Cut Down Your Time On The Phone

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Cut your showering time to half;

Shop online and cut the time you would have otherwise needed to commute, be in queue for paying, and so on;

Get a high-speed Internet connection;

Get the best-you-can-buy smart phones that have Internet on them, GPS and other applications that make your life easier – and definitely faster;

Use Sunday to plan your meals for the week. Make 1-2 packets that can be tossed in the micro oven for a meal, and store in the fridge. In this way, you will save a lot of time during the week as you do not have to think ‘what do I east tonight’. Have sandwich ready cold cuts in the fridge for a healthy and fast to put together lunch every day. It will save you both money and time.

Invest in a good automatic coffee/ tea machine;

Try working from home at two day a week. You will need to convince your boss about this – and this might take some time, but it would well worth the trouble.

9. Cut Down Your Time on the Phone

The phone is the highest drainer of your time. Stop talking on the phone for hours on end "catching up". Instead, suggest you get together over the weekend or any other suitable day and have fun. Skype, video chatting, and other such applications have made it very easy for people to talk on the phone for hours on end – since most of these applications allow free over-the-Internet talk time.

However, this could be draining your productive time. Hence, do not shy away saying that "this is not a good time and hence, let us catch up over the weekend" to all those who love super long phone conversations. Keep the phone as a gadget for crisp communications rather than building a social network. Use your email for that; and meet people in person as much as possible.

Install a caller id and answering machine both at home and at work. In this way, you would know who called you when and you could call back when you are relatively free. You would not need to allow interruptions to your work to answer the phone.

10. Ensure You Have A Good Sleep At Night

There is a very important connection between a good night’s sleep and productivity. A good night sleep will allow your brain cells to recharge themselves and hence, when you wake up the next day, you would be "as good as new". It is very important that you get enough sleep. An adult needs about 4-6 hours sleep every night. You could check out and see exactly how much time of sleep you need – and ensure that you have that much sleep every night.

To ensure high quality sleep that rests and rejuvenates your mind and body take the following steps:

Keep distractions away from your bedroom. Have a rule that saying ‘no work will ever go into the bedroom’. And stick to that rule as if your life depended on it.

Ensure that your bedroom allows you for complete quiet at night. Noise can interfere heavily with the quality of your sleep. In case, you live in a place that is noisy, invest in sound insulating your bedroom. You can also have a device that plays music at night as white noise to cover for other noises. Having the TV on for the night for the white noise is not a good idea for the TV light – which flickers in intensity – would not allow you to sleep well.

Finish your dinner at least 4 hours before your bedtime. Digestion slows down when you sleep and if you eat too close to your bedtime, you would end with indigestion, which will in turn interfere with your sleep.

Make it a habit to sleep at the same time and wake at the same time even during the weekends. In this way to set your body clock and get more out of your sleep because REM (rapid eye movement) takes place about 20 minutes before your normal waking time; and if you keep changing that you will miss out on REM. As a result, no matter how long you sleep, you will still feel fatigued and wasted.

Do not exercise too close to your bedtime, nor should you drink coffee.

Have a hot shower before turning in, as this relaxes the muscles and will give you a restful sleep.

Put your phone on silent mode until your waking time.

Wear lose and comfortable pajamas while sleeping; avoid any tight clothing.

Ensure that the room is dark when you go to sleep. In case you are among those people who are not comfortable in the dark, have a low intensity night lamp on.

Immediately On Waking Up Exercise For 30 Minutes

Immediately as you wake up, do not reach out for that coffee. Instead, do some warming up exercises and then go for about 30 minutes intense exercising. This could be running/ jogging/ walking on the treadmill, aerobics, or whatever exercises you are into. Yoga is a very good alternative as well. In case you do not have an exercise regime worked out, try the burpee.

What Is A Burpee?

Ridiculously simple, the Burpee is a set of exercises that works your full body. Because it is so simple anyone can start doing right away; it requires no training or guidance for there no learning curve involved here. This is one exercise that provides 3 key benefits to the body:

It Builds Strength – the Burpee will work every muscle in your body enhancing its strength, i.e. the abs, hamstrings, things, front deltoids, arms and chest. This set of exercises is so powerful that it is quoted as a favorite by athletes, military and body builders as well.

It Burns Fat – this set of exercises will burn about 50 per cent more fat than the regular exercises in lesser time. The Burpee will accelerate your metabolic rate and keep it in top gear so you will burn more calories throughout the day. This is the ideal exercise if you want to lose weight fast.

It conditions muscles – the Burpee is compared to intense workouts because it is able to exercise each muscle in the body that counts. Take the 100 day Burpee challenge and you will know its power firsthand. This is very simple: do 1 Burpee on Day1, 2 Burpees on Day 2 and so on until on Day 100 you would do 100. Your body would feel like it is made of steel at the end of it, plus you would have built a phenomenal shape and strength.

What Are The Exercises That Go Into A Burpee?

