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<\/div>The benefits of mindfulness meditation are clear. Regular practice can boost the immune system, improve your emotional well-being, and significantly increase your ability to focus.<\/p>\n
Want to read more about how successful entrepreneurs use meditation? Check out Wellness Tips from Successful Entrepreneurs\u00a0and Health Experts.<\/a><\/p>\n Making lists isn\u2019t just for the scatterbrained among us. At any given moment, entrepreneurs\u2019 busy minds are buzzing with ideas, plans, to-do’s, and an endless assortment of things you don\u2019t want to forget. Lists are critical in keeping everything accounted for.<\/p>\n For some people, writing everything down is a great way to analyze things so you can prioritize your day objectively. Being able to schedule things well, delegate things to other people, and figure out the best use of your time will keep your day focused and productive. Need some tips to optimize your lists? Here are a few:<\/p>\n Writing your list the night before means you can start your day already prepared with what to expect and what needs to be accomplished. Sparing yourself the stress of figuring those things out during the chaos of the morning dash leaves you composed and capable of handling everything that comes your way.<\/p>\n Seeing how much time each task requires for completion is smart. You can make realistic decisions about what you\u2019re truly able to accomplish, and your schedule will thank you for the reasonable estimates for each item you build your day around.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re consistently bumping the same to-do item to another day, you need to figure out why. Is it unimportant? Is there a problem that needs to be worked out first in order for you to complete it? Whatever the case, repeated rescheduling of a task indicates that it requires more attention to meaningfully address the item.<\/p>\n Having said that, to-do lists aren’t for everyone<\/a>. In fact, in an earlier post on our blog, we explained why to-do lists can actually be counter-productive for some. Here’s what we wrote:<\/p>\n Despite our reliance on the tactic, research suggests<\/a> 85% of a person\u2019s output includes tasks not included on their to-do list, and that 41% of to-do list tasks never get tackled at all.<\/p>\n To be fair, those numbers actually make a lot of sense (and may feel familiar, if we\u2019re keeping things 100). To-do lists lack the context necessary to be effective planning and work management tools. You end up with a number of tasks that need to be completed without real regard for the level of urgency associated with those tasks, the amount of time required to complete the tasks, or anything that will how you accountable for completing the tasks.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it\u2019s time to get off the couch.<\/p>\n While there are often conflicting scientific studies about many things, you won’t find much disagreement about this: the benefits of exercise\u2014physically, mentally and emotionally\u2014are innumerable.<\/p>\n A study published in the British Medical Journal<\/a>\u00a0confirms exercise\u2019s benefits. According to the study, short 10 to 40-minute sessions of exercise resulted in an improvement in mental concentration and focus: even a quick walk can have major benefits on your focus, productivity, and general well-being. If a focused mindset is a goal for you, it\u2019s time to get moving.<\/p>\n According to Dr. John Ratey<\/a>, who wrote a book on the impact exercise has on the brain, exercise increases your focus for two to three hours after you finish your workout. Do you find you have a time of day where you just can\u2019t get your mind to settle? Try exercising a few hours beforehand, and find yourself with an ample amount of focus to compensate during your more challenging hours.<\/p>\n Exercise increases our confidence in our ability to accomplish challenging things. Entrepreneurs like the late Steve Jobs to powerhouse Mark Zuckerberg are key examples of confident leaders who have employed the benefits of exercise. Many entrepreneurs are also regularly advocates for walking throughout the day.<\/p>\n In fact, Facebook recently put in a half-mile loop<\/a>\u00a0on the roof of its headquarters in Menlo Park, California so that workers there can regularly have walking meetings.<\/p>\n When you have a healthy workout schedule, your sleep improves, too. Studies show that exercising before bed leads to falling asleep around 15 minutes earlier and extends sleep for an average of 45 minutes a night. Entrepreneurs who sleep better become quicker thinkers, have more focus and are capable of leading their industries in ways their sleep-deprived colleagues are not.