Surviving Work through Mindlessness
I recently had a conversation with a fellow participant at a meditation group meeting who told me he had mastered how to be calm at work. He works in finance and manages a team at one of the world’s largest banks, so this is no easy task. When I asked how he did it, he said he had embraced Mindlessness. Now, for those of who are familiar with the term Mindfulness (the art of of being totally present in what you are doing) you are probably thinking I am a bit off kilter or that I can’t spell correctly. But let me explain.
You see, for this person, the term Mind-Less-Ness better captures the essence behind being present and mindful. When we quiet the constant chattering of our minds we are more easily able to concentrate, are less stressful, and ultimately more productive. We learn to be in the Now, the present moment. Mindlessness then means in this case, removing the chattering mind and leaving behind a calm, totally present awareness. Ultimately, Mindfullness and Mindlessness are the same concept.
But the essential question remains, how did he get to this state consistently at work? My friend says that after years of being caught up in worrying and stress at work and noticing his colleagues suffering the same fate, he realized that most of the time we either are worrying about the future or regretting what happened in the past. Both of these states arise he felt, from fear. The other thing most of us do he discovered, is that we get into an agitated state due to our various expectations. Am I going to get a raise this year, will I be promoted, I deserve more vacation time, and others all fall into this category. So, to eliminate the stress from his work life he just decided to stop being fearful and to eliminate having any expectations of future rewards. He would not fear of what could come in the future – a demotion in a re-org, or even a loss of his job. If those things happened, they happened. He would deal with them at the appropriate time if necessary. And, he eliminated the expectations we all like to carry about what future rewards we are entitled to. From now on, he had decided he would be content with what he had, where he was in the organization, and what his responsibilities were. He would totally accept what what the present moment brought him and contemplate nothing else. His colleagues chided him – “Don’t you care”? He said of course I do, I care that we do a quality job and focus on the task at hand. My new friend says he has never felt better at work. He is peaceful and more productive. What a great combination. I bet his senior management will also notice. High productivity with no drama – something all leaders dream of for their organizations…
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