This exercise set involves four steps:

Start from a squat position; keep your hands in front of you touching the floor

With one smooth jump, get your feet to back in the position of a push-up

Jump back to the squat position with which you started

From this position jump up in the air as high as you can

To enjoy the benefits of this exercise set to the maximum, these steps have to be made in very quick succession. You can see how to perform a Burpee here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynIxXvpdiLI for a straight set and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k43pjRs1mL8 for Burpee with variations.

Eat Breakfast Every Day

Eating breakfast is a very important way to start the day. Now only it would help you keep your weight in check, it would also help you get through the day with the highest levels of energy and efficiency. Do not skip the breakfast because you woke up late. Grab a sandwich, have some cookies with milk or simply have the a smoothie. There are 1001 smoothie recipes on the Net; download a few and keep them handy for days when you want to have breakfast in a hurry.

Do not miss this meal for this meal really makes a lot difference in the way your day shapes up. Fruits are an excellent choice, but you could eat anything you like. The saying, "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dine like a pauper" is a good one to follow.

YOU NEED TO GET BACK IN CONTROL

The first step you need to take when you find that stress is taking over is to gain control on it. Stress is what could your mind, misguides your feeling, forces you to react in a destructive manner against yourself and against all you hold dear. Stress is that destroys your peace of mind and robs you of your health. It is like the equation between smile and frowning. You cannot smile if you are frowning; and you cannot frown if you are smiling. Try it – you will agree with me.

How to tackle stress? It is difficult; because it takes over all aspects of your life and hence, to eliminate it you will need to completely revamp your lifestyle. This requires nerves of steel, unshakable will power and a lot of time. It has to be done; and you need to embark on this journey as soon as you can; the sooner the better. Before you plunge headlong onto this trip you need to arm yourself with one of the most powerful tools against stress – meditation.

This is one tool that will strengthen you to fight against stress, will teach you to identify what is important in life and what is not and give you the power to choose the right path (and stay on it) to regain your work-life balance. Today, meditation is the need of the day for it is the only foolproof stress buster tool that anyone can master and use at will.

Contrary to common belief, meditation is not difficult nor it is time consuming. It is a technique that will help you gain control of your thought process, perception, and reaction to every external stimulus. It will also give you the power of "seeing the larger picture" and hence, prevent you from hyperventilating on every "small issue" in your life. It helps you take a step back and look at everything removed from the feelings the situation stirs. Meditation is the ONLY TOOL that will always stand you good when you want to put your life in order.

Meditation As a Tool Against Stress

In spite of all the advantages that seem to be derived from meditation, relaxation and de-stressing of the mind (and body) still seems to be the leading reason why people start on the quest to master meditation. When we talk about stress, what do you understand by it? What is stress in your opinion; from your point of view? How does it affect YOU?

What Is Stress?

When attempting to define stress, let us take a close look at what the definition is according to the Oxford dictionary: it says there that stress is "a state of affairs involving demand on physical or mental energy". Medical terms describe it as "perturbation of the body’s homeostasis" and in simple, layperson’s language it can be explained as "a state in which the mind and/or the body has to cope with exigent demands both from external and internal environs".

Every one, no exception (except perhaps saints or holy people), come face to face with stress at one point or other in their lives. Things such tight deadlines at workplace, economic crunch versus consumerism, traffic jams, growing children, the responsibility of caring for the aged, difficult relationships, marriage issues, staying single issues and the list can go on and on – are all stress factors. Fortunately, we all have an inbuilt mechanism to cope with a certain amount of stress. This usually acts like a fuse box, which is conditioned to shut down in case of overload. However, if the system overloads too often, chances are that some damage trickles up into the main system.

What happens when you go through any type of stress? From above you understand that stress is something that agitates you in some way or other. When anything challenges the body, the brain goes into defensive action. It shuts down logic and goes into the primitive mode of fight or flight response. As a result, your hormones raise blood pressure and prepare you to fight it out or run. The extra hormones and chemicals released in your blood are meant for primitive reactions, which today are not always applicable or workable. As a result, what happens? The chemicals and excess hormones remain in the blood and keep the body in a continuous "alarm" state.

As a result, you seem distracted, confused, have tense muscles, experience headache, backache and often even chest pain, and rapid pulse among others. It is needless to say that if you kept your body in this mode, you invite illness both mental and physical. Some of the diseases triggered directly by stress are irritable bowel syndrome, insomnia, hypertension, back pain, arthritis, diabetes, heart problems, and respiratory problems such as asthma, allergies and many others.

Meditation’s Impact On Stress

As stress is basically the result of a chain of chemical reactions in your body, meditation is the reversal of that chain of chemical reactions. The relaxation that is induced by meditation creates a "feel good" factor that reverses the negativity of stress and its impact on the body. Meditation, as many research studies show, can reverse many serious disorders specifically caused by stress such as high blood pressure, heart problems, autoimmune disorders, aging, loss of concentration and memory, migraines, chronic pain and inflammation, among others. Most of all meditation helps in managing anger and depression.

According to brain mapping, the left frontal area is associated with cheerful demeanor and the ability of positive interaction with people, while the right frontal area is associated with anger, introvert behavior and stress. In fact, a couple of centuries ago the right frontal lobe was removed surgically in people who were considered a threat through violent behavior. This is because this area of the brain has been associated (even then) with aggression, stress, negative reaction to surrounding environs. This is the same side that is also responsible for proper digestion, regulation of blood pressure and other such functions that are involuntary. Meditation is able to modulate this part of the brain and reverse the reaction of the autonomic nervous system.