<\/p>\n If your workspace looks like an office supply truck crashed into it, your focus is bound to be distracted by the sheer volume of stuff piling up in every corner of your office. “Surveys show the average person loses an hour a day to disorganization,” says Lisa Zaslow, a professional organizer in Manhattan. “It takes much less time to get and stay organized. Think about how frantic and stressed you are when you can’t find something.”<\/p>\n “Surveys show the average person loses an hour a day to disorganization,” says Lisa Zaslow, a professional organizer in Manhattan. “It takes much less time to get and stay organized. Think about how frantic and stressed you are when you can’t find something.”<\/p>\n Whether or not you are particularly attuned to the mess inhabiting your life, clutter will still have a noticeable effect on your concentration. Researchers with the Princeton University Neuroscience Institute<\/a>\u00a0discovered that having too much clutter decreases the brain\u2019s capacity for focusing and processing information. Your brain becomes overly distracted by the mass amounts of clutter threatening to swallow you whole, and it renders you unable to accomplish much.<\/p>\n Professional organizer Amanda LeBlanc<\/a>\u00a0says\u00a0it’s not just about clutter, it’s also about having the right tools for the job:<\/p>\n If you\u2019re always getting up to find something you need, it\u2019s difficult to concentrate on your projects. There are many studies showing that once a person gets up from something they are working on to look for supplies, they are much less likely to return to what they were working on when they left.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n A tidy desktop is your best bet to get off on the right foot every day at work. Work habits are reflected by the environments we work in; a clean office is most supportive of a productive workflow.<\/p>\n And it’s not just about physical clutter. As we wrote previously in our post How Clutter Affects Your Productivity, And What You Can Do About It<\/a>:<\/p>\n June Saruwatari<\/a>, author of Behind the Clutter<\/i><\/a> explains that mental clutter is just as bad for your productivity as is physical clutter. She warns that even when you put physical clutter away, it doesn\u2019t really go anywhere:<\/p>\n If you put it into a closet and shut the door, you are still carrying that with you. It\u2019s important to get to the root cause of that one item and not just shove it under the rug.<\/p>\n Saruwatari explains that mental clutter is often caused when you clear physical clutter, but don\u2019t necessarily dealt with it. This couldn\u2019t be more true \u2013 especially for busy business owners and entrepreneurs who find themselves multitasking with endless tasks. Sometimes putting away those notes from the meeting you still have to review doesn\u2019t help, especially if that stays on your mind for the rest of the day until you complete the task. For this reason, Saruwatari suggests a mental dump, 1-2 times a day. This translates into creating a to do list each morning, and prioritizing it. Then, at the end of each day, a moment of reflection and reorganization of the to do list. Since it\u2019s impossible to get everything done in one day, it\u2019s crucial that we are able to keep everything in it\u2019s own mental container, only opening the lid when we are ready to deal with it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Sometimes the best strategy is to stop trying so hard and take a break. Our brains were not built to maintain constant attention, and taking short breaks can improve your ability to maintain focus over long periods of time.<\/p>\n Illinois researcher Alejandro Lleras examined the phenomenon known as \u201cvigilance decrement,\u201d in a study<\/a>\u00a0published in the Journal Cognition:<\/p>\n We propose that deactivating and reactivating your goals allows you to stay focused. From a practical standpoint, our research suggests that, when faced with long tasks (such as studying before a final exam or doing your taxes), it is best to impose brief breaks on yourself. Brief mental breaks will actually help you stay focused on your task!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n There are a number of productivity systems you can try to help you work more effectively with breaks, such as the Pomodoro Technique<\/a>, which breaks a task up into twenty-five-minute blocks, followed by a five-minute break. After you\u2019ve repeated this four times, you then take a longer break of around thirty minutes.<\/p>\n2. Make lists<\/h2>\n
Write your list the night before<\/h3>\n
Assign Time Estimates<\/h3>\n
Re-Evaluate<\/h3>\n
3. Exercise<\/h2>\n
4. Declutter<\/h2>\n
5. Go for a walk \/ take a break<\/h2>\n
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