How Mindfulness Can Improve Our Focus and Productivity

Be Where You Are

Mindfulness has become a popular and fashionable activity in recent times. The act of focused awareness on the flow of the present moment. It brings us into the here and now so that we are conscious of what we are doing when we are doing it. It may seem both simple and obvious but when we focus our awareness on our thoughts we will find that we spend most of our day thinking about past and future events. Or if we are lucky enough, sitting around day dreaming rather than focusing on what matters.

Most people have a natural time perspective and their thoughts are dominated by either past, present or future events. What we don’t want is that past or future events dominating our present experiences or that we live too much in the present that we don’t learn from past experiences nor plan for the future. So like most things in life we seek balance.

The practice of mindfulness teaches us to become aware of our thoughts and the present moment. It is a habit we need to nurture because our natural tendency is to stray from the here and how to tomorrow, next week or next month. When we practice mindfulness we keep calling back our wandering mind to rest on the current moment.

Below are some of the many benefits of mindfulness and how they can improve our focus and productivity.

One of our biggest challenges to getting things done is the distraction of the mind, while we try to get one job done, our mind reminds us of ten others that still need doing. We quickly check our email because our mind alerts us to the fact there may be unread emails in our inbox and if the remain unchecked we may be missing the fact that the Earth is shortly to be demolished by an alien construction crew!

As this thought comes into our head we then remember that our copy of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy was lent to a friend so maybe we should shoot over to Amazon and buy a fresh copy. Mindfulness jumps in the way of all these distractions of the mind and says “Hey, come back to the present moment, get what needs to be done, done!”

On the outset, mindfulness may appear to conflict with the concept of planning but in fact they complement each other greatly. Planning allows us to practice mindfulness by reducing the burdens that the mind needs to worry about. If we are to schedule and plan all our responsibilities and duties we have less to distract us from our daily tasks. When applying mindfulness techniques planning can be a much more effective process and not be delayed by the disruptions of other activities and ideas.

Stress Reduction

A lot of stress is brought about by imagining negative future scenarios, if we were to live completely in the present we would not suffer from this stress. But the human brain has the ability to cast itself into the future, so for now we are stuck with this capability, and will have to learn how to manage it. Stressing about future scenarios that haven’t happened is a pointless habit; mindfulness can teach us how to redirect these negative and worrying thoughts back to the present moment and remind us that the future hasn’t happened and so far is not controlling our present circumstances. Mindfulness can also help with the insomnia that often accompanies stressful situations.

Whenever we lie awake at night thinking about the poor sales figures or the bills that need to be paid, we need to bring our focus back to our physical body and the fact we are lying comfortable and warm in bed and the things that are occupying our minds have not happened yet.

Take this moment to remember that the future hasn’t happened, the past is gone and the present, the wonderful present, is all we have and all that is guaranteed. Make sure you are part of each moment that you live and experience to gift that is the Now.

Ciara Conlon is a Personal Productivity Coach and author. Her mission is to help people achieve their best through working efficiently and being positive and present. “Through Productivity and Positivity I believe there is little we can’t achieve” go to Productivity & Positivity and get Free eBook called Clear the Clutter; Find Your Life

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4 playful TEDxYouthDay promo videos

“My generation has so much potential in changing this world. We have all the tools necessary.” — TEDxYouth@Conejo

So, how do we get those tools to the youth at large? How do we help young people not only access those tools, but understand how to use them? From November 19-21, more than 90 events for (and by) young people will unite to answer these questions and more for TEDxYouthDay 2011.

Youth from all over the globe will share a common vision: inspiring curiosity, igniting new ideas and empowering young leaders. One of the tools that TEDxYouthDay organizers are using to spark your curiosity is video. Last year, TEDxYouth@Aveiro visualized how small steps can lead to big changes. TEDxYouth@Porto and TEDxYouth@Amsterdam reminded everyone that the youth all over the world not only have ideas worth spreading, but also worth doing!

This year, students organizing TEDxYouth@Conejo have put together an amazing invitation for you to come out and “play, learn, build, & share” during TEDxYouthDay 2011. Take a look at these quick and brilliant videos that remind you of how important, powerful and committed today’s youth are to making a lasting impact on the future, starting now.