People who meditate show an undeniable shift from the right to the left side of the frontal brain, changing their personalities from dark, foreboding and aggressive, and bent on self-destruction human beings to cheerful, relaxed, productive persons. The relaxation of the mind triggers a huge chain reaction in the body, which improves the functionality and effectiveness of all the systems in the body and sharpens the mind.

It is definitely not easy to reach the ideal state of meditation, nor to be able to invoke its benefits at will. Dr Steven Hendling (Irvine, California) who has been practicing clinical psychology for two and half decades opines, "It may be a struggle to overcome the internal chatter that we all experience", but as leading psychologist Roger Thomson, PhD (Chicago), says, (meditation) "…is a very effective stress-reducer…If someone is struggling with feelings of anxiety, he or she may benefit from its calming aspects. And it’s absolutely facilitative of mental health because it brings about a higher level of self-acceptance and insight about himself or herself."

Many experts advise a combination of meditation and psychotherapy as the best way to control stress and keep a lid on it. Dr Thompson, who is also practicing Zen meditation for quite a while, opines that meditation and psychoanalytical theories are not too different from one another. They both "encourage its practitioners to become aware of the fundamentally distorted aspects of an overly individualistic view of human experience. Recognizing that the true nature of all individuals is emphatically non-individual, neither lasting nor separate, is the wisdom of Zen." He added, "In both meditation and psychotherapy, we are trying not to get caught up in internal preoccupation, but to be intimately present with what is happening here and now."

The findings that meditation is indeed an exceptional tool to fight stress and its negative effects on the body are substantiated by many studies. Often, just 7-8 weeks after meditation commenced the signs of anxiety, confusion, anger and depression were reduced considerably. As you gain experience, you would also feel more energetic; have excellent appetite and digestion and reverse heart problems.

Mediation – A Permanent Way To Eliminate Stress

Spirituality has always been there as an integral part of the human civilization and evolution. Somewhere along the line, as the humanity became too engrossed in technology, science and their application, they moved away from it and the result appears to be catastrophic. Statistics shows the about 70-90 percent of people who visit their medical practitioners for some or other disorder, find that it was caused by stress. The United Nations Report (1992), names stress as "the 20th Century disease"; on the same lines, the World Health Organization forecasts that it would become a "worldwide epidemic". The cost of stress in the USA is estimated to be about US $300 billion every year caused by absenteeism, decreased productivity, high employee turnover, accidents, medical and legal costs and other related matters. Out of all these, at least 60 percent end up in chronic depression, suicide and other self-destructive state of mind.

It looks like living in the present is the only way to stay alive, not only happy. Happiness too, is a state of mind. It is a way of perceiving and reacting at external stimuli. It is a method by which you decide how to react to anything that happens to you. It may seem often that decision is not yours to make, as your feelings steer you to reactive actions. But this is where meditation is meant to help you; it trains to control your mind, your feelings, your reactions, your state of mind. The "enlightenment" that you find mentioned so often in relation to meditation is nothing but the complete internalization that nothing really matters and therefore nothing should disturb you since you are part of a huge greater whole, which is constant. This is the state of no ego; the state where you realize that you as an individual do not exist unless you see yourself as a part of the whole; and when you see yourself as a part of the whole, you realize that nothing that happens to you changes that and therefore encouraging any feeling other than bliss and ecstasy of finding this truth, no other feeling is worth the effort.

Meditation And Success And Prosperity

What in your opinion can influence and court success for you? Let us say you want to be the best in your field, you want to have enough money, a lovely family, a good house, cars and in general all the comforts that come with today’s consumerist life style. Let us assume that you get everything you wished for. Do you think you would be happy? Do you think you would consider yourself successful? If you answer with an emphatic ‘yes’, explain to me why there are so many multi-billionaires, who suffer from depression; why they are perpetually seeking for love, comfort, emotional security? Why they would always agree that money is not everything and definitely not the only thing that matters in the end. If money does not matter in the end, what does?

Success, real success, is when you learn to live in the moment. This stage, which is also referred to as ‘mindfulness’, is a state where your mind is intentionally focused only on the present. When you achieve this state of mind, you are hit by the realization that you are a separate entity from your thoughts, and that you can "look" at your thoughts without letting them interfere with you. You literally awaken to this new experience where you are able to look at yourself with a completely non-judgmental awareness of the present. This state of mind is so powerful, that it is known to reduce the progress of HIV. If this is a result when you spend only a few minutes in the ‘NOW’, imagine what happens when you permanently live in a state of mindfulness.

You are wondering how mindfulness affects professional (and personal) success. Mindful people are able to shed off their insecurities, so they are happy, more content, happier, more exuberant. It is like, literally, someone turned on the lights. This is why mindful people are able to grow faster in whichever profession they are. They are able to turn criticism, negative of threatening behavior, into positive reactions. They are more tolerant, more open and more accessible for which their relationships too are rewarding and satisfying.

