Mindfulness

As busy leaders, it can easily become habit to multitask.  While I am a fan of multitasking in my private office time, I do not recommend this type of work during meetings and interactions with other people.  In meetings (regardless of who called the meeting), being distracted shows others that you do not believe them or their agenda to be important enough to prioritize over your phone, walkie talkie, laptop, or planning notes.

Even if you have trained yourself to put your phone down during meetings, you may still find that your mind wanders during meetings or conversations with team members.  You may find yourself daydreaming, thinking about the next meeting, worrying about a task or project that is urgent and due, or remembering something that you forgot to take care of before attending the meeting.  The next thing you are aware of is someone calling  your name or even the adjourning of the meeting!  When you attend meetings in that way, you are simply a present body--you did not gain anything from the meeting, nor did you contribute or engage fully.  Simply put, it was a waste of time.

To keep this from happening, I encourage you to practice mindfulness.  Mindfulness is the intentional action of focusing on the activity or experience at hand, becoming aware of when you are distracted, and taking steps to regain focus.  I often refer to this when addressing my team as being "present in the moment".  Employees and team members will appreciate your focused attention on them and the meetings you engage in.  Your focused attention is not only a sign of respect, but it also allows you to be thoroughly engaged and ready to lend your ideas and expertise to the discussed topic.

Mindfulness is a great practice to exercise at work and even in home life.  If you need help prioritizing and planning your work load so that you can be mindful during interactions with others, let me help! Contact me for a free consultation.

(Reference Mindfulnet.org)