Even though you know it’s important to stop whatever you are doing and enjoy life, it might be difficult for you, at least in the first few days, because you are so used to the hustle culture of today that has convinced you that working all the time is important. You might even be worried that stopping now will make you regret it later.

Whatever your excuse of not living in the moment might be, this article will help you get rid of it. It discusses some creative and interesting tips you can apply right now to adopt the habit of stopping and enjoying life every single day.

1. Introduce some space

We are always so determined to get the most out of every living moment, that we forget that some space is important. We jumble up our tasks, wishes, aspirations, and items from our to-do list so much, that there is little room to breathe, let alone live.

To prevent this from happening, learn the subtle art of not doing anything and just be. You don’t have to be productive every waking moment. You can have blank spaces on your to-do list that allow you to take a moment to yourself for self-reflection. Moments like these will help you stop and be mindful of the present, so you are living, not merely existing.

2. Put things in perspective 

When you look back upon the past, do you really feel happy that you worked so hard and got so much done? Or is it the calmer moments you miss, the mellower moments where you were laughing, living in the present, and sharing it with the people who matter?

No one remembers the hustle. Sure, it is important to have a bright future, but is it important enough to sacrifice your present for it? Is it really necessary to work all the time and not pause for even a single moment?

When you put things in perspective and really reflect on what is important to you, you will get a lot of clarity. You will understand the importance of not working all the time and the need to enjoy life.

3. Engage with people

Don’t fight all your battles alone. Stay in touch with your friends and take part in group activities. The social interactions will enrich your mind and present new experiences to you that you can cherish and reminisce later.

4. Relax for a while

Take an off day. Meditate. Engage in self-care. Do some relaxing exercises. Take a shower. Engage in any activity that helps you relax and be mindful of the present.

This is a personal choice and the answer to this might be different for different people. Until you find a habit or a hobby that relaxes you, keep looking for it and you will find it one day.

5. Use technology

It might sound ironic that you are using technology to stay in the present and enjoy life. But it can be a powerful tool in your arsenal that helps you pause for a bit and really enjoy the present.

You can turn to technology and download a free habit tracker. This is a great way to mark your progress on the calendar and use it to motivate yourself to keep pushing on.

Having someone else do it with you can make building any new habit easier. If you can’t find a friend who’s also learning to be present and enjoy life every day at the same time as you are, you can hire an accountability coach to help keep you on track. These are trained individuals who will hold you accountable and help you get back on track if you ever fall off the wagon.

“My biggest rule is no email before meditation.”

Jeena Cho started meditating to relieve the stress from her high-pressure job as a lawyer. Meditation made such a positive impact in her life that she now teaches meditation to other lawyers and is even writing a book on meditation for the American Bar Association.

Cho is also a popular coach on Coach.me. She told us why she thinks meditation is such a powerful tool for lawyers or anyone in a high-stress job, how meditation has boosted her performance and gave out her top tips for people just getting started.

How has meditation improved your performance?

In short, meditation has helped me become more of myself. It has also helped me to let go of my tendency to cling to a certain outcome. I’ve loosened my grip on wanting things my way and demanding perfection. The only thing I can do is show up, do my best, and recognize that the outcome is often not up to me.

As a bankruptcy lawyer, I’m the bearer of my client’s suffering. I’ve worked with clients who ended up in dire financial situations due to unexpected death, illness, divorce, and/or deceit. I used to internalize all my clients’ suffering, and carry it around with me. This led to some detachment from my clients; I’d resist hearing their sad stories. Now, I can be fully present with my clients, and listen to their stories with kindness and compassion. I can also acknowledge my emotions that may come bubbling up to the surface. I can just be with my clients without immediately jumping into “lawyer mode.”

The way I interact with people in general has shifted in a positive direction. When I’m stuck in traffic, instead of getting irritated or angry, I practice loving-kindness meditation and send well wishes to those around me who are also stuck in traffic.

I also find that I am able to focus on the task at hand so that I can get more done. But, I’m not doing more just for the sake of accomplishing more. I’ve become more intentional about why I am doing (or not doing) a task. I now instinctively focus on tasks that are aligned with my mission, values and vision, instead of mindlessly doing more for the sake of checking a to-do item off the list.

