In the past fifty years, the exchange of ideas between the eastern and western hemispheres has increased dramatically, but there remains huge opportunities to mesh these cultures together.  If you’ve ever seen The Karate Kid, your image of the “far east” might begin and end with Mr. Miyagi clapping his hands, focusing his chi, and inexplicably healing Daniel-san.  In these days of globalization, though, what was once esoteric is now becoming common, and this is definitely true when it comes to Eastern philosophies.  Buddhism and Hinduism, for example, which were once veiled in mystery, are now part of common conversations.  

There’s still a lot of misinterpretation, though.  Heck, look how often terms like nirvana and karma are tossed around (usually incorrectly).  It takes years and years to develop a true grasp of many of these concepts, but there are a few simple ideas that can have a huge impact on how we operate in our daily lives.  Zen Buddhism, for example, has always had an attraction to overwhelmed Westerners.  There are a number of Zen principles that can help (without us having to become a monks first), one of which is the practice of mindfulness.

Mindfulness as a concept is pretty simple.  It’s the idea of a single-minded focus on the present moment; of being completely present to what you are doing and thinking right now.  It sounds like it should be easy, but it’s close to impossible to practice mindfulness regularly (try focusing your attention on an object for even one minute without thinking about anything else).  Zen practitioners spend a lifetime in meditation developing the ability to focus on each moment on a consistent basis.

You might not achieve the focus of a Zen master, but practicing mindfulness provides useful benefits.  We live in a culture that has taken multi-tasking to a new height, even though it’s proven that people can’t actually multi-task (even if you think you are the world’s best multi-tasker – you’re really not very effective).  It’s common for us to think about what we have to do later in the day or week, or to dwell on past conversations and situations.  You might even be thinking of something else right now as you try to read this article.  Our over-active minds are constantly pulling us out of this present mindfulness.

This impedes successful activity because concentration is a key ingredient of high-performance.  Talk to any top athlete or artist about their peak states, and focused attention is always a big part of their response.  (Mihaly Csikszentmihaly called it a “flow state").  A simple way to increase your flow states is to practice bringing the power of mindfulness into your daily activities.  Here are a few places to start: 

1. Concentrate on one activity.  If you are answering emails, answer emails.  If you are talking on the phone, talk on the phone.  If you are eating a sandwich, eat a sandwich.  But try to avoid doing all of them at once.  When you do multiple activities concurrently, you’ll do each at a lower level and you won’t be able to get into a “groove” with any of them.
2. Minimize distractions.  It might not be possible to eliminate all distractions, but it is possible to avoid unnecessary ones.  If your mind has no problem going off target on its own, it doesn’t make sense to help it.  When you are working on a project, turn off your email and phone.  And, if you can, close the door to your office or put on headphones to prevent people from interrupting.
3. Create short periods of focus.  If you know that you have a project that you want to make progress on, set a time frame in which you are going to do nothing else (see the Hour of Power).  Fifteen to sixty minutes is ideal, anything longer and it’s easy to mentally wander into something else.  This way, when you do find your attention slipping, you’ll be able to refocus more quickly because you know you only have to stay on task for a finite period of time.

Now admittedly, when you put these ideas into place, you won’t suddenly become a Zen master.  But you will find that you are able to accomplish tasks more easily, more quickly, and with a lot less stress.