It surely looks like the key to success and happiness and prosperity – in fact to all that is good – lies in the ability to live in the present. Well, how do you do this? The most beautiful description of the method to find the right way is a paradox. You need to let go of what you want so you could get it. If you want to take ‘mindfulness’ for its benefits, it kind of cancels itself because you are thinking of the future. You need to give up the thought of tomorrow completely and definitely and only see today, NOW.

Six Baby Steps To Optimize Your Efficiency

1. You Want The Best Performance, Stop Thinking About It

You would have heard the saying, "Dance like no one is watching you…". Have you thought why? Have you tried it out? Try it. When you dance alone, you dance with complete abandon by letting the music dictate your movements without thinking whether you look awful, like a clown or clumsy. You dance for the joy of it, right? In the majority of case, such experience is amazing and leaves exceptional influence on your life. Do not think for one moment that mindfulness is leaving the world and getting holed inside your head. No, on the contrary, it is seeing everything around you with heightened clarity and becoming part of it (completely blending in) without any judgment. Mindfulness removes the threat from negative feedback, so you can rise above it. The greatest obstacle in the path of success is evaluation by self and others and the fear of its outcome. As Dr Stephen Schuller (Psychologist, University of Pennsylvalia) says, "Instead of getting stuck in your head worrying, you can let yourself go." It is then that you start seeing the actual thing you are doing and you can really focus on it – like it is the last thing on earth you would be doing. At such time, you forget about what others are talking about you, what they would say, or any evaluating or judgmental lens you would come under; all you would know and think about would be the task you have at hand. Needless to say, with such a focus and concentration, nothing but the best would be the outcome.

2. Tomorrow Might Never Be – Stop Worrying About It

The Holy Book points at the carefree life birds and animals are leading because they are not worried about tomorrow. They take every moment as it comes. I have not mentioned the Great Book to allude to religion here; rather I want to point out at the wisdom hidden in its pages. I was talking with a friend about my daughters’ future and how worried I was because I had no savings put aside for them. He told me something I will remember for a very long time. He said, ‘Hey, why worry? If they are capable and worthy of your love and affection they will grow into responsible young people, have good jobs and earn their comforts – and therefore your money would have no meaning for them; if they are hopeless and unworthy of your love they would grow into irresponsible young people who would not value money or your love – therefore, once again they your money would have no meaning for them.’ Just look at one day in your life. What occupied your attention the greatest part of the day? You would be surprised to answer – the future. This future may not be distant; but it would be the future nonetheless. "What would my boss say about this job?", "What will I do for dinner tonight?" and things like that. We hardly live in the present moment. The unrest you feel is stress mounting from the anxiety brought on by your incessant thinking of the future. Just stop and concentrate on NOW – all these thought would disappear and what you would be left with would be an unimaginably tranquil space; an amazing experience that would never end, because you would always be in the NOW.

3. When Overwhelmed About The Future, Focus On Your Breathing

You would have heard your grandmother or mother advice you to count until 10 if you are angry with someone, before you say or do anything about it. Others would tell you to take a few long and deep breaths when you feel angry or aggressive; it is said that this has a claming effect. Indeed it does. How? It brings you into the NOW and when you are in the NOW your ego is no longer the most important thing for you. You do not feel threatened or intimidated by the behavior of others. This time gap where you redirect your concentration, give you a window to escape from reactive action to a thoughtful one. Look at these sayings: "Anger is just one letter short from danger", "Anger is temporary insanity", "Anger makes you blind to reason." They all say one thing – when in anger you loose control. Mindfulness, that you get through breathing, would give you time to regain self-control and separate yourself from your ego. The result is amazing, even when you are prepared for it. You feel detached, in full control and surprisingly no anger.

4. To Master Time, You Need To Lose Yourself Into It

There is a beautiful story in the Indian Epic, "The Mahabharata" where Arjun who was described as the best archer in the whole world. When all the pupils complained to their Guru (teacher) that bestowing such an honor on Arjun might not be without prejudice, the Guru lined all of them up for a test to prove his point. He hung a fish on a tree very high up and asked the pupils to hit its eye. He also instructed that before they should take aim and wait for his orders before shooting.

All the pupils lined up and the Guru went from one to another asking them what they were looking (they were ready to shoot arrow at the time of the question). The first one said, he saw the tree, the sky above, the branches of the tree, the birds flying around, the fish, the thread by which it was tied up and its eye. The Guru told him to leave. The second pupil said, he saw the tree, the branch, the fish and its eye. The Guru told him to leave as well. He reached Arjun and asked him what he saw. Arjun replied, "Guru ji (respectful way of addressing a teacher), I can see nothing but the eye." The Guru smiled and told the pupils, a great archer see nothing other than his target, nothing at all. This is why Arjun is greatest archer in the world.

In our connotation, you need to immerse yourself in the present. When you do so, you would be so enveloped by that NOW, that you would loose sense of time. This would happen to you, for example, when you do something you enjoy completely and you are so engrossed into it that when you look at the clock you blink incredulously at the time elapsed. Living in the present would fill you so completely that you would be lost into the sensation.