Why did you start meditating? What was your goal?

I started meditating because I was losing clumps of hair due to constant stress and anxiety. My options were go on antidepressants or try something new. I decided to try Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) based on the scientific research.

My goal was to reduce stress and anxiety so I’d stop losing hair. Thankfully, it worked! In hindsight, my body was giving me clues along the way that I was completely overwhelmed. I had constant insomnia, backaches, and headaches. I think losing hair was my body’s way of saying “pay attention!”

Do you think meditation gives you a competitive edge? If so, how?

Meditation has helped me become more focused and this certainly gives me a competitive edge. However, I feel it’s misguided to meditate solely to gain a leg up against your competition or peers. Meditation is so much more than a vehicle to increase concentration, focus, or productivity. Yes, meditation can help you do all of that, but that’s like buying a Porsche to drive to your local 7-Eleven.

Can you share a story about how meditation has helped you overcome obstacles?

One experience really stands out when I reflect on my meditation practice. I grew up in New York City and we were poor. I always felt a lot of pain whenever I saw a homeless person so my default reaction for many years was to avoid them. I’d cross the street or look away. It just felt so hopeless.

During one of my meditation classes, I read Rumi’s quote:

“Don’t turn away. Keep your gaze on the bandaged place. That’s where the light enters you.”

As an experiment, I decided to practice my loving-kindness meditation whenever I saw a homeless person. So, instead of turning away, I’d look at the person, make eye contact, and I’d silently wish that person well. I’d wish that person happiness and freedom from suffering. Then one day, as I was walking into BART, I saw a homeless person. He asked if I had any spare change and I told him that I couldn’t offer him money. He then saw the box of pastries I was carrying and asked if he could have a donut. I gladly obliged. He was delighted, and I felt so much joy that I almost broke into tears.

I was practicing looking at the painful places and I allowed for opportunities for the light to enter. Since I started this practice, I’ve had other similar encounters with homeless people. I once read that one of the most painful experiences of being homeless is the feeling of being invisible. Knowing that when I’m simply witnessing or being there for someone, even if it’s only for a moment can make a difference was a very powerful realization for me.

You’re writing a book about mindfulness for the American Bar Association. What is it about and what inspired you to write it?

I am writing a book called The Anxious Lawyer. It’s an eight week, self-guided course on cultivating a mindfulness practice for lawyers. The practice of law presents amazing opportunities for being mindful. There’s a tendency to demonize the opposing side, which leads to a lack of civility that is rampant in our legal system. My hope is that as more lawyers begin to practice mindfulness, we stop demonizing our opponents and recognize that we’re all playing our role. I have a role as a lawyer to represent my client to the best of my ability, and this needs to include recognizing our common humanity.

In addition, I hope that lawyers can put the “counsel” back into Counselor at Law. Often, clients come to us wanting “justice,” which most often means financial compensation. However, that’s not the end of the story. There’s often deep wounds, pain, and suffering beneath the surface. This may be the reason why even when my clients prevail and obtained a judgment in their favor, the victory feels hollow. I’d like to see lawyers play role of peacemakers, facilitating opportunities for forgiveness and healing.

What is your meditation routine?

I roll out of bed and go straight to my meditation cushion (after a “bio break”). I find that if I don’t meditate immediately after waking up, I can get easily distracted and skip meditation. My biggest rule is no email before meditation.

Depending on the day, I’ll sit for 5 – 45 minutes. I try to do a longer sit at least couple of times a week. I also like meditating on Caltrain on my way to work. Usually, I’ll set a timer using Insight Timer but occasionally, I like to use guided meditations.

Typically, I’ll do some combination of checking in, breath awareness, body scan, following the breath, noticing sensations, sounds, thoughts, loving-kindness and/or mantra meditation.

Recently, I started meditating for five minutes right before I fall asleep. I’ve found that adding the second meditation has helped me deepen my meditation experience and I sleep better.

Do you have tips for making meditation a habit?

