Badassery Magazine July 2018 Issue 26 | Page 46

MEDITATION CAN MAKE YOU A Badass AN EASY TO FOLLOW TECHNIQUE FOR FITTING MEDIATION INTO ANY SCHEDULE TO INCREASE FOCUS AND PRODUCTIVITY. by Jo Gilbert S eriously? I bet you never thought you would see those two words together in the same headline! Here I am sitting in the Lotus position, legs crossed, my arms by my side with my fore fingers touching the tips of my thumbs, my eyes closed, listening to the sounds of the ocean! You get the picture? Well here’s the thing, I’m not sitting like that at all! I’ve never even contemplated yoga or sitting in the lotus position when I meditate! I hardly ever listen to meditation type music either. So, if I may, I’d like to dispel a few myths or perceptions about meditation, as it really is one of 46 • BADASSERY MAGAZINE the best self-development tools to enhance performance and improve my focus I have ever come across. I use meditation to stamp out procrastination, like putting off the important stuff and scrolling social media, chatting on WhatsApp or doing something less important instead. As a self-employed, work from home, business owner, focus is really important to ensure I’m delivering for my clients and showing up for my business. A study completed in 2017 by small business UK, revealed that businesses in the UK are potentially losing out on a collective nine million work hours each day, due to employees who get easily distracted by social media and other things online, rather than completing the work they are meant to be doing. That’s a whopping £70.4m plus per day, paid out in wages for staff to procrastinate if every one of those hours were paid at national minimum wage rate, the true figure is probably much higher. I have to hold my hand up and say as a self-employed business owner, I used to be so guilty of this too. Meditation helps me to focus on the job at hand, making me a productivity badass! I get things completed far more quickly than ever before, which gives me more time to either do more tasks and increase revenue and profits or I simply use that spare time I now find myself with the luxury of, to simply enjoy life on my terms.