Tasks

Our early ancestors led relatively simple lives that revolved around hunting and gathering food, relaxing, and socialising. With easy access to a wide variety of food, a small group of hunter-gatherers could easily meet the basic needs of its members. Some Anthropologists refer to early hunter-gatherers as the first affluent society. Ironically, it was when people began cultivating crops and farming animals around ten thousand years ago that life became arduous. In the last three hundred years, we discovered science and mastered the material world, which led to the industrial and technological eras we now inhabit. Although some commentators say that we’re an affluent society today, many of us lead complex and stressful lives that often feel out of balance.

For most of us, apart from leisure and socialising, our daily routine revolves around conducting tasks of one form or another, at work and at home. In a modern office environment, we plug into technology, attend calls and meetings, and one task blurs into another.

One challenge is that all the mental and emotional noise and activity is not always released at the end of each task, so it accumulates in the background over the day. This means that, in the background, we may have a head full of busy, swirling thoughts, unacknowledged emotions, and accumulated stress and tension in our bodies.

If there are too many tasks, maybe multitasking is the answer? Although multitasking may be the only option for some people some of the time, for instance, work-at-home mothers, the research shows that rather than conducting tasks in parallel, what we’re really doing is switching our attention between tasks. This can reduce our productivity by up to 40%. Multitasking distracts our focus, so we’re more likely to make mistakes and increase our stress levels.

So, how can we work more effectively and avoid taking on agitation and stress? Here are four suggestions for maintaining focus and being more productive:

Cultivating a peaceful, calm, and relaxed state: Things go so much better when we begin the day from a state of being peaceful, calm, and relaxed, physically, mentally, and emotionally. We can then use this calm state of being as an inner resource to return to, before, during, and after activities.
One thing at a time: Rather than multitasking, a more productive option is to focus on one thing at a time. In our multitasking world, this almost sounds counterintuitive, but it’s how sports professionals, musicians, and artists achieve peak performance.
Focus where the work gets done: A useful way to maintain our attention on the task is to focus on where the work gets done. This varies depending on what you’re doing. For example, if you’re washing up, try holding your attention on where the washing-up brush touches the saucepan, or if decorating, where the brush and paint touch the wall. When you notice your attention wandering off, gently bring it back to the task at hand in the present moment. This is a useful informal practice that can be used just about anywhere and also helps improve your general attention and focus.
Mark task boundaries: Another tip is to top and tail each task by establishing a clear beginning and endpoint. When you complete a task , there are many things you can do to create a task boundary. This could be to take a short break, away from your screen, somewhere that allows your eyes to rest by looking outside. If possible, rest your eyes on something natural and open, like the trees and sky. The 20-20-20 rule of thumb is a useful guide, which is about looking at something 20 feet away, for twenty seconds, every 20 minutes. Take a few mindful breaths and bring yourself into the here and now as you let go of the previous mental and emotional activity while relaxing and letting go of any tension that may have built up in your body. If you can’t find the time to take a break, a simple mindful breath will do. Then begin your new task in a peaceful, calm, and relaxed state. If it helps, you can experiment by saying internally to yourself, “Begin,” and “End, and let go”, to help establish this practice.

It’s no surprise that when you look at what you do in your life with curiosity and openness, you’ll see that it’s full of tasks, often for other people. Sometimes tasks can seem like a burden, especially when we build resentment toward other people and situations. Remember that every moment offers the opportunity to respond skilfully and with ease, rather than limit ourselves in automatic patterns of reaction. By working skilfully with open awareness and kindness, by maintaining focus on whatever tasks you engage in, you’ll get more done, experience a real sense of ease and feel the satisfaction of performing at your best.

Suggested weekly practice

Notice the beginning and end of each task, and when a task is complete, take a moment to let go of thoughts and emotions that arose during the task.
Watch out for unnecessary multitasking and bring your attention to one thing at a time. For instance, you may be distracted by an email and start replying while drafting a report that you need to complete.
Focus on where the work gets done – resting your attention on where the action is taking place. A good way to try this out is on tasks at home like peeling vegetables or washing up.

Guidance

Find somewhere undisturbed and sit in a comfortable, dignified and upright posture, where you can remain alert and aware.
There are two guided practices for this session. You can close your eyes, or lower your gaze while the meditations play.

Play the first settling practice, then read through the session content, which you can print off if that helps.
Then play the second practice to explore an extended approach to working skilfully on a task by focusing on one thing at a time and resting your attention on where the work gets done.