TEDxYouth@Amsterdam 2010

TEDx Youth@Aveiro 2010

TEDxYouth@Porto 2010

TEDxYouth@Conejo 2011

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Apple Mac Mini MC815LL/A Desktop (NEWEST VERSION)

The Mac mini Desktop Computer from Apple is a quiet and compact desktop computer in a sleek aluminum unibody enclosure. The system, only 7.7" square and 1.4" high, is a great option for users who would like an inexpensive, yet fully-functional, desktop Mac. The mini ships sans keyboard, mouse and monitor, allowing you to choose the accessories that best suit your needs for use with the system.iLife '11, a complete suite of digital creativity applications, is installed on the system. Easy enough for anyone to use, iLife will help you edit your home movies, organize digital photos and compose original music. The system features an HDMI output port, making it a great option for users who would like a home theater computer for Internet video streaming and big-screen computer gaming. An optional remote control is available separately for purchase.The system is powered by 2.3GHz Intel Core i5 CPU and includes 2GB of RAM, a 500GB 5400rpm hard drive, Bluetooth 4.0, dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi, an SDXC card reader and Intel GMA HD 3000 graphics. The computer is loaded with Apple's Mac OS X 10.7 Lion operating system. The 64-bit OS features Time Machine backup, which automatically backs up system data to an external hard drive.It also features intuitive natural scrolling, the innovative Launchpad application launcher and support for full screen applications. Mission Control combines the functionality of Dashboard, Expose and Spaces - giving you a bird's eye view of

Price: $599.00

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The Effortless Life: A Manual for Contentment, Mindfulness, & Flow

I am very happy to share with you my new ebook, “The Effortless Life: A Concise Manual for Contentment, Mindfulness, & Flow.”

The book was meant to share ways to make life less of a struggle, to help you find contentment in a world where little exists, to instill a bit of mindfulness in an age of distractions.

If you’ve had problems with:

frustrationstruggledistractionangerimpatienceunhappinessrelationshipsgoalsworkbeing present

… this book was written for you.

A Public Book: And it wasn’t just written by me — I wrote this book publicly, as others watched, and then hundreds of others helped to write and edit the book. It was an amazing collaborative effort, and I was humbled by the contributions.

Pay Anything: As a token of gratitude, I’m selling this book on a pay-as-you-see-fit model. That means you decide what you want to pay, and although I suggest a $15.99 price, you can pay more or less depending on your ability and how much you think it’s worth. If you absolutely can’t pay, you can get it for free (I trust that you’ll be honest and pay even a dollar if you can). If you do get it for free, please pay it forward with kindness to strangers.

And as always, the work is uncopyrighted.

Loaded Value: This book is actually a full digital package that includes 3 ebooks and a couple bonuses:

The Effortless Life ebook, in three formats: PDF, epub (for the iPad/iPhone and others), and mobi (can be used on the Kindle).The Simple Guide to a Minimalist Life, another of my ebooks that I think goes really well with this new book, a $9.95 value, PDF format.Thriving on Less, an ebook that was a companion to my print book, The Power of Less. PDF format.The Simple Method for Creating Habits, a brief bonus PDF that contains my habit-creation method that I teach in The Habit Course.The Effortless Life Q&A video, which I’ve recorded to answer common reader questions. It’s 31 minutes, online for buyers of this book only, downloadable to your computer if you wish.

This package could easily be worth $35-50. But you can decide what you see fit to pay. (You can edit the suggested price once you click “Add to cart” … just click “Update Cart” after you’ve changed the price.

Note: iPad and iPhone users … please see the Q&A below!

The book is also available in the Kindle store, but without the other ebooks, bonuses or video.

IntroductionWhat is an Effortless Life?Guidelines for an Effortless LifeWu Wei and Doing NothingTrue Needs, Simple NeedsReduce Your NeedsCause No Harm & Be CompassionateHave No Fixed Goals or PlansHave No ExpectationsThe Illusion of ControlLiving with ChaosLiving Daily without PlansWhy Plans are an IllusionBe Open to the Unfolding MomentDon’t Create False NeedsBe Passionate & Do Nothing You Hate DoingDon’t Rush, Go Slowly, & Be PresentCreate No Unnecessary ActionsFind ContentmentLet Go of Success & the Need for ApprovalPrefer SubtractionChanging Your Mindset & Getting Rid of GuiltMy Experiments with an Effortless LifeBe Like WaterEqual Weight to Every ActionEating SimplyEffortless ParentingEffortless RelationshipsEffortless WorkTurning Complaints Into GratitudeLetting Go of StruggleDealing with OthersYou’re Already PerfectPutting This Book Into PracticeEffortless Writing & This Very Book

Q: I bought the book and downloaded it to my iPad/iPhone but can’t open it!

A: The package comes in a .zip file, which is a compressed file. Download it first to your computer, then unzip it, then you can read it on your computer or read the epub version on the iPad/iPhone in the iBooks app.

Q: How do I read it on my iPad/iPhone?

A: Unzip the package on your computer, then drag the epub version into iTunes on your computer. Then sync the iPad or iPhone with iTunes on your computer, and the book should now appear in the iBooks app on your iPad/iPhone. Detailed instructions.

