When I’m under pressure my monkey mind is in high gear jumping from one task to the next, never digging into anything for long. When I tried to meditate to quiet the mind, I had the following internal dialogue:
Zen mind: Breathe deep, relax, let thoughts go, focus on one task
Monkey mind: But there’s so much to do! You have to do this and that and the other thing and they’re all due right away!!!!!
Zen mind: Breathe deep, relax, let thoughts go, focus on one task
Monkey mind: Chatter, chatter, chatter
Zen mind: Swat!
Monkey mind: You missed me! There’s so much to do.
Zen mind: this isn’t getting us anywhere…
I find it very hard to “still my mind” at work. Or to “not think” of all my other tasks. If I try to stop the monkey mind it only gets more agitated. Instead of “not thinking”, I’ve found it helpful to choose one thing to think about and first visualize myself working on it. What will I do first… what has to be in place so I’m ready to do that? Then what will I do next, and what do I need to accomplish that step? In my mind I lay out a process, I explore the process with an optimistic mind. The focus is on how will I do this so I’m successful? The monkey mind jumps up now and then with words of pessimism, anxiety, etc. I take a deep slow breath and return to my focused visualization, and the monkey mind quiets down.
When I open my eyes, I write down as much as I can remember about the key steps, the resources I need and any other helpful thoughts I had. If the monkey mind starts chattering again, then I probably haven’t thoroughly visualized the full plan, so I return to my focused visualization, walk through it again and see if I pick up any additional tips. Whether I do or don’t, I return to my list and I schedule each step – how long will each one take? Do I have time for the whole thing now? If not, when will I pick it back up? What are some good break points?
I then begin the work and each time the monkey comes to visit I take a few deep breaths, return to my visualization briefly and refocus on my work.
Studies have shown that multi-tasking is not efficient. What happens is you start one thing, jump to the next without finishing the first and part of that first task remains in your active mind. Someone called it attention residue. This residue takes up part of your mental capacity, thereby diminishing your capacity to work at the task at hand. In most cases, you’ll be jumping between 3 or 4 tasks, with lots of attention residue and very little active attention capacity. The monkey mind is an attention thief!
Have you seen your monkey mind at work? How do you handle it? Share your thoughts below or email me.
My thanks to Annemarie Lanesey, the co-founder of Greane Tree Technology, who gave a talk on “Zen Entrepreneurship” at the Consulting Alliance in March and suggested this meditation strategy to me.