Mindfulness boosts your productivity. The once-lauded “multitasking” has fallen out of favor as its usefulness in overall productivity has been debunked by studies time and time again. Multitasking actually risks depleting your energy and the focus necessary to complete a project successfully. No matter how badly we want to believe we can simultaneously write an email, talk on the phone with a client, and watch the funny cat video a friend sent, it doesn’t work.
According to the American Psychological Association, multitasking entails a lot of risks and costs for the multitasker. Not only does it impede our overall productivity, it has a negative impact on each task we engage with. For example, it raises the risk of making more mistakes.
Your brain can afford to engage in light multitasking quite easily, but when it comes to demanding and complicated cognitive tasks, the brain just loses it after a certain point. By practicing mindfulness, by contrast, you increase your ability to focus and you decrease your susceptibility to give in to the temptations multitasking presents.
With an advanced ability to leverage your focus and attention, you instantly energize yourself to do well in a stressful or demanding environment. Mindfulness gives you a productivity boost. When you’re mindful, multitasking won’t affect your ability to concentrate, because you practice self-control and carry on with the task you’re engaged in, no matter what.
But what does typing have to do with mindfulness and productivity, you might ask?
Well, typing fast(er) brings you into a high-paced cognitive mode that makes you more focused. When you are focused, it’s harder for you to come out of your productivity mode when you’re using accelerated typing techniques, and less likely to think about looking at your inbox or switching to a less demanding task.
Touch typing requires attention and increased focus to be done correctly. What’s more important, touch typing can be both a practice and an end in itself.
Touch typing will help you improve your mindfulness. Next time you touch type, make an effort to stick to it for at least 5 minutes. Don’t stop to think, don’t stop to correct anything. Keep the words coming and you will notice that soon your productivity will soar. Undivided attention can do wonders for your efficiency. Don’t underestimate its power.
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