3 Ways that Meditation Can Improve Your Work Life

Meditation offers universal benefits that can improve overall happiness, productivity, interpersonal relationships, work-life balance, and numerous other aspects of daily life. Through consistent meditation, we create for ourselves a set of tools that are available to us anywhere. The workplace, however, is one place in particular where the benefits of meditation can shine. In this post we will go over some of the key work life improvements you can expect to see with consistent meditation.

1. Meditation increases productivity and focus

“Monkey mind”, originating from the Chinese compound xīnyuán (literally "heart-/mind-monkey"), is a Buddhist term meaning "restless, capricious, whimsical, fanciful, confused, indecisive, uncontrollable". Colloquially, this refers to when we lose control over our train of thought; this can include getting distracted, intrusive thoughts, and nearly addictive patterns of negative thought. One of the main goals of meditation is to calm this so-called “monkey-mind”, which is frequently concerned with the past or future, and attain a sense of calm and focus on the present moment.

Research continues to indicate that meditation improves cognitive function. One study showed that even a short two-week practice of meditation granted participants significant increases in working memory and a reduction in mind wandering. Regularly meditating, and thus reducing the amount of time spent re-directing your attention to the task at hand while at work can reveal a marked improvement in workplace productivity.

2. Mindfulness improves your relationships with coworkers

Spending many hours a week with coworkers is a fact of life for a lot of people, oftentimes leading to lasting friendships and occasionally even conflict. As with any situation where you are spending a lot of time around another person, a superficial or contentious relationship with a coworker can impact your satisfaction in the workplace.

One of the greatest benefits of meditation is becoming more familiar with your emotions, what triggers them, and how they manifest in your body physically. The interpersonal benefits of this increased emotional intelligence are tenfold—it allows us to communicate more calmly and efficiently, manage stress levels more effectively, and exercise better self control in higher pressure situations. Naturally, this cascades into our relationships with coworkers, helping to create more authentic connections and resolve conflict effectively. According to one study, if you’re new to meditation, then even brief, daily practice can produce results.

3. Meditation can help you combat imposter syndrome

The term imposter syndrome has been gaining in popularity, especially in technical fields—and for good reason. An estimated 70% of people suffer from it at some point in their lives.

Impostor syndrome, in essence, is a barrage of thoughts of inadequacy, fueled by the anxiety and self-esteem issues that lie at its core. Overworking ourselves in an attempt to compensate for that perceived inadequacy, overlooking growth opportunities that we are qualified for, and impacting team morale are only a few of the ways that impostor syndrome can damage a person’s professional life and health as a whole.

In previous sections we discussed how meditation can improve cognitive function and emotional intelligence—however these are only a few of the psychological benefits to be gained from meditation. Meditation is a powerful tool not only for refocusing after our monkey mind has gotten away from us, but for recognizing harmful patterns of thought before they turn into actions. In relation to impostor syndrome, this helps us to acknowledge the separation between ourselves and any feelings of insufficiency. It grants us a key moment of space to re-center and reassure ourselves of how we got where we are—through our own qualifications and hard work. It is also an important opportunity to remind ourselves of just how common impostor syndrome is as a whole, and dig into what underlying insecurities may be feeding into our experience. From here, we can consciously choose where to place our focus in the next moment, rather than being driven by anxiety.

There’s no need to be “taught” how to meditate, however there are plenty of resources around if you feel like you don’t know where to start. There is a vast array of mobile apps and YouTube channels which offer introductory guides to mindfulness and meditation. If you’re especially serious, many institutions offer in-person meditation classes as well.