Starting Your Remote Work Day

With the increase in remote work, here's a guided meditation to help you start your workday. Robert Plotkin, author and host of the Technology For Mindfulness Podcast will take you on this journey to setting yourself up.

Transcript

This is a guided meditation for transitioning into the beginning of your work day when working remotely from home during this period of crisis in which we find ourselves.

Although you may not have a commute to help you to transition your mind into the mode of work,

You do have your own innate capacity to focus your attention where you choose.

Begin by going to your remote workspace,

Whether it be a home office,

Bedroom,

Living room,

Or other space,

And either stand or sit and close your eyes and begin by taking one long deep breath in through your nose and one slow exhale through your mouth,

Letting any sound that may arise come out.

Take one more slow deep inhale filling your lungs and then release that air fully through your mouth,

And one more slow deep inhale through your nose filling your lungs with air and then without any effort let that air release through your mouth slowly and fully.

And now imagine yourself standing before a doorway into a bright open room that is your workspace.

Let yourself feel all of the thoughts and feelings of your personal life that are weighing on you and calling your attention to them.

They might be tasks at home,

Things unfinished,

Anxieties,

Fears from your personal life.

Let yourself feel them,

Notice them while standing at this doorway.

Take another deep breath in through your nose and then release out through your mouth.

Picture these aspects of your personal life,

Responsibilities,

Worries,

Desires,

And picture them as physical objects that you're holding in your hands as you stand in front of this doorway.

And then turn around,

Take these objects,

These representations of what is weighing on you in your personal life,

And gently,

Intentionally,

And respectfully put those objects down on a shelf with the intention of leaving them there safely for the time being before you enter your workspace,

Knowing that you can and will return to them later but will not be attending to them now.

And then visualize yourself turning back around to face that doorway with those objects having been placed on the shelf behind you.

And then deliberately and decisively step through the doorway fully into that room that is your space of work.

And once you pass through the doorway,

Stop.

Right after you pass through that threshold and say to yourself,

I am now in my workspace and when I am in my workspace,

I am working.

Picture those objects of personal concern that you place on the shelf outside the room and remind yourself that they are there and you are here,

Knowing that you can return to them when you need or choose to.

But that so long as you are in this space,

The space that you are in right now,

You have the capacity to focus your attention solely on work.

And before we end this meditation and you begin your workday,

Set your intention that if those items of personal concern call out to you at any time,

That you will pause and consider whether to respond to them.

And that if you do choose to respond to them,

You will consciously and intentionally exit that room that represents your space of work and re-enter the space outside of that space of work.

Pick up those objects of personal concern and then attend to them fully before returning back to your workspace in the same manner as we did at the beginning of this meditation.

Having set that intention,

Take a few steps into the center of this large,

Bright,

And spacious room that is your workspace.

And then having entered it fully with all of your attention,

Fully present in that space of work,

Open your eyes in the real world and start your workday.

Reviews

Outstanding! Although I have a job as essential personnel where I have not been able to do remote work during this current pandemic, I would like to say that this is a solid, targeted practice. It is similar to a self-designed practice I used years ago when pursuing a graduate degree through an accredited online university while working full time and parenting an elementary school child (and contending with elbow surgery that made typing difficult, which was problematic for an online educational program). My time was extremely limited, and I had to stay highly focused when I was able to find a few moments here and there to study and get online to do coursework. Had it not been for my attention to focus, which I credit mainly to this very sort of practice you present here, my mind would have been all over the place and I doubt I would have graduated with such a high GPA and certainly would not have been inducted into an international honor society within my field of study. Staying focused and designating space within one's mind to separate personal from professional (or educational) was key for me. I utilized the visualization of putting my personal concerns into a high school-style locker, closing that locker door, and twisting the combination lock once to symbolize the transition from personal to school and back again.

It seems to me that this could be modified slightly by the meditator even for non-remote work scenarios. This could be done either before stepping out of the house to begin a commute, or possibly once arriving at the worksite. If there is a separate office, that would be a great time to do this. If in an open-office plan, perhaps before entering the building. I think I may try doing this practice once I arrive at my office building but before exiting the car. I work in a human services field in a program management/department director position, and often get stopped in the parking lot by arriving clients and employees. I listen to audiobooks during my commute to maximize my opportunities for educational and professional growth (as well as sheer escapism with some of my favorite fiction/fantasy/sci-fi series and authors). I have found that while I can transition from home to that environment easily, it is switching from personal to work spaces that cause the most difficulty for me.

I had forgotten about the practice I did for grad school. This reminded me of how well that worked, and the structure/visualization is much more geared towards the work environment than my old practice. I think this one here will be more effective as applied to this situation.

As an additional comment for anyone reading this with attentional difficulties, let me say that I have lived with ADHD and other conditions that easily cause my focus to shift, whether due to chronic pain or simple attentional fluidity. Taking the deliberate time to slow down, place one's focus on what is before you, and consciously taking a mental photograph (or whatever works for you - I used to be a professional photographer for a while, so I actually slowly blink my eyes as a shutter would release to imprint the image of my focus into my mind) seems to work very well. In this practice, you may want to look at the objects you've placed on the shelf and take that mental photo of them so you can easily remember they are all there, and decrease potential anxiety throughout the workday that you may have forgotten something. One other suggestion, one I personally use and also strongly recommend to my clients, is to keep a separate small notepad with you. If you have a distracting personal thought during your workday and cannot realistically attend to it at that time, write that down in your dedicated notebook. You can then release that thought/situation and return to work, secure in the knowledge you won't forget about it because it is written down to attend to at a later time. This will improve your ability to stay focused on your work and not repeatedly think about (obsess over, ruminate, whatever is most relevant to you) that situation. It has proven to be a critical tool in my workplace success kit, both for myself and my clients/staff.

I will be sharing this practice with my staff and a general description for those clients who may find it helpful. Thank you so very much for sharing this well-considered and concise, effective practice with us here in the Insight Timer community. Bookmarked and downloaded. I see you and the light within you. Be well. 🤲🏻❤️🤲🏻