Modern society is heavily focused on productivity, and achieving optimal productivity is a common challenge. When a person is hindered by stress and distractions, it can be difficult to stay focused on work and maintaining their overall well-being. One strategy, mindfulness, helps a person remain fully present and productive. Adopting mindfulness not only boosts cognitive functions and reduces stress but also cultivates a focused calm, leading to improved productivity. This article explores the significant benefits of mindfulness, demonstrating how simple practices can sharpen concentration, enhance creativity, and lead to more efficient work.

Mindfulness basics

Mindfulness is nothing new, yet its relevance in today’s world is more significant than ever. It has gained significant attention from the mental health community and is being incorporated into evidence-based therapies. Mindfulness is about cultivating a state of awareness where one’s attention is fully engaged in the present moment without distraction or judgment.

Mindfulness is based on the concept of presence. It trains the brain to redirect attention from past worries or future anxieties back to the current moment, likely enhancing your ability to concentrate and engage deeply with your work. Research has shown that regular mindfulness practice can significantly reduce stress and anxiety, improve memory and cognitive flexibility, and even boost immune system functioning. These effects not only contribute to a higher quality of life but directly impact productivity by fostering a healthier, more focused mind.

Incorporating mindfulness into daily life doesn't require extensive time or resources; even a few minutes a day can yield substantial benefits. Simple techniques such as mindful breathing, mindful observation, or even mindful listening can serve as gateways to developing a deeper mindfulness practice. While many people believe that mindfulness requires intense meditation, that is not the case. Meditation is only one of many ways to increase mindfulness, and it is likely that a mindfulness technique exists that works for you.

The science of mindfulness and productivity

Empirical research demonstrates a strong connection between mindfulness and increased productivity. Mindfulness activities strengthen the prefrontal cortex, the brain's hub for executive functions like planning, problem-solving, and regulating emotions. This area is critical for maintaining attention and overcoming distractions. Mindfulness practices have also been shown to decrease activation in the amygdala, part of the brain system that processes emotional reactions, especially stress and anxiety.

Research further suggests that mindfulness significantly boosts emotional regulation. Improved emotional regulation can make it easier to manage reactions to stressful events and substantial workloads. It may also help improve social functioning, which might make working in teams easier and more productive. Similarly, improved emotional regulation might lead to improvement in soft skills that are required in most workplaces today.

Another commonly studied effect of mindfulness is improvement in cognitive flexibility. This refers to the brain's capacity to adapt to shifting priorities and tasks or to process multiple ideas simultaneously, a skill increasingly necessary when a person is inundated by distractions or stressors. The changes mindfulness induces are likely to improve sustained attention, effective stress management, and cognitive flexibility, making it a robust strategy for improving productivity.

Mindfulness techniques you can use today

While many people that mindfulness is complex to practice, it doesn’t have to be. There are many simple, straightforward techniques you can use to start improving mindfulness. If improving productivity is your goal, you may want to begin by developing a few basic mindful habits. Forming a strong mindfulness foundation will likely make it easier to commit to more advanced mindfulness techniques.

Some common mindfulness techniques are detailed below:

Scan your body

Body scans have become a go-to mindfulness staple. They allow for quick relaxation and refocusing in almost any context. To start, mentally scan your body for areas of tension and consciously relax them. This practice can be particularly beneficial during breaks or transitions between tasks. For a more in-depth form of a body scan, which typically takes a little more time and space, have a look and progressive muscle relaxation (PMR). PMR is an evidence-based relaxation technique that is known to be highly effective at calming the mind and body.

Focus on breathing

This mindfulness exercise involves paying attention to your breath to anchor yourself in the present moment. Start by dedicating a few minutes each day to notice your breath. Sit in a comfortable position, close your eyes, and simply notice the sensation of breathing in and out. When distractions arise, gently redirect your focus to your breathing. Focused breathing is often helpful when you need a quick reset from distractions and stressors.

Walk mindfully

Moderate physical activity has several mental health benefits beyond mindfulness, but you can easily turn a walk into a mindful exercise by concentrating on the experience of movement and the sensations in your feet as they touch the ground. Whether it’s a short walk between meetings or a brief stroll during lunch, mindful walking is an effective way to clear mental clutter and refresh focus.

