Picture this scene: It’s mid-afternoon, and you’re sitting at your desk trying to power through a project. You want to hit one of your project’s milestones before you finish for the day. But you’re hitting the wall instead. You’ve lost your energy and your willpower.
What do you do?
If you’re author, speaker and trainer Chris Butsch, you stop and meditate. In just 15 minutes, you’re feeling rejuvenated and happier. Your mind is sharper, and you’re ready to focus again on your work.
Chris contacted me after reading my Forbes article, "How To Use Willpower In A Better Way," to lament that I had ignored meditation. I had included several suggestions of other easy and effective ways to give your brain a break and regain your willpower after bouts of hard thinking, such as taking a break, going for a walk, doing some other physical activity or working on a different task. But meditation was not an option I offered.
Once Chris called me out on my omission, I had to admit he had a valid point. My bias came through, as I have yet to embrace meditation as a practice for myself, except for walking meditation.
In fact, I've been a failure at adopting meditation as a consistent daily habit, even though I'm well aware of the many benefits of meditation. Over the past six years, I've extensively studied neuroscience, including the power of meditation and the science of habits.
And there's the rub. My approach to building habits is at odds with the 15-minute time commitment often prescribed for meditation.
For adopting new behaviors, I advocate the principle of setting yourself up for success. Research and personal experience show that you're more likely to stick with doing something new if you can immediately start to succeed at it.
You don't have to master the new behavior instantaneously, but you do want to feel that your initial efforts are paying off. When you do, you'll get a hit of dopamine, a feel-good chemical that sends signals to nerve cells, which encourages you to repeat the behavior.
"Think DEE," I advise my students and coachees when they're ready to decide which new habit they want to adopt. DEE stands for:
1. Desire to do it
2. Every day do it, at least once
3. Easy to do, which can often be seconds or a few minutes
Considering the DEE criteria, spending 15 minutes meditating feels like a dealbreaker for me, even if I can achieve greater clarity and focus.
Luckily, there's micromeditation for people like me who want an effective pick-me-up tool and quick de-stresser during the day with a minimal time investment.
To remedy my oversight of excluding meditation in my recent article, I'm now sharing several micromeditation mindfulness practices here. I often suggest them to my coachees, and I've tried them myself, too. They can reenergize and revitalize your mind whenever you feel you need a boost.
• Walk outside and take several deep breaths of fresh air. If you’re inspired, you also can try walking meditation.
• Take a few minutes to stop and express gratitude for all of the things in your life.
• Check out some three-to-five-minute guided meditations.
If these suggestions work for you, that's great! If they don’t, adapt them. Even better, take the time to find other brain-healthy skills and habits that help you de-stress, reenergize and revitalize yourself.
Then, determine the best time to practice what you want to adopt. For example, you might get bigger benefits in the morning, evening or when you feel a lull in the afternoon.
Our brain is unique and can change. So, you're the best one to figure out what's best for you.
Above all else, have compassion for yourself. It's not easy being a human -- you have to practice it all the time. At least you and I should enjoy what we're practicing, right?