5. Embrace The Problem, Not Run Away From It

When you are taught driving on dangerous roads, stunts, or racing one of the first things they will teach you is how to control a car, which skids out of control. While your reaction would be to jam breaks and freeze your hands on the steering wheel, the recommended action would be to roll with it. By allowing the car to roll with the skid, would give you back the control. Similarly, when you are hit by sadness, losses, and pain in life do not shun these feelings away. By doing so, you are focusing on the distress they cause you. Rather you roll with; accept the feelings as natural and then choose your next plan of action with the full understanding of the present.

Do not confuse acceptance of the present negative feelings with resignation to your fate. Accepting means you focus on what you are feeling without judgment accept the feelings and then take appropriate action to feel better. Resignation would be to accept the feelings and be stuck in their negativity.

6. Nothing Is Permanent So Why Hang On To Anything

If you see people who have married for 20 years or more you would be likely to see two people taking each other for granted. They feel they know what they other wants, does, says – everything. And one day, one of them dies. The remaining spouse would be caught up with the things he or she would have wanted to say or do – tomorrow, which now would never come.

Another example would be – you are going to your workplace every day. Same route, same colleagues, more or less same work; days seems to merge into one another so much that you lose the ability to enjoy what you see or do. Stop one day and look again. Everything would be new now that you are taking time to notice. Familiar, yes; yet everything was new. You would not be able to say that "I am sure that this would be this way." You realize that anything can happen anytime, anywhere. Nothing is permanent; nothing is for sure - other than NOW.

There is another lovely example. This is a movie, the name of which escapes me, right now. Nicholas Cage plays the role of a psychic who could see just two ahead into the future. In a candid moment he turns to his girlfriend and say something like this, "Yes, I can look into the future, but I do not really know it. Because every time I look at it, it changes." This is actually summing the whole thing about NOW. You cannot be sure of anything at all, other than the present moment; your NOW.

I am sure you are convinced by now of the importance of living into the NOW, at least for sometimes, if not consistently. However, before you take up this endeavor let me tell you a secret. Living in NOW cannot be used as a goal; because when you do so you are thinking about the future and thereby killing it. Therefore, if you want to achieve mindfulness, just pay attention to the present and breathe. Everything else will fall into place. You will find yourself growing aware about your existence now; about how you feel vis-à-vis your environment, and everything that surrounds you; but you will loose track of time. You have arrived into your present. Welcome!

4.4 Meditation And Grief

Grief is one of the most traumatic feelings of all. Loosing someone or something precious is like losing part of ourselves. When your parents, spouse, children or a friend dies you would often feel the grief as physical pain. It hurts and it hurts badly. Meditation is said to be able to help you cope with your feelings. Can it help with grief? How?

Before I help you find answers to these questions, let me ask you to imagine the following scenario. Let us say that you live in the USA and you are happy and lucky to have your parents live nearby. You and your spouse are very fond of them as a result of which you visit each other often. Suddenly, one day, they announce that they would like to leave the USA and settle in Spain, where they feel they would enjoy their old age better. You would be deliriously happy for them, but for the fact that you would miss them terribly because of one peculiar condition – you can never see of communicate with them again once they are off to Spain.

How would feel after their departure? Sad, yes. Would you say you would be in grief? Definitely not. Why? Because, even though you would never speak with them or see them again, you know for sure that they were happy where they settled. Now, imagine that one day – instead of telling you that they are going to Spain, you are told that they both died in a car accident. Compare your reactions. Why do you experience heart-wrenching grief in the second case, while only sadness in the first case? The explanation is simple. The difference is because you know that your parents are happy wherever they are; they exist, even though you would not be able to reach them. In the second case, they would be lost to you forever.

Meditation brings to you the power of achieving mindfulness and with it comes the understanding and internalization of the truth that we all are one, part of one universe, one God. We come from it and go to it; manifestations of life might be different, but life is inextinguishable. Nothing is destroyed in Nature or Universe; it is only transformed. There is existence after death; life does not cease but changes in its form. Souls do not perish, the body does. Meditation has the power of making you believe this from within. You would still grieve, of course. But you would come to terms with it much faster than without meditation and your remedial actions would positive, compassionate and deliberate (not reactive).

Meditation helps you accept your feelings, come to terms with them and move on by orienting your attention to the NOW. In other words, it helps you renew yourself from within.

Is Meditation The Best Tool For Stress

I hope this chapter has been an eye-opener for you. I also hope that when you are reading these lines, you would be convinced that meditation is the need-of-the-day for anyone who lives in the 21st Century. Meditation is not only for that person who is seeking spiritual enlightenment or the ability to trigger instant mind and body relaxation without drugs. Meditation is a way of living. You have to understand and full internalize the principle of meditation before you start practicing it. You have to believe that it offers you entry into realms within that you only thought possible with holy people.

If you look at what science says, meditation can be a tremendous boon for people that loose functions of certain parts of their body. The brain has the ability of re-wiring itself provided it is exercised well enough. Research on meditation is still young and very controversial. However, there is something that everybody agrees to – meditation makes a person calmer and more tolerant of self and of others. By doing so, it helps de-stressing the body; stress being the top-most cause for inflammation, pain and auto-immune disease in the bodies of human beings today.

