Mindfulness: The New Zen of Time Management
Lynda Klau, Ph.D.
Published in Global Association For Interpersonal Neurobiology Studies, Summer 09
As a licensed psychologist and business coach who
has spent over two decades helping people who
work in various business environments and
professions - from the corporate world to small
business, from CEOs to lawyers, artists and more -
I've repeatedly heard comments confirming that
almost everyone these days is harried, hurried, and
exhausted. It's not an overstatement to say that the
majority of us are having a significant crisis with
Time and we've become Time's victims. What's
more, we have no idea how to find freedom.
Here are just a few examples of comments I've
heard not only from clients, but from colleagues as
well:
"With work and my family occupying most of my
time and energy, I feel the continuous pressure to
meet my responsibilities. I constantly "keep on
going" and I never sleep or relax. I have no idea
how to pull myself out of this cycle!"
"All day long, virtually every day, I feel
imprisoned by email, Facebook, my cell phone,
and my Blackberry. It's consuming my life to the
point that I can't focus on all that I want and need
to get done."
"When I'm working in my office, my plans for the
day constantly get derailed with interruptions and
demands. I don't complete what I set out to do.
"I spend so much time thinking about the past or
the future that I feel like the present is slipping
away. I know I'm missing out".
"Because I don't love my job, I feel unfulfilled at
the end of the day. I don't have time to focus on
what really matters."
Why The Old Solutions Don't Work
Clearly, this widespread problem requires a radical
solution. But most traditional approaches to "Time
Management" only ask us to change our behaviors,
as if all our conflicts with Time could be solved
simply by "establishing our priorities," "sticking to
a concrete schedule," or "organizing our files."
These external solutions are logical, but they're not
psychological; they ignore the internal emotional
conflicts and pressures that influence us on the
most fundamental levels.
While it must be acknowledged that external
pressures and distractions inundate us constantly,
their effect on us can trigger internal psychological
conflicts. These conflicts cannot be addressed only
on an external or behavioral level. In fact, when
left unaddressed, internal conflicts influence our
behaviors profoundly, potentially wreaking havoc
on our ability to maintain a healthy equilibrium
with Time.
When we only try to change our behaviors, in
neurobiological terms we're using the left
hemisphere of our brain to logically decide how to
manage our time. These external, behavioral
resolutions, however, can easily be undermined by
reactions from the limbic brain, which push us into
a fight or flight survival state. This disrupts even
our best-made plans, from completing tasks to
following schedules, and makes interpersonal
relationships more difficult (Siegel, 2007).
Here are two examples of how internal
psychological issues can interfere with efficient
Time Management:
* Imagine you're the director of a branch of a real
estate company. You're writing a promotional
piece to advertise a new housing complex. Each
time you sit down to work, you're inundated with
interruptions. A co-worker asks you a timeconsuming
question. The phone rings while your
secretary is out to lunch; it's your daughter calling
from school to say that she's sick. By the end of
the day, exhausted, you realize that you wrote your
piece within scattered, fifteen-minute chunks of
Time.
* Imagine you've been assigned to prepare a
presentation at work for a group of your
colleagues. With the best of intentions, you decide
to start working on the project in the morning,
when your energy is at its best. Even though
you've planned to leave your whole morning free,
you put off working on the presentation until the
last minute. By procrastinating, you've wasted
your best energy and wind up rushing to finish the
presentation.
Although the first example
might seem to describe only
external factors interfering
with time, varying degrees of
internal conflicts might be at
work under the surface as
well. These could range from
the inability to create
professional boundaries, to
trouble setting limits, to fear
of delegating responsibilities
and giving up control. In the
second example, no amount
of external time management
solutions can address the
unconscious internal conflicts that cause
procrastination. These could range from beliefs
rooted in childhood experience, such as "They'll
judge and attack me," "I'm not good enough to do
the job well," or "I'm terrified to speak in public."