Embrace single-tasking

Many people believe that multitasking is the norm when considering productivity. While that may help with efficiency in some cases, spreading yourself too thin can ultimately lower productivity. Single-tasking is the deliberate avoidance of multi-tasking. It involves dedicating your full attention to one task at a time, minimizing distractions, and fostering concentration. By fully engaging with the task at hand, you may find that you increase the quality of your work without sacrificing the time needed for other tasks.

Observe mindfully

For this technique, pick an object and spend a few minutes observing it with deliberate curiosity. Take note of its colors, shapes, and textures. Don’t worry about forming opinions about the object and its features; focus on simple observation. This exercise, which can be done with any object at hand, trains your mind to observe without judgment. Acceptance and non-judgment are core features of mindfulness, and practicing non-judgmental thinking with objects will likely make it easier to apply it to more abstract concepts.

Cultivate gratitude
Consider starting or ending your day by reflecting on at least three things you’re grateful for. This technique shifts your focus from what’s lacking or stressful to what’s positive and fulfilling in your life, fostering a mindset conducive to positivity and productivity. Evidence suggests that gratitude enhances emotional well-being, which can make it easier to bolster productivity and overall well-being.

Implement mindfulness breaks

Introduce short mindfulness breaks throughout your day. These can be brief sessions of focused breathing, mindful observation, or even listening to a guided meditation. It is likely important to have mental resets throughout the day, especially in stressful environments. While breaks can sometimes seem like the enemy of productivity, evidence suggests that a well-timed break can lead to improvements in productivity and performance.

Getting more help with mindfulness

If you have found it challenging to introduce mindfulness in your life, or you are ready for more advanced practices, you may want to consider mental health therapy . Many people believe that therapy is only for those who are experiencing overwhelming problems or have been diagnosed with a mental health condition, which is a common misconception. Therapists are well-qualified to help with many areas of personal growth and improvement, including developing mindfulness practices. They may be able to help you fast-track your mindfulness journey or overcome barriers that may make achieving mindfulness difficult.

Although live video has increasingly been put to good use externally by brands over the last few years, corporations are beginning to see what the medium could enable internally. Many companies are already experimenting with video to improve or enhance internal communications, and live video in particular could prove highly effective. So why should your organisation invest in the medium and how do you make the most of the opportunities it presents?

In a report from Kaltura, almost three-quarters of respondents from large organisations said they use webcasting for communications involving their senior executives, and almost half use it for employee training. So why should organisations invest in live video for internal comms, and how can they make the most of the opportunities it presents?
Why Go Live?

Live video is undoubtedly a pretty vast communication tool. For one, it’s a much quicker medium with which to distribute information than text and it is also a lot more engaging than static images. Of course, pre-recorded video is also easier to consume than text or an image, but uniquely, live video enables two-way communication and this is key when it comes to building healthy company cultures. Research from Sodexo Engage revealed that only 20 percent of respondents feel they completely understand their employers’ bigger business goals and LinkedIn’s ‘Inside the Mind of Today's Candidate’ report found that:

50% of survey respondents said they feel a greater sense of belonging at work when their contributions in meetings are valued.
Feeling free to express one’s opinions at work is another major component of belonging at an organisation, called out by 51% of respondents.

Louisa Baczor, research adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), believes that when employees feel their opinions count, they are more likely to be happier, and therefore more productive, than those who don’t. The key to many of these aspects, whether that’s ensuring that employees feel their opinions matter, their input in meetings is valued, or that they understand the goals of the company, is transparent communication, and lots of it! And here’s where live video presents the answer.
Transparent Communications

Mark Blair, VP of EMEA at Brightcove, has dubbed live video for internal comms a ‘productivity enabler’ and this sounds like a pretty accurate description to me. In simple terms, the passing on of information is imperative so that employees can carry out basic, daily tasks, but live video enables this and so much more. Although pre-recorded video has become an aspect of some companies’ internal communications strategies, a big disadvantage to this is the lack of interactivity.

Video is simply ‘watched’, and like I mentioned above, it has no capacity for two-way communication. Live video on the other hand, does. And this is what should really make it indispensable, especially for global organisations.

When a company is operating from several global offices (sometimes even mid-size companies may have 15 offices across the world spanning multiple time zones), it can often be very difficult to foster relationships between teams of colleagues and especially between those teams and senior management. With a live video infrastructure in place, international teams can broadcast meetings openly, with the ability to see and ‘meet’ their colleagues. This a lot healthier than communicating via email which seems pretty convoluted in comparison and does nothing to foster positive relationships between employees.

