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Wake with the sun
There is no purer light than what we see when we open our eyes first thing in the morning.
Sit
Mindfulness without meditation is just a word.
Make your bed
The state of your bed is the state of your head. Enfold your day in dignity.
Empty the hampers
Do the laundry without resentment or commentary and have an intimate encounter with the very fabric of life.
Wash your bowl
Rinse away self-importance and clean up your own mess. If you leave it undone, it will get sticky.
Set a timer
If you're distracted by the weight of what's undone, set a kitchen timer and, like a monk in a monastery, devote yourself wholeheartedly to the task at hand before the bell rings.
Rake the leaves
Rake, weed, or sweep. You'll never finish for good, but you'll learn the point of pointlessness.
Eat when hungry
Align your inexhaustible desires with the one true appetite.
Let the darkness come
Set a curfew on the internet and TV and discover the natural balance between daylight and darkness, work and rest.
Sleep when tired
Nothing more to it.
Work
Last week I had a message from a magazine reader asking if I had a similar list of tips for mindful work. I admitted that it had been 15 years since I’d spent 60 or more hours each week in an office, and at no time during the long stretch of my career was I anything but profoundly inattentive. Still, those days brought the dawn of a penetrating realization that my work was not the problem. Work is never the problem.
In that spirit, I offer these 10 Tips for Mindful Work, or What I Would Do Differently if I Had It All to Do Over Again:
Be on time
Self-discipline is the foundation of all success and the essence of self-respect.
Care
Work is not a distraction from your life; it is not a detour, hindrance or necessary evil. If you think this way it is the wrong view. When you are working, work is your life. Care for it as you care for yourself. As Dogen Zenji says, “If you find one thing wearisome, you will find everything wearisome.”
Make a list
Start each day with a list of things to do. Control is an illusion, so wise up and keep the list short.
Forget the list
Do not mistake a list for the thing. Adapt to the flow of real events as they occur. Adaptation is innovation and innovation is genius.
Attend to what appears
What appears in front of you is the only thing there is. Respond appropriately as things arise, and crises will not overtake you.
Avoid gossip
Viruses spread. Keep your hands clean and cover your mouth.
Smile
The workplace is a theater, and the drama is make-believe. Everyone appreciates a good laugh. When you can do anything as though you work at nothing, you have the best days of your life.
Give credit
No amount of money is enough. Be generous with your kindness, courtesy and thanks. They will always be repaid.
Take the rest of the day off
Do your work, then set it down. Let others praise or blame.
Do it all over again
Rise and shine. An ancient teacher said, “A day without work is a day without eating.” Take every chance to do it differently.
—Karen Maezen Miller