Yes! Here are a few:

• Start small. Find a time commitment that you can easily accomplish on a daily basis. This may be 60 seconds or 10 minutes. Choose a goal that’s easy enough to maintain and slowly increase.
• Find a way to link your meditation to another routine so that you develop a habit, such as following your morning bio break or meditating immediately before or after brushing your teeth.
• Set your intention the night before. Before going to sleep, reaffirm your commitment to meditate everyday. You can imagine yourself getting out of bed, walking to your meditation chair or cushion and meditating.
• Begin again. Even if you don’t meditate for days, weeks or even months, you can always begin again. Don’t waste time criticizing yourself or judging yourself for not meditating. If you notice negative chatter, acknowledge it, but don’t get trapped in that negative thought train. Each moment is a brand new opportunity for you to begin or continue your meditation practice.

[Tweet “”My biggest rule is no email before meditation.” @coachdotme interviews lawyer @Jeena_Cho”]

Get your free chapter of The Strongest Mind in the Room: How Meditation Boosts Human Performance. Find free guided meditations on our How to Meditate Coach.me Guide.

“Even for people who don’t have much experience with meditation or time to put into it, it may be useful to do a little mindfulness meditation just before facing a situation or task in which it would help to not emphasize the negative so much and appreciate the positive more.”

Did you know that our brains are programmed to remember negative memories more strongly than positive ones? It’s called negativity bias, and it’s one of the many cognitive biases that affect our decision making. Inspired by Buddhist claims that mindfulness can reduce biases, Dr. Laura Kiken and Dr. Natalie Shook investigated whether meditation could reduce negativity bias. They learned that just one 15-minute meditation session was all it took to reduce someone’s susceptibility to negativity bias and help them think more positively. You can read more about their research in our meditation book.

What inspired your research?

Laura’s broader research interests stem from her many years of practicing and reading about meditative disciplines. The specific research topic mostly was inspired by our curiosity about the Buddhist-derived claim that mindfulness promotes a mental clarity that reduces the influence of bias. This was interesting given that research in psychology, especially our sub-field of social psychology, has demonstrated that people often are susceptible to many forms of bias. We chose to examine negativity bias based on known pitfalls of this form of bias, and based on Natalie’s experience testing a form of negativity bias objectively.

Can you explain your research findings in a few sentences?

In a well-designed randomized, controlled experiment with participants who had little to no meditation experience, 15 minutes of mindful breathing meditation reduced the tendency to weight negative information more heavily than positive information. It helped people not to short-change the positive. We speculate that this might be because being more attentive and receptive to features of actual, current experiences (and perhaps, gently distinguishing that from streams of thought about experiences), which is a main feature of mindfulness, lets people get less carried away with the negative and process more positive information. (Read the full study here).

How can people apply what you learned to their everyday lives?

Even for people who don’t have much experience with meditation or time to put into it, it may be useful to do a little mindfulness meditation just before facing a situation or task in which it would help to not emphasize the negative so much and appreciate the positive more.

What surprised you the most about the results?

It was exciting to see that such a short mindfulness meditation exercise (15 minutes of mindful breathing) could reduce a negativity bias, particularly in a sample of inexperienced participants. It also was fascinating to see this effect where participants “were less negative and more positive” without telling the participants to think that way.

What are the most common cognitive biases leaders face in decision making?

From our work as well as other research in social psychology, there is lots of evidence of negativity biases in cognitive processing, i.e., attending to or weighing negative information to a greater extent than positive information. Some of Natalie’s work has demonstrated the extent to which these negativity biases are associated with risky decision making and interpretation of ambiguous situations. Generally, individuals with a greater negativity bias are less likely to make risky decisions and are more likely to interpret situations negatively. Although these tendencies may lead to more cautious judgments and decisions, they do not necessarily lead to the best or correct decision. Leaders can be prone to these biases just like anyone else. Based on our data, there is preliminary evidence to suggest that mindfulness meditation may help to overcome some of these biases. However, much more research needs to be done.

Have you planned future research on the topic?

We have conducted additional studies which provide further support that mindfulness attenuates emphasis on negativity; these publications are forthcoming. We are planning future studies to further explore the effect of mindfulness on cognitive and emotional processes, as well as their subsequent consequences for mental and physical health.