In both of these situations, old neural nets from
childhood are likely suppressing our ability to
function from a balanced state of mind. From
infancy, neural nets that can hamper us as adults
are generated when early caregivers aren't
sufficiently attuned to our physical and emotional
needs. These experiences create implicit
memories, including nonconscious mental models
about our worth, our abilities, and the way the
relational world works. When there is not
sufficient empathy in our early environment, such
neural nets remain dissociated from the flow of the
integrating brain, so when they are triggered in
adulthood, our rational choices are overwhelmed
by the super-fast limbic rush of these mental
models. We may fully intend to work on a
pressing project, and find ourselves consuming ice
cream instead. Because these experiences are
dissociated from connection with the middle
prefrontal cortical regions, we are deprived of the
complex processing available there, including the
capacity to see a range of options and the response
flexibility to choose the best option and act on it.
Consequently, we're less able to address clearly
and potently the issues that arise regarding
ourselves, others, and the task at hand, making it
virtually impossible for us to make decisions from
a place of choice and freedom (Siegel, 2007).
Although we can't always change
our external situation, we do have
the ability to influence our degree
of neural integration, giving us
the power to change our internal
and external responses to
challenges. The freedom given
by increased capacity for choice
is an effective time management
skill that frees our energy for the
task at hand, while changing the
quality of our work and life.
Ideally, each of us experiences
the integration of body, thoughts,
and feelings or, to say it
neurobiologically, body, left hemisphere, and right
hemisphere. Any successful approach to time
management must incorporate all of these aspects
of our being, each of which shapes the way we
interact with and relate to Time. In order to
manage Time successfully, we first must learn to
manage ourselves. It's important to recognize the
significant difference between "management" and
"control." Rather than closing off from difficult
feelings or beliefs in order to regain control, true
self-management involves being in touch with all
parts of ourselves. In this way, we can gradually
develop the capacity to respond to any situation
from a place of awareness and choice, rather than
be pulled off track by external pressures, old neural
nets, and our own feelings and beliefs. As we
become increasingly aware of internal
(psychological, emotional, and bodily) factors that
inform the way we relate to Time, our middle
prefrontal cortex begins to integrate with
previously dissociated limbic firing. So the next
question is, "How do we promote the neural
integration that will lead to greater freedom in
regard to Time?"
Mindfulness: A Radical Solution to
Time Management
Originally derived from the Buddhist tradition, but
increasingly applied to a wide spectrum of Western
modalities for mental and physical well-being,
mindfulness is the practice of bringing your
awareness to what is emerging in the present
moment. This refers to what is occurring for us
internally (our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs) and
externally (the environment around us) from
moment to moment. It is a radical wake-up call to
become conscious of all parts of ourselves,
bringing to awareness the unconscious behaviors,
thoughts, and beliefs that have been running us.
Research demonstrates that mindfulness facilitates
brain-wide integrative processes, including vertical
integration (body, limbic, and cortex) and bilateral
integration (right and left hemispheres).
Mindfulness meditation shifts the brain laterally
toward the left, which increases the potential for
approach states of mind, allowing us to confront
and resolve problems (Davidson, 2004).
Correspondingly, Lazar and colleagues have found
that long-term mindfulness meditation increases
the thickness of the middle prefrontal cortical
region (Lazar, et al 2005). For there to be
measurable changes in cortical thickness, a great
many new synaptic connections must be made. As
integration between the middle prefrontal and
limbic regions occurs, we are more resilient under
stress and have increased response flexibility,
allowing us to pause and process our responses to
any situation more slowly and completely (Lutz,
Duane, and Davidson, in press).
One key to improving our relationship with Time
is developing a "mindful awareness" of ourselves
at all levels. This offers a fresh perspective from
which we can nonjudgmentally witness whatever is
arising for us in the present, internally and
externally, from a place of curiosity and openness.
When we encounter the present with new eyes, we
are less likely to identify with the unconscious
feelings and beliefs that interfere with our
relationship with Time. This opens the door to new
possibilities and solutions.
