe in various forms of meditation for years, it’s only been over the last few months that I’ve made a sustained effort to incorporate this into my daily life.

I’m far from qualified to teach it.

People have been practicing insight meditation for thousands of years, and there are over a million resources related to it on the web. My personal favorite resource for meditation and mindfulness instruction is The Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, CA. (I’ve only visited them virtually, but I hope to one day check them out in person.)

So anyway… why do it, and how does it relate to productivity?

• Serenity - You could also call this relaxation and/or stress reduction, but because of my roots in recovery, serenity is the best way I can describe it. Things just don’t seem to bother me like they used to, and I’m able to pull myself back from going over the edge in my head when something happens that I think is going to be a disaster. When I don’t have fear and anger running around in my head, I am less distracted and have more energy, and am able to put out fires that need to be put out, or let them burn and be OK with that.
• Improved Concentration - When one sits for 15 or 20 minutes a day, focusing on the breath and watching the thoughts that come and go, the mind is getting practice at doing just one thing at a time. As distractions come up, I’m constantly telling myself “Back to the breath, back to the breath”, and this spills over into my daily activities. It reminds me to say “Back to the customer” or “Back to the writing” when a thought like “wow, a cigarette would be outstanding right now” pops into my head.
• Improved Memory - When I was complaining to my last sponsor in AA that I could never remember anyone’s name at the meetings and blaming it on brain damage from the alcohol and drugs, he told me that it was because I was too selfish to pay attention to anyone but myself. And he was right. I was so concerned about my own petty problems that I wouldn’t take the time to think about anyone else. It may sound like a paradox, but by spending a little time each day focusing on what’s going on with myself right now, the distractions of my own thoughts have lessened, so I can now pay attention to what’s going on around me, and therefore actually remember some of it.
• The Ability to Accept People, Including Myself - After watching my own thoughts and just accepting them as they are, it’s made me realize that, on a fundamental level, others are just looking for the same thing that I am: happiness. We all just have some goofy ways of trying to find it. I don’t have to like, or condone, or even allow some of the things people (including myself) do or try to do, but I can accept them as being what they are in the moment. Once again, this lessens the distraction of worrying about what others are doing, and allows me to focus on my own stuff.

Do you have a top productivity tip to share? If you do, feel free to join in the project. If you aren’t a blogger, I’d love to hear your tip in the comments.