[Tweet “Mindfulness meditation reduces negativity bias via @coachdotme”]

Get your free chapter of The Strongest Mind in the Room: How Meditation Boosts Human Performance. Find free guided meditations on our How to Meditate Coach.me Guide.

Here’s a collection of tips & research to help you build a meditation habit. 

In our meditation research, 75% said meditation improved their focus at work.#liftchat

April 3, 2013

Data-based Tips & Research

Lift Data Insights: Why you should start with short, daily sessions, your chances of keeping a streak and meditation app recommendations from Lifters.

Lift Data Insights II: Does the time of day you meditate matter, what positions are most popular among Lifters and the most popular meditation styles.

5 Meditation Tips for Beginners by Dr. Alice Boyes, a Psychology Today article featuring data from Lift.

Insights from Quora users on how to build a meditation habit.

User Video Tips

Buster Benson & Tony Stubblebine exchange tips on getting a meditation habit to stick including making it part of your daily routine, using an app and incorporating meditation as a booster for other habits.

Alyson Madrigan explains how she started meditating and the impact it has on her personal and professional life.

John Muldoon tells us why meditation has improved his business success.

Jason Shen explains why you should experiment with different meditation styles until you find the right one for you.

Search for #MarchMeditation on Twitter to read more tips, articles and user stories from the 2013 March Meditation Challenge.

Meditation has the power to change lives but many people say it’s too hard to do. We think the habit is just as easy to pick up as any other daily habit, maybe even easier.

It’s as Easy as Taking Your Vitamins

The first few days of building a habit are hard–our minds and bodies naturally revolt against change–but there comes a time when you adapt to the new behavior and momentum starts to move you forward instead of push you backward.

When does this happen in Meditation? Well, we’re not going to make any wild claims about how long it takes to form the habit but we do know that it gets easier to meditate after the 11th day of daily meditation.

To find this out, we graphed the likelihood that someone would continue their daily streak over time. In the Meditate habit, 90% of people with an 11 day streak went on to have a 12 day streak. The odds remained in their favor after that date. 

How does Meditation compare to habits listed in our Easiest Habits category (which we selected because they had the most 21+ day streaks)?  

It’s almost as easy to get into the habit of daily meditation as it is to floss. You’re as likely to keep meditating as you are to take your vitamins daily. People find it harder to drink more water and eat breakfast every day than they do to meditate.

Consistency is King.

Half of people who meditate on Lift do it at least once a day. We found this out by surveying Lifters in the Meditate habit. We also asked for their advice for newbies.The most popular tip they gave was to practice daily and not to judge a session by its quality or length.  

Meditation seems to defy the Deliberate Practice rule we love at Lift: that you get more out of consistency if you have strong fundamentals. We’re sure that fundamentals help but frequency trumps all in meditation.

I find it helpful to have more frequent, rather than longer, sittings.

Missing a day is much worse than having an ineffective day.

Even if your meditation does not go well it’s still worth doing. Athletes don’t set a personal best each time they train.

Start with Short Sessions

Another common tip was to start small. It’s okay to just count a few breaths or meditate for a minute or less.  Most people meditated between 3-5 minutes per session when they first began the habit.

Don’t feel like you need to work up to a crazy session length, either.  Lifters meditate an average of 16.8 minutes per session.

Use an App to Be More Successful

59% of people who meditate on Lift enlist the help of an app. In fact, app use correlated to more frequent meditation. 62% of people who meditated more than 3 days a week used an app compared to 50% of people who meditated 3 days a week or less. 

These were some of the apps mentioned:

• Headspace 
• Buddhify
• Meditation
• Insight Timer
• Mindfulness Meditation
• Equanimity
• Omvana

Don’t want to download another app? Many Lifters just use Apple’s iOS timer. Also consider reading a book on meditation, listening to an audio recording, attending a class, center or retreat or finding a buddy or mentor to practice with you; all of these strategies were highly recommended by Lifters in the Meditate habit. 

We’ll post additional tips on Twitter over the next month and feel free to share your own by tweeting with the hashtag #MarchMeditation. Oh, and don’t forget to sign up for the March Meditation Challenge. 

Notes:

1. In the survey we asked people if they used an app to help them meditate and some folks answered “Lift.” We should have clarified that we meant apps in addition to Lift.