Research by Baer, Smith, Hopkins, Krietemeyer
and Tenet (2006) indicates that the more mindful
we are, either by nature or by practice, several
benefits will result:
- we are much less likely to react to thoughts and feelings as they occur;
- we increasingly notice, observe, and attend to our sensations and perceptions;
- we increasingly act with awareness;
- we have the increased ability to describe all of our experience in words;
- we become increasingly non-judgmental.
Simple Steps for Developing Mindful Awareness
If you are a newcomer mindfulness practice, taking a kind attitude toward yourself is an important part of the process. For many of us, our minds are used to running very quickly in many directions, so it will take some time for the capacity for focus to emerge. As you approach your practice each day, coming to it with an open state of mind, without expectations about how it will go relieves the additional tension that comes with pre-judging the experience.
Here's a traditional, easy-to-follow exercise to help develop mindful awareness:
- Sit down in a room where you won't be disturbed.
- Close your eyes and focus your attention on your breathing.
- Become aware of yourself inhaling and exhaling.
- It's natural for your attention to become distracted from your breath. When your attention becomes distracted, don&'t judge yourself. Simply gently return to your inbreath and your out-breath.
- Practice the above steps until you've developed the ability to sustain focus on your breath.
- From this place, continue to focus on your breath, and expand your focus to allow your thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and bodily sensations to enter your awareness, receiving all experience with an attitude of openness, curiosity, and love.
Developing mindful awareness isn't just limited to exercises like this. Mindfulness can be practiced in many other ways: from washing the dishes, to weeding the garden, to listening to music, to doing yoga. Any activity can be an opportunity to stay in the present moment and allow the richness of experience to change the way we perceive and behave.
The more we become mindfully aware of ourselves from moment to moment, each level of our being will communicate to us with increasing power. This open channel of communication with all parts of ourselves will reveal the internal mental, emotional, and interpersonal issues that are interfering with our ability to manage our Time.
Making Mindfulness a Way of Living
In the words of the poet Stanley Kunitz: "You must grab ahold of time and draw it into your self. You must train it so that it corresponds to your own interior rhythms. Otherwise, you'll be chasing [time] all your life."
To truly manage Time requires making mindfulness a way of living, as we remain aware of our bodies, feelings, and beliefs from moment to moment. This means respecting our own natural energetic rhythms and responding to each situation accordingly. As soon as we notice that we've slipped back into our automatic reactions, triggered by dissociated limbic neural networks, we can mindfully choose to "wake up" again.
When we live from a mindful place of alignment and integration, new possibilities and solutions will emerge. All parts of us work together as a whole. Just as a choir that sings in harmony, where each individual's voice synchronizes perfectly within the whole, through mindfulness we become more than the sum of our parts, reclaiming the full power of who we are. The challenges and conflicts that once overwhelmed us and ran our lives no longer threaten us. We're able to pay attention to important deadlines and timeframes while still giving ourselves the space to enter the fullness of the present moment, the source of our calmness, creativity, and inspiration. In this way, we live at the intersection of Time and Timelessness. This is true freedom.
Mindfulness: The New Zen of Time Management
Baer, R.A., Smith, G.T., Hopkins, J., Krietemeyer, J., & Toney, L. (2006). Using self-report assessment methods to explore facets of mindfulness. Assessment, 13(1), 27-45.
Davidson, R.J. (2004). Well-being and affective style: Neural substrates and biobehavorial correlates. Philosophical Transactions Royal Society London, B, 359, 1395-1411.
Lazar, S.W., Kerr, C.E., Wasserman, R.H., Gray, J.R., Greve, D.N., Treadway, M.T. et al (2005). Mediation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness. Neuroreport, 16(17), 1893-1897.
Lutz, A., Dunne, J.D., & Davidson, R.J. (in press). Mediatation and the neuroscience of consciousness. In P.D. Zelazo, M. Moscovitch, & E. Thompson (Eds.). The Cambridge Handbook of Consciousness. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Siegel, D.J. (2007). The mindful brain: Reflection and attunement in the cultivation of well-being. New York: W. W. Norton.
Download this article