On Being Mindful

I used my electric hair straightener this morning. A little later, I got into my car and started driving to work. Half-way through my drive, I froze from a sudden panicked thought: “Did I unplug my hair straightener?” My mind continued: “What if I didn’t? What if it catches on fire while I’m at work and kills my dog?” I was 99.99% sure that I had unplugged it, but it wasn’t enough. I turned around, drove back home, confirmed that I had indeed unplugged it, and left for work (again).

I lost 15 minutes of my life. Why? Because I was not being mindful. While I was straightening my hair and unplugging the device, I was planning a mini speech for an upcoming meeting, rather than being in the moment and focusing on the task at hand.

“So what?” you ask. “What does this have to do with product management?”

Well, let me tell you. Being mindful is not just important when dealing with electronic devices, but in every aspect of life. If you are mindful and focused, you will be more relaxed, more productive, and produce higher quality work. Focusing on the task at hand, rather than letting your mind wander, creates a stillness and thoughfulness which is not possible absent mindfulness.

As product managers, we juggle a thousand activities every week. It’s easy to get distracted and attempt to multi-task to get everything done. This often ends up being counter-productive. For example, have you ever been caught off-guard in a meeting because you were trying to do email at the same time? It doesn’t work. Being mindful means being focused on the current activity, paying attention to every detail of it, and embracing just doing one thing. It applies to everything!

Try this: Pick and activity you enjoy and focus on being mindful while doing this activity for 30 minutes. Then evaluate what you were able to accomplish. Did you have a better run? Did you read an entire article and really absorb the content? Were you able to complete a draft of your presentation? 

It takes practice (I’m obviously still working on it!), but once you are able to focus your mind on the activity at hand, great things happen!