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Make study more effective, the easy way

Decades old research into how memory works should have revolutionised University teaching. It didn’t.

If you’re a student, what I’m about to tell you will let you change how you study so that it is more effective, more enjoyable and easier. If you work at a University, you – like me – should hang your head in shame that we’ve known this for decades but still teach the way we do.

There’s a dangerous idea in education that students are receptacles, and teachers are responsible for providing content that fills them up. This model encourages us to test students by the amount of content they can regurgitate, to focus overly on statements rather than skills in assessment and on syllabuses rather than values in teaching. It also encourages us to believe that we should try and learn things by trying to remember them. Sounds plausible, perhaps, but there’s a problem. Research into the psychology of memory shows that intention to remember is a very minor factor in whether you remember something or not. Far more important than whether you want to remember something is how you think about the material when you encounter it.

A classic experiment by Hyde and Jenkins (1973) illustrates this. These researchers gave participants lists of words, which they later tested recall of, as their memory items. To affect their thinking about the words, half the participants were told to rate the pleasentness of each word, and half were told to check if the word contained the letters ‘e’ or ‘g’. This manipulation was designed to affect ‘depth of processing’. The participants in the rating-pleasentness condition had to think about what the word meant, and relate it to themselves (how they felt about it) – “deep processing”. Participants in the letter-checking condition just had to look at the shape of the letters, they didn’t even have to read the word if they didn’t want to – “shallow processing”. The second, independent, manipulation concerned whether participants knew that they would be tested later on the words. Half of each group were told this – the “intentional learning” condition – and half weren’t told, the test would come as a surprise – the “incidental learning” condition.

I’ve made a graph so you can see the effects of these two manipulations

As you can see, there isn’t much difference between the intentional and incidental learning conditions. Whether or not a participant wanted to remember the words didn’t affect how many words they remembered. Instead, the major effect is due to how participants thought about the words when they encountered them. Participants who thought deeply about the words remembered nearly twice as many as participants who only thought shallowly about the words, regardless of whether they intended to remember them or not.

The implications for how we teach and learn should be clear. Wanting to remember, or telling people to remember, isn’t effective. If you want to remember something you need to think about it deeply. This means you need to think about what you are trying to remember means, both in relationship to other material you are trying to learn, and to yourself. Other research in memory has shown the importance of schema – memory patterns and structures – for recall. As teachers, we try and organise our course material for the convenience of students, to best help them understand it. Unfortunately, this organisation – the schema – for the material then becomes part of the assessment and something which students try to remember. What this research suggests is that, merely in terms of remembering, it would be more effective for students to come up with their own organisation for course material.

If you are a student the implication of this study and those like it is clear : don’t stress yourself with revision where you read and re-read textbooks and course notes. You’ll remember better (and understand much better) if you try and re-organise the material you’ve been given in your own way.

If you are a teacher, like me, then this research raises some distrurbing questions. At a University the main form of teaching we do is the lecture, which puts the student in a passive role and, essentially, asks them to “remember this” – an instruction we know to be ineffective. Instead, we should be thinking hard, always, about how to create teaching experiences in which students are more active, and about creating courses in which students are permitted and encouraged to come up with their own organisation of material, rather than just forced to regurgiate ours.

Reference: Hyde, T. S., & Jenkins, J. J. (1973). Recall for words as a function of semantic, graphic, and syntactic orienting tasks. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 12(5), 471–480.

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A thermostat that learns (with a face like an iPod)

What’s a powerful way to change behavior? Get instant feedback that’s easy to read and act on. It’s a theme that runs through many TEDTalks, from Gary Wolf’s talk on tweaking your personal metrics to Christopher deCharms’ demo of a cutting-edge use for fMRI to manage pain. So we’re intrigued by a new device to measure, display and give feedback on your home energy use: the Nest Learning Thermostat, introduced today by ex-Apple VP Tony Faddell.

As Steven Levy writes today in Wired.com’s Gadget Lab:

Fadell explained his concept: Untold tons of carbon were being pumped into the air, with people losing billions of dollars in energy costs, all because there was no easy, automatic way to control the temperature. But what if you could apply all the skills and brilliance of Silicon Valley to produce a thermostat that was smart, thrifty and so delightful that saving energy was as much fun as shuffling an iTunes playlist?

The dialable interface comes courtesy of Mike Matas (watch his TEDTalk).

Read more in this New York Times piece on Nest Labs >>

… and at Nest.com >>

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LeapFrog My Own Leaptop

Leapfrog Enterprises 19150 My Own Leaptop 19150 Kids Games

Price: $24.99

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