Less Mind Wandering, More Focus

Ed. note: This article is adapted from The Anxious Lawyer, published by Ankerwycke, a trade imprint of ABA Publishing (affiliate link).

There are many reasons for why lawyers should meditate — increase in self-awareness, decrease in stress/anxiety, increase in sense of well-being, happiness, the list goes on. However, one very practical reason for why lawyers should meditate is this: meditation increases mental focus.

As discussed in this article, Yale University psychiatrist Judson Brewer who conducted a study comparing the brains of meditators and non-meditators concluded, “I think it’s safe to say this is brain-training at work.” “It makes sense,” says Brewer. “Anything you train to do, you do better.”

Before I started meditating on a daily basis, it often felt as though there was a tornado of thoughts that was constantly swirling around in my mind. I’ll often get trapped in thinking about some past event or obsessively worrying about some future event — over and over again. The thoughts felt like a runaway train and I was the helpless bystander.

The brains of experienced meditators appear to wander less, are more disciplined, and better able to stay on task than the brains of people who don’t meditate. While better concentration has obvious application for maintaining a busy professional life, the seemingly simple ability to stay more focused also has powerful implications for mental health and happiness that go far beyond increased efficiency at the office.

Most of us experience a wandering mind about half the time — and this is not good news. Besides the obvious problems of poor focus and difficulty in completing tasks, we feel unhappy when our minds wander. Paradoxically, this is true even when our minds wander to pleasant subjects.

A  study conducted by Harvard psychologists in 2010 revealed participants were less happy when their minds were wandering than when they were focused on the task at hand, regardless of what they were thinking about, and even when they were doing something they didn’t enjoy.

Mind wandering not only impacts our day-to-day sense of well-being but also has significance for overall mental health. Those who daydream more often are likely to be depressed, perhaps because getting caught in a cycle of rumination pulls the mind into depression, or because depression erodes concentration (the causal mechanism isn’t clear).

The good news is meditation appears to help with mental focus. In a series of studies conducted at Yale University’s medical school, researchers found meditators are better able to bring their minds back on task and rein in wandering thoughts.

You don’t need to meditate for hours everyday to gain the benefits of meditation. While there’s no consensus as to the optimal time you should spend meditating, at least one Harvard researcher, Shawn Achor‘s research indicates even two minutes per day can make a difference.

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Jeena Cho is the author of The Anxious Lawyer: An 8-Week Guide to a Joyful and Satisfying Law Practice Through Mindfulness and Meditation (affiliate link). She is a contributor to Forbes and Bloomberg where she covers diversity/inclusion, resilience, work/life integration, and wellness in the workplace. She regularly speaks and offers training on women’s issues, diversity, wellness, stress management, mindfulness, and meditation. You can reach her at [email protected] or @jeena_cho on Twitter.