Mar 16

Mindfulness in shortage of time

Fri, 03/16/2012 - 21:23 — F.R.R.

In this periode I am in a chronic shortage of time. Heavy workload, psychological stress and lack of restitution all adds to a sense of restlessness and distress. And it leads to the delution that mindfulness slows down to much, and that there actactually no time left for beeing mindful.

The only thought of this is not at all  mindfulness, besides that the thought is also definitely wrong. Time is a most democratic resource, and my sense of beeing in a hurry all the time is all about a depletion of this essensial resource. 

Point is: It is hard to be mindful when I need it most, and it is hard to meditate when this is the most valuable break I could ever have in this situation.

The Norwegian professor Hylland Eriksen has written a book called "The tyrrany of the moment" ("Øyeblikkets tyrrani"). This is not about mindfulness, about the value of the moment. It is about the situation where we try to make everything fit into only a moment. According to him, we have a tendency to place tasks that are really made for use of 'long time' into a 'short time' frame. And he argues that this will ultimately lead to a mental and physical breakdown. 

After (mindfully) to have analyzed my situation, I think that is exactly what I am trying to do when the stressors are to many. I try to work faster, I try to use less time on each task, I try to multitask. And the mindfulness is sacrified.

There is only one reasonable way out of this:

Reduce the workload if possible, and always give space to meditation and mindfulness. My theory is that this will actually lead to a greater productivity in the long run, and keep me fit for always new assignments. 

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