That it is useful in correcting health problems was known, even though it was not quite substantiated earlier through adequate scientifically approved studies. However, the discovery of the plasticity of the human brain points to other possibilities that could change humanity forever. You can train your brain to become compassionate, kind, tolerant, patient, happy and content.

In a world full of hatred, stress, aggression, suppression, terrorism, intimidation, the stronger-wins-the-weaker-perishes yard stick, consumerism, ambition, violence, lust, atheism among others – can there be anything better than meditation? In fact, like martial arts for self-defense, sex education and basic schooling, meditation too should be made compulsory in schools. This is a discipline that if adopted early enough can shape the minds of children and through them the world into a better place to live.

Meditation would teach humility and humbleness to humankind in an hour when it seems they reached the culmination of haughtiness on their ability to play God through science. Meditation would keep that window open so you could compare yourself with the whole Universe and see that (i) you are an integral part of it, hence you are the Universe, and (ii) when your ego chooses to flare up, and you separate yourself from the Universe and become insignificantly small and powerless.

Meditation is indeed the answer today. Human beings need to learn to eliminate their ego and respect life in all forms. They also need to learn and internalize the fact that life (on Earth) is a transient energy, which continues beyond death. The truth about the continuum of existence, from this realm to another can teach you to lead a fuller life personally, professionally and spiritually.

Meditation is the path that can help you find God within and with this realization the importance of finding and living in the NOW would be amplified. Meditation would also help you achieve the status of contentment, one which the today’s world almost completely wiped out.

Looking at all the above spillovers from meditation, I would whole-heartedly agree that "yes, meditation is the need of the hour, today; all over the world. Yes, this is the missing ingredient that could save this planet and human beings from a sure self-destruction path.

20 Work – Life Balance Ideas

We have learned a lot about various aspects of the work, relaxation, productivity and efficiency. It is time to look at some concrete ideas that will bring about work-life balance.

1. Leave Work Place On Time

Make up your mind and decide that from now onwards you will leave the office right on the dot – when your day is meant to end. To ensure that you can keep this promise, you need to plan your day in such a manner that you will have all the tasks on your ‘to do’ list done by that time.

Tip: Prioritize your work carefully. Have the important tasks completed early. Delegate as much as it is possible. At the end of the day, if you still have some tasks remaining, these would be of the lowest importance, and often they could be pushed to the next day or further delegated. Learn to recognize and separate which tasks HAVE to be completed and which tasks can be pushed to the next day.

2. Identify The Areas That Drain Your Time And Eliminate Them

Identify all the activities that drain your time and eliminate them one by one. Focus on getting as much as possible done during the day. Organize little rewards for yourself when you complete all the tasks that you have committed for the day. Keep in mind that taking a break is not the same as wasting time. A well deserved break would actually help you increase your efficiency and productivity.

3. Have A ‘To Do’ List On Your Table BEFORE You Leave Your Office

The workplace ‘to do’ list need to be done in the office. Before your leaving time, consecrate 15 minutes to jot down your ‘to do’ list for tomorrow. It is very important that this step is followed strictly because your effectiveness for the next day depends on it. When you write down what you need to do, you will be preparing yourself mentally for tomorrow. This will make it easier to start the next day without wasting too much time in ‘warming up’ for the day.

4. As Much As Possible Use The Latest Technology To Increase Your Efficiency

There are plenty of applications that you could download and use for free that would help increase your productivity. Learn to use technology to your advantage. You can save a lot of time and effort with the right applications and online/ computer tools. You can synchronize your computer with your smart phone so you could keep track of the tasks you have planned to complete.

It is worth investing time and effort to learn about as many as possible software programs (there are many free and easy to download) that could help you increase your productivity at work and on personal front. It is important to keep in mind that if your personal matters are not in order, your work would suffer and vice-versa. Hence, you need to put things into the right perspective both on personal and work fronts.

There is a very long list of web tools, software programs and services that would help you increase your efficiency and productivity here – check it out - http://blog.workmonk.com/list-of-108-web-tools-services-and-softwares-to-increase-your-productivity-and-efficiency/. Look for ‘free tools to increase efficiency/ productivity’ if you want more.

5. Let Everyone Know That You Are Not Available After Office Hours

Let your boss and colleagues know that you are not available to office work after outside office hours. For best segregation maintain two separate mobile phone numbers – one for the office personnel, clients and other work related contacts; and the other for your personal use. After you leave the office, switch your mobile phone to voicemail/ answering machine informing the caller that you would definitely get back during office hours the next working day. This is a very important step that will help you segregate your personal and office life very effectively.

In order to have your boss and colleagues respect this aspect, you would need to build a solid reputation for yourself that you are a very effective and serious worker. If your boss is aware that you are putting all you can during the 8 hours you are at the workplace, he would not be likely to want to disturb you outside office hours.

6. Eat Light In The Office

A heavy meal would make you drowsy and lower your efficiency a great deal. Avoid heavy lunches at work. Rather have packed 6-8 medium sized sandwiches and keep nibbling throughout the day. This will keep your metabolism running and will ensure that you are alerts and focused throughout the day.