In a similar way, live video is an effective tool for broadcasting company news to a large audience all at once in a timely fashion, or perhaps keeping shareholders in the loop. This tackles the problem of some employees receiving information ahead of others, and is a great way of keeping people updated on the goals of the company and any important developments. Especially in the case of franchises, being able to broadcast the same exact messaging to every relevant employee (with the ability for employees to ask questions for clarification) is highly valuable. Imagine if the CEO of the company could directly speak to every employee and present a live talk on the aims of the company for the year ahead, for example.

Live streaming meetings and other company messaging gives an air of transparency and collaboration to operations, building trust between employees and a sense that everyone matters and is working towards one common goal.
Training and Education

A holistic and effective internal communications strategy does, however, need a lot more than an efficient communication tool. Employee education is an important aspect of internal operations and one which costs organisations a considerable amount. According to Mark Blair, “Expecting your workforce to gain expert knowledge on your products and services through written communication is old school.” So why not use live streaming instead?

Live streaming tutorials and updates on product information means that employees don’t have to travel for training days, they can interact and take part remotely thanks to the interactivity of live streaming. Better still, live broadcasts can be saved and archived to be watched or referred back to later. This means the content can be used for training future employees too. Demonstrations are always more effective than written text when it comes to learning about complex or new information, and surveys conducted by Forrester have found that 75% of people are more likely to watch video lessons than read documents or web articles [url= http://top4webhosting.com/bookmarking/search.php?search=123+hp+com+dj3630&tag=true] 123 hp com laserjet [/url].

In cases where the company has an expert on a subject or a valuable employee, it makes sense for them to present information once to multiple people or offices, rather than having to take time out of the office travelling to various locations or presenting multiple times. Live video can enable organisations to more easily build a knowledgeable team, and keep them up-to-date. Web video-chatting is an option, but this medium simply isn’t as inclusive as openly broadcast live streaming and usually is not recorded for archive or further use [url= http://www.techmistake.com/2018/03/23/office-365-university-promo-code-can-give-you-best-offers-for-office-university/ ] office 365 personal promo code [/url].

In fact, Microsoft estimates that they are now able to avoid a cost of $13.9 million annually, by investing in a video training platform. According to DaCast, this equates to a ROI of 569% on Microsoft’s initial investment in the system threat synonym .
Doing it Right

If an organisation is to invest in live streaming, the infrastructure or chosen platform must be secure and resilient to outages, especially if it is to become as integral to internal communications as we believe [url= forupon.com/2017/11/01/flip-or-flop-star-tarek-el-moussa-shares-frank-the-tank-millers-cancer-update-hes-not-doing-very-well/] frank the tank miller [/url] .

Groovy Gecko has live streamed several AGMs for varying organisations. In some cases, we implemented as many as three backup streams to ensure continuation of the stream in any disturbances. Ensuring you have backup contingencies is highly important in the case of internal webcasts, especially if the stream is of a high important to the business or involves a large audience Latest Commenting on Blogs to Increase Backlinks .

Although we are highly supportive of using live communications in almost every internal scenario, there are risks to going live, including the consequences of not implementing a backup stream or the content of a presentation going ‘wrong’. So it is still important to ensure there is a reason for ‘going live’, such as a need to reach multiple employees quickly. You must also consider different time zones for global corporations frank the tank miller .

Finally, live streaming platforms offer organisations the ability to cost-effectively and easily go live whenever and however they want. We believe that live streaming will be extremely valuable when it comes to the future of internal communications and will be used a lot more frequently. In this case, it makes sense for organisations to invest in live streaming platforms if they plan to regularly make use of the medium. If, however, the use of live video is more ad-hoc, or perhaps your organisation is only just starting out in the world of live video, an external provider may prove more cost-effective [url=forupon.com/2018/03/29/honesty-is-the-best-policy-story/] honesty is the best policy picture story [/url].

However an organisation chooses to implement live streaming functionality into their internal communications strategies, the effectiveness of the medium will prove huge, that much is clear [url=http://forupon.com/2018/05/09/run-successful-automatic-emails-travel-brands-convert/ ] larry page net worth [/url] .