7 Mindful Business Practices


I recently heard an excellent podcast on mindfulness. The podcaster, Robert Jackson, offers a simple exercise for getting mindful: just do the dishes.

At first blush, I thought “just doing the dishes” would be a mundane experience. After all, that’s exactly why I usually do about 5 other things while doing the dishes (thinking, singing, watching, calculating, etc.). But after actually following this simple advice I experienced an incredible 15 minutes of pure mindfulness…. Well, maybe not perfectly pure. But close:

I actually heard the water splashing and sloshing. I actually felt the contours of each dish and utensil. Yes, I actually enjoyed washing the dishes.

After this exercise, I decided to apply the same concept to entrepreneurship. I wondered, “How could entrepreneurs *do* mindfulness? How could we really experience our businesses instead of just trying to make money?”

So here’s my offering: 7 Mindful Business Practices that are a bit like just doing the dishes…

1. Determine the Purpose behind the Business
This is a perfect place to begin. Put profit aside and ask yourself what the driving purpose of your business really is. If you’re a product-based entrepreneur, are you trying to improve your customers’ lives in some way? If you offer a service, what does that service do for the customer?

I’ve always felt that good business really can should change lives – on both sides of the equation. The entrepreneur is happy when the checks come rolling in and the product or service works. The customers are happy when they get what they want – the product, service… even the image or experience (Starbucks comes to mind here). So how does your business-purpose change lives on all ends?

2. Focus on One Thing at a Time
Focus can apply to both the day-to-day steps and the overall “work” of the business. For example: if you sell information products on the web, focus your business by developing and marketing ebooks one at a time. Then, you can apply focus every day in accomplishing specific tasks to achieve that end.

Focus is especially important for internet entrepreneurs who can become easily lost in pointless online “surfing.” I know, I know: there’s tons of great info out there and countless possibilities, but without a focus you’ll never get moving. Once you’ve defined a purpose, setting your sights will be much easier.

3. Reduce Distractions
You may have trouble getting focused if you’re constantly distracted. Don’t limit your idea of distraction to noise alone: sometimes, silence or “mental noise” can be just as distracting as the neighbor’s kids.

The Catch-22 with mindfulness is that the more you practice mindfulness in daily work, the easier it will be to get into that zone. Even when something distracting does take place, you’ll ride the wave without losing your cool.

4. Create a Positive Workspace
You should look forward to work. (Isn’t that why you’re an entrepreneur?) It is important to have a professional touch, just don’t make the mistake of recreating an Office Space cubicle nightmare. For those of us who work from home, we don’t usually need to impress clients and can do whatever works for us. But even if you have an out-of-home office space, you can add plants, fountains, framed art, pleasing music, and other goodies.

5. Emphasize “Tasks” over “Time”
Start every workday by becoming mindful of what you want to realistically achieve instead of blocking out time. Time management is a sticky point for most entrepreneurs as time is so connected to money in the business world. But if you’re too busy thinking about how much time something will take, your mind will focus more on the time and less on the task.
This is a kind of balancing act, I know. But with fewer distractions, more focus, and a general purpose, you’ll almost always find that mindfulness brings more bang for your buck… or hour.

6. Simplify Everything
And I mean everything. Paperwork. Marketing campaigns. Computer files. Scheduling. Purpose statements. Even your business cards.

We’re all bombarded with so much information everyday – flashing web ads, enormous billboards, excessive decorations – that simple is refreshing. You may be surprised by the connection between the state of your desk and the state of your mind.

Feeling stressed out? Overwhelmed by the job of entrepreneurship? Control it before it controls you. Clean off your desk. Cut out the fluff. Consolidate to-do lists. Shorten your mission statement. And while you’re at it… trade in your PC for a sleek Mac!

7. Connect Passion with Profit
We’re in business to make money. There are few exceptions to this rule. But if we spend most of our lives working only for money, we will soon find a void in our days.

I firmly believe many of the problems in modern societies today often relate to the quality of our working lives. So many of us find “real jobs” boring, monotonous, demeaning, and lacking real purpose. But the ideas we hold about work can affect us on a subconscious level. Before we know it, the very thing we we’re trying to eliminate quietly manifests in our lives as entrepreneurs. Remember to keep the font of passion healthy!

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