WorkLife Integration Includes Mindful Productivity

In his column on Web Worker Daily, Lea Babauta, who is also the proprietor of ZenHabits.net, offers some practical advice in his post, Cutting the Fat to Get to Lean Productivity. He lists items we should do away with or systems that need to be morphed to become a more lean machine at work. It’s great advice. He speaks of removing distractions, not echewing responsibilities. But I’d counter that there’s one item we often sacrifice, that we can’t afford to do without; taking time to stop all the action for just five or ten minutes to meditate, exercise, do some deep breathing, or listen to some relaxing music. That regeneration of mind and body allows for better worklife integration.

Thinking that every minute counts (which it does, I suppose in a 24/7 marketplace) we mistakenly believe that making the time for downtime is only acceptable as a reward after reaching a goal or completing the work for the day. Recharging our batteries should be fully embraced in our information age. The mind is on overload and in fueling the core fire that we operate from on a deeper level, we extend our ability to go the distance.