Alternatively, you could pack a few light sandwiches for lunch and carry with you fruits and nuts to nibble upon the whole day long. This will keep your hunger pangs away, help you lose weight, and at the same time ensure that you are able to give your one hundred percent (and more) to your job.

7. Drink Less Coffee

Contrary to common belief coffee is NOT your best friend when it comes to maximizing your productivity. Actually, too much coffee has exactly the opposite effect. Excess coffee will keep you so high strung and excited that you would actually not be able to work too much. You would also experience other harmful symptoms such as irritation, inability to focus too long on one matter, easily excited and drawn into arguments, forgetfulness and so on.

You want to work at your maximum capacity – stay away from more than 2 cups of coffee per day. An easy way to see whether you are addicted to coffee is to ban for a whole day. If you find at any time that you crave for coffee, then you are addicted. Take measures to eliminate this addiction for good.

Instead of coffee – if you do want to drink something – drink green tea without sugar or with natural sweeteners (honey, aspartame, etc). You can drink green

8. Stay Hydrated

Drinking water is very important for your body and – as not many would know – for our efficiency. When the body gets dehydrated the metabolism slows down and you feel lethargic. No matter how hard you try you would not be able to summon enough energy to get you through the day at the top of your productivity potential.

If you feel thirsty – you are already dehydrated. Look for other symptoms that you are suffering from lack of water in your system:

dark color urine - very limited in quantity;

you feel sleepy, tired and irritated though you had a good sleep;

you suffer from intermittent headaches;

you are unable to understand problem; you feel confused;

your head is reeling

your mouth is dry and feels like parchment.

How much water should keep you happily hydrated? About 2.5-3 liters would be good. Want to make it even better, add a little lemon to it. This will assure that you are hydrated throughout the day.

9. Stay Realistic About Your Own Capacity

Do not take on more than you can chew. Be realistic about how much you could achieve every day. In case it is not possible for you to achieve something within the given deadline, say so in the beginning or at the first moment you realize that you need more time. As much as possible take on just as much work you can deliver with the best quality.

In case there are very demanding deadlines once in a while, it is worth suspending all your ‘work-life balance principles’ and get the work done. As an exception, it is okay; but NOT as a rule. If you see that the deadlines keep crossing the line into your personal time – and these are deadline that your organization has to deliver, ask for help or seek another job.

One of the worst thing to do, is to play ‘Superman’ and continue to push yourself beyond your limits to complete impossible deadlines. Such behavior would mean total burnout, which in turn would mean fall in efficiency, negative impact on your relationships and acute health distress. In other words, nothing good will come out of it – hence, IT IS NOT WORTH IT.

10. Actively Delegate Work

Delegating work and passing the buck are two different things. Do not feel guilty to pass on smaller tasks that make your main job to others in your office who could deliver the work better. Delegation of work will save you time and ensure that the overall task is done at maximum quality.

The trick to successful delegation of work is your way you do it. Here as a few must-do when you delegate work:

Always be polite, realistic about the work you delegate.

Always give credit for the work done.

Always delegate only what the respective worker can do best (whatever the specialty of the worker).

Do not hide the fact that you are delegating the work.

11. Take Short Breaks To Relax Mentally

You will achieve more if your mind is fresh and focused on the work. This does not happen if you are at it the whole of 8 hours you are at your work place. Take small breaks in between and as your mind relaxes a bit, you’ll be able to give your 100% to the tasks you have on your hand. Taking 5-10 minutes long breaks every 2 hours will increase your productivity and efficiency manifold.

12. Always Help Others When Time Permits

Help your colleagues when they are stuck and you have the time. The key here is "when you have the time". If you have your own deadlines to meet – everyone is on its own. However, if you have the time, and someone in your office is hard pressed for time for meeting an important deadline, volunteer help – and ensure you do your best at the task you take on. Do this to anyone who genuinely stressed with work. The courtesy will be returned to you when you are in trouble – your colleagues would be happy to cooperate with you when you are in trouble with deadlines.

Keep Time Aside To Learn New Skills

It is very important that you improve at your job. There are 1001 things you could learn that could assist you professionally. Plan your time in such a manner that you get time to learn something new, something that would help you advance in your professional career.

Have personal career goals fixed to help you here. You need to have moved from point A to point B in 5 years. Unless you have clear goals for your professional growth and work systematically to achieve them, you will find yourself stagnating after a while, which will kill your efficiency and productivity.

To work best you need to constantly challenge yourself to do better, to move ahead, to conquer new horizons. One of the best ways to achieve work-life balance is to be happy with your work; and that happiness comes with the realization that you are doing well in your professional life.

Keep Personal And Professional Life Separate

No matter how tempting it is to mix the two, you need to keep work and personal life separate. Make strict non-negotiable rules that:

You will NOT bring work home or take calls related to office once you are at home;

If you are on vacation, office is CLOSED and you are unreachable;

At workplace, you do not encourage your spouse or children to call you unless it is an emergency;

Do not take cut work short to pick up children from school or run errands for your spouse, unless you mean to compensate later with that amount of time;

Do not entertain friends on work time (at lunch, coffee breaks, etc).

