Mind wandering vs focus in a consultation

I’ve recently listened to a podcast where author of Peak Mind, Amishi P. Jha was interviewed. As with most of my podcasts, I listen when I’m on a day off, running in the hills with my Border terrier Briar. I have to keep an eye on her too as she has been known to disappear in search of Weka mid run!

Typically, when I listen to experts in various fields whilst out running, I am thinking about how what they are saying pertains to our profession and what we do, day to day in the clinic but also as leaders in practice.

Dr Amishi Jha is a neuroscientist who has worked on the impact that attention has on our understanding and perception. She talks about mind wandering and how the impact of mind-wandering and lack of focus has on our ability to perform, retain information and connect with those around us.

Mind wandering happens when we don’t pay attention to where our attention is. Our brains are very good at wandering both to the past and to the future and not staying in the now and focusing on what is in front of us. Dr Jha’s research looks at how teaching people in high stress professions, the practice of mindfulness, can reduce their mind wandering and therefore enable focus and better performance. What she and her team also discovered was that mindfulness and living in the present and focusing on the here and now, not only improved focus and therefore retention and performance but it enabled better stress management.

If we can live in the present and focus on what is in front of us then we aren’t catastrophising (one of my biggest challenges) about the future and ruminating over the past. That doesn’t mean we don’t think about those things but that we area aware and in control of where our focus is.

For me, mindful practice has changed the way I perform at work. It has reduced my stress, made me more focused on my patients and their owners, retain information better and improved my time management. You must practice, that’s why it’s called mindfulness practice, so it’s a work in progress.

At the start of every consultation, I stop for a few moments, focus on the here and now: How do I feel? I focus on my breath and my surroundings.  Next, I focus on the patient and client that are about to come in the door. I remember to switch on my curiosity and focus on nothing except what is happening in my room. I try hard to focus my mind on who is in front of me (and not the case I’ve just admitted to the hospital who I’m not sure what is going on with). If I catch myself thinking about that case in the hospital, I gently remind myself to focus on who is in front of me.

I was interested to hear about Dr Jha’s work as I have definitely found that the days I work hard on this practice, are the days where I connect well with my clients, feel professional and successful but best of all, less stressed.

Its worth investigating mindfulness, if you haven’t already. If you have, then remembering to practice it during our busy practice lives.