Use meditation at work to boost productivity

Do you ever have those days when you complete the last item on your to-do list earlier than you expected, and then close your laptop feeling that glorious productive feeling?

Do you also sometimes have days when you feel bogged down, and the thought of completing your to-do list feels like a stretch? 

Thankfully, there are tools to help you experience the satisfaction of a productive workday more often. Enter: productive meditation. 

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Productive meditation is one of many research-backed types of meditation that not only improves the productivity of your workday, but also the efficiency of entire organizations. 

Curious to learn more? Keep reading to learn about productive meditation and how to use it to your advantage. 

Apply coping skills for mental health like productive meditation

Productive meditation is a form of meditation that increases your focus, mindfulness, and productivity. It’s different from other forms of meditation, such as those focused on relaxation and stress reduction, because it's more goal-oriented and task-focused. 

By practicing productive meditation, you can train your mind to stay focused, even when you are inevitably faced with distractions or interruptions.  

Overall, productive meditation is a valuable tool if you are looking to increase your productivity and improve your ability to stay focused. By exploring different techniques (we recommend giving the Balance app a try), you can discover what works best for you and develop a regular practice of productive meditation—one that supports your unique goals and preferences. 

How meditation helps you be more productive

At this point, you might find yourself wondering about the science of meditation and how it can make you more productive. 

Meditation has been practiced for thousands of years and has been the focus of numerous scientific studies. As you can imagine, the results are fascinating. Research has shown that meditation can have a positive impact on brain functionality, stress levels, and both mental health and physical health. 

More specifically, meditation can affect brain functionality by increasing the thickness of the prefrontal cortex, which is the area of your brain responsible for decision-making, attention, and self-control. Studies have also found that meditation can increase gray matter—the part of your brain that processes information—in areas related to emotional regulation, empathy, and compassion. 

In other words, meditation can literally transform how your brain processes information. Pretty cool, right?

More ways that meditation can help you be more productive

So, what does this have to do with your productivity? 

Studies have shown that meditation can have a positive impact on your personal productivity and that of your organization’s. And from a zoomed-out perspective, meditation can improve various measures of economic output, including labor capital, productivity growth, total factor productivity, and hours worked. 

Here are some specific ways meditation can help boost your productivity and create a more mindful workday:

• Increased focus and concentration: Meditation practice can enhance your ability to concentrate and stay focused in the present moment, which allows your hours worked to be more efficient.
• Stress reduction: Work often comes with its fair share of stress and pressure, but meditation is a mindfulness-based stress reduction technique. In fact, it even provides physical benefits such as reducing blood pressure and releasing muscle tension. 
• Increased resilience and adaptability: Meditation strengthens your resilience, helping you bounce back and adapt from any work-related setbacks and changes. ‍
• Better work-life balance: By incorporating mindfulness practices into your daily routine, you can develop a greater sense of self-care throughout your entire workday and beyond.

As you can see, meditation can positively impact all aspects of productivity: from staying focused to improving cognitive function to reducing stress. And Ofosu Jones-Quartey, one of the Balance app's expert meditation coaches, agrees. He said: "Meditation gives our minds and bodies space to process and release stress and tension, making space for clarity and calm. In clarity, we make better decisions, while having a resource of calmness to draw from and return to so that we avoid burnout."

Learn how to meditate daily at work with the Balance app

If a more productive and mindful workday is what you’re after, we have one tool that can help you increase your productivity, manage your workday, and reduce your stress as soon as today: the Balance app, available on iOS and Android.

The Balance app has guided meditations and an entire category of productivity tools specifically designed to support you while getting things done, like scientifically tested focus music and a Pomodoro timer to play in the background. (Pomodoro is a popular time-management tool that breaks up working sessions into 25-minute blocks of focus time followed by 5 minutes of rest. We encourage you to give it a try!)