Let everyone at work know that you do not prefer to be contacted regarding official matter outside office hours;

If your boss does not respect your home-work life boundaries, look for another job.

15. Always Have A Positive Attitude

You will always achieve more if you have a positive attitude towards your life in general and your work in particular. Take every problem with a positive approach and look for solutions rather than excuses. Keep in mind this wonderful saying some wise person said, "People will be remembered for TWO things in life – for the problems they created and for the problems they solved."

Be the problem solver in your work place.

Always smile. It costs nothing and it improves at atmosphere around you drastically.

Speak politely to everyone at your workplace, especially to those who do not deserve it. Courtesy is the sign of a mature and well-bred human being; lack of courtesy does not say much about the person.

Always be ready to help – but keep track on your own deadlines and work;

Always under-promise and over-deliver. This is the ladder to professional success. It applies both internally (to your boss/ colleagues) and externally (clients).

Never gossip and encourage gossip (by listening, laughing, giving your two-bits about whatever is said). Gossip is the easiest way to poison relationship. Don’t think that those who gossip about X, Y and Z would not gossip about you.

Follow the rule of positive reinforcement for everyone. If you do not have something nice to say, don’t say anything. You do NOT owe the truth to anyone. Develop the habit of giving a pat on the back whenever possible. Whenever you see something positive about your colleagues, junior and boss say it. Everyone loves appreciation. Keep in mind that there is a very thin line between flattery and appreciation. Do NOT flatter; appreciate.

16. Find A Job That You Love To Do

Initially, for the sake of your family or raising funds you might take on whatever job you find, wherever you find. Even so, ensure that you always give your best in whatever job you are. However, do not stop until you find the job you love; because it is only then that you would be able to give your 100% and be happy at the same time. When you find the job you love, your work will no longer be work – but pleasure and pleasure would never stress you.

17. Have A Comfortable Workplace

You are working 8 hours in a place; ensure that you are comfortable. Check on these matters – and this is NOT an all-inclusive list:

Do you have proper lighting?

Do you have a comfortable chair?

Is your desk adequate for your requirement?

Is there enough fresh air in your office?

Is it comfortable temperature wise? In some offices where the air conditioning is centralized, it might be too cold or too hot. If so, look for ways to redress this matter.

Do you have adequate tools to deliver your job? Is your laptop/ desktop working properly? Do you need anything else?

Is there anything that needs improvement at your work place – to ensure that you are 100% comfortable in your surroundings?

Do you have colleagues around you who speak too loudly? Is there anything around you that disrupts your pace at work?

Unless you are mentally and physically comfortable at your work place you cannot give your 100%. Your efficiency and productivity are directly proportional to how comfortable you are. Ensure that you create a little island of comfort at your workplace. If you explain your problem to your boss vis-à-vis your ability to deliver/ productivity, you will get whatever you want – if that is possible within the budget. If not, look for another job for you are likely to feel frustrated sooner or later.

18. Invest In Latest Gadgets And Use Them Extensively

Technology today can reduce the workload by 2/3rd if applied correctly. Today, it is the era of working smart; the working hard era is gone. Invest in the latest technology smart phone, laptop, latest software, or whatever tools you require to give your best in your job. Stay abreast with technology development – you will be able to work better, faster and use less time than you would otherwise.

You will find that the investment in these latest high-tech tools will more than pay for their cost.

19. Negotiate For Work At Home Days or Flexi-hours

If you can do your job from home, try negotiating with your boss for 2-3 days a week working from home. This will help you cut on the stress and time of commuting and give your best to your job. This is especially good if you need quiet and uninterrupted time for your task.

In case this is not possible, try negotiating flexi-hours where you could come later and go later from your office. In this way, you could complete household chores and other important personal matters without the need of taking a day off from your job.

20. Saying ‘No’ Is Important

Learn to say ‘no’ and say ‘no’ whenever it is required without any qualms. More than 90% of your problems would not be there if you learn to say ‘no’ when you want to say ‘no’. You are not in a popularity contest; you do NOT need to say ‘yes’ to everything that lands on your desk.

CONCLUSION

This e-book hopefully, will help you achieve the very challenging goal of perfect work-life balance. Agreed, many tips and advices given here are easier to said than done; but none are impossible. Make up your mind that you will work towards achieving this goal, break it up in smaller bite-sized goals and go for it. Look up the SMART goals principle; use this method to achieve work-life balance.

Do not be hard on yourself. It will be hard. This is an uphill task and you do not expect that that it will be easy. It will take time for you to manage your time as you want best. It will lots of effort; expect burnouts, frustration, and tough spots before you reach your goal. But stay on the path and it will happen. The rewards of finding that perfect work-life balance are huge; and worth every bit the effort you are putting in.

In case you are unable to find ways to perfect this work-life balance with your job, consider very seriously to become an entrepreneur. Look for ways to set up a home business or become a freelancer/ consultant in the virtual world. In this way, you could work from home for any organization or employer in the world with the help of the high-speed Internet.