zen habits: The Practice of Work Mind & Vacation Mind, Simultaneously |
The Practice of Work Mind & Vacation Mind, Simultaneously Posted: 10 Apr 2013 12:26 PM PDT By Leo BabautaImagine being on vacation: you can laze around, sipping on magaritas, not worrying about what you have to do today, not worrying about the time, just being without all the anxiety. Now imagine being busy at work: you are doing one task while worrying about others, worrying that you’re not doing the right task, thinking about all the other things on your schedule and task list, interrupted by others, filled with anxiety. Vacation mind, work mind. They are two different things, and yet, what if we could have the vacation mind while working? We’d have to toss out the lazing around and the margaritas, but the mindset could be the same. The result would be a saner way of living, where we aren’t “working for the weekend” or looking forward to the little vacation time we have, but instead are happier throughout the week. How can this be done? It’s a few small mindset habits, which can be practiced and learned over time. What Vacation Mind is Like at WorkWork mind is often full of anxiety: anxiety for what we need to do, for deadlines, for irritating or angry co-workers/bosses, for all the information coming in, for whether we’re doing the right thing right now, for whether we’re missing out on something important. Vacation mind lets that anxiety go, and is just present in the current moment. Time is less important, enjoying yourself is the priority. So what does it look like when you apply vacation mind to work? You let go of the anxiety. You aren’t worried about getting it all done, or doing the right thing right now, or all the things you have to do later. You are immersed in enjoying whatever you’ve chosen to do right now. Let’s say you decide to write something right now — you have a long list of things to do, but you decide this is the thing you want to work on at the moment. Could there be other things you should be doing instead? Of course — there always are. There’s no way to know the perfect thing to do — so just pick something, and do it. You have other things to do, but instead of worrying about those things, you immerse yourself in the current task. You aren’t worried about getting it done quickly, but more focused on enjoying yourself as you do it. Now and then you mentally step back, take a look at the bigger picture, and then return back to immersion in the task. And you can do this when you talk with a co-worker or client. You can do this with an important email, or processing paperwork/small tasks, designing something, programming, creating art, helping a patient or student. Pick something to do, immerse yourself, let go of worrying about other things, and just do. Enjoy yourself. Once in awhile, come up for air and look at the big picture. The Vacation Mind PracticesYou might have noticed the key elements in the description above — they’re the practices to be developed if you want to have vacation mind at work. Note that you can’t just flip a switch and be good at these things today … they take practice, like any other skill. I can say that they’re worth practicing, even if you never master them, because they can transform your relationship with work. Here are the practices — I recommend practicing a little each day:
Is it possible to be on permanent vacation, so that you’re doing your work but also in the relaxed, enjoyable mindset that’s brought on by margaritas on the beach? I think so, but there’s only one way to find out. Practice. The Zen of Work CourseIf you’re interested in a little Zen mind in your work life, I’ve teamed up with San Francisco Zen Center to create the 2nd incarnation of the Zen of Work online course. The course is taught by me and Zen priest Robert Thomas, with a number of other Zen teachers contributing lessons. It will run for four weeks, starting May 5, 2013. |
You are subscribed to email updates from zenhabits To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 |
No comments:
Post a Comment