15-minute Mental Workout to Boost Productivity

High Intense Interval Training (HIIT) is not only applicable to the body but also for the mind. The mental workout is also present to make human minds fit. An executive leadership and mind consultant, Alister Gray imparted ways on how to condition your minds so that you can improve your productivity while suppressing stress.

Believe it or not, you can increase your productivity while combating stress through following Gray’s 15-minute exercise for your mind.

1.       Breath-work

Breath-work is the foundation for meditation. Here are Gray’s techniques to do the right breath-work:

·         Inhale through your nose for four seconds. You can increase the count through time.

·         For four seconds, hold your breath

·         Exhale the breath through the mouth for four seconds

·         Repeat the entire steps above for three minutes

2.       Mantra Meditation

“Mantras actually turn the mind’s tendency to wander into a source of strength,” he explained. If your thoughts are wandering and you find it difficult to focus at the present moment, bring your attention back to the breathing or the mantra.

When you inhale, silently say the word ‘so’

When you exhale, silently utter ‘hum’

3.    Gratitude and Appreciation

Another exercise for the 15-minute mental workout is practicing gratitude and appreciation.

Many people do not know that identifying things you are grateful for can be beneficial for your physical health and psychological health.

“Many people fall into the trap of gratitude becoming another task on their to-do list, an intellectual thinking process versus a felt experience. The felt experience is where the appreciation comes in,” he stated.

For three minutes, list the things you are grateful for using your journal or notepad. After, determine why you appreciate these things.

4.       Visualizing the day

Interestingly, visualizing your entire day ahead is helpful to prime your mind.

“The incredible thing is that your brain doesn’t know the difference between an imagined reality and what we call reality,” Gray emphasized.

“Therefore, by spending time each morning, imagining and visualizing the day that lies ahead, we are essentially programming our brain to look for, and create, opportunities to manifest this imagined reality into existence,” he added.

In order to visualize your day, answer the following questions that Gray designed:

• How are you “showing up” in each moment?
• What is making you happy and satisfied?
• How are you overcoming any challenges that present themselves?
• How are you making others feel?
• What are you achieving in your day?

Spend at least three minutes imagining what your entire day would look like.

5.       Intention Setting

Gray explained that through visualizing your day, you are able to set intentions as well.

“Intention setting is about considering how you would like to be feel as you move throughout your day… kind of like an anchor that you can return to in any moment,” he stated.

For you to set intentions for the day, grab your journal again, and answer the following question:

• How would I like to feel today?
• What would make today great?
• How can I contribute and help others today?

Doing these five exercises every day will make your mind healthy. Gray suggested doing this mental workout a little bit longer to deepen the experience and practice.

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/robasghar/2020/06/09/hiit-for-the-mind-15-minutes-to-supercharge-your-workday/#14a56ff92b8d