02 Aug Tips #17 :: Be Mindful
A few days back, I was travelling from Thane to Pune in a State Transport bus. I checked the timing of the bus as I started and reached the Bus stand 15 minutes before time. On reaching there, I asked a man in uniform about the platform number for Thane Pune buses. He showed me the platform. As soon as I went to the platform, I saw a bus coming in from the Bus Yard. It stopped in front of me and I boarded it quickly, happy to be there on time.
Within 5 minutes, an old man boarded the bus and asked me to get up from the seat. I told him that I had a reservation. He also seemed to have one. It was really confusing. Finally both of us took out the tickets. Looking at my ticket, the old man said, “Oh, your ticket is for another bus. This bus does not go to Pune. It goes to Ratnagiri.” I was amazed. Before I could ask him, he said “Did you not read the board on the bus?”
Everyone in the bus was watching me and laughing at me. Someone also sarcastically asked if I could read at all!
How in the world is this connected to the PMP® exam? If I were not absent minded, if my mind were fully present in the scenario, this would not happen. One of our students thought that he had scheduled the PMP® exam in the morning, but practically his schedule was in the afternoon. He realized that after reaching the center at 8:00 am. He was shocked to realize that he actually had scheduled the exam for the afternoon! Luckily for him he still was in time for the examination, though the matter shook him thoroughly!
If you are thinking of something else and your attention is divided, that will always impact whatever you are doing. Attention slips like these can sometimes be extremely costly. Being focused on whatever you are doing will always save you from such situations. Being mindful is nothing but giving your total attention to whatever you have in your hands.
Being mindful will always help you as you end up completing whatever you have in hand really well as your total attention is only on the activity you are doing. If you study mindfully, it will help you understand and remember better, reducing your total study time drastically. Reducing the study time even by 5 % would mean you would pass the PMP® Exam 5% early and your growth starts that much early. On the other hand, if you think of the work you left incomplete, if you think of what your family members are doing or if your attention wanders to the continuous stream of messages flashing on your mobile screen, not only you will need more time to prepare for , but you will have no confidence about understanding and applying whatever you have read. This carries even a bigger risk as this may mean you will not be able to pass the PMP® exam in your first attempt
You can easily overcome this situation by becoming mindful of what you are doing. Focus on whatever you are doing and think only about that while you are doing it. While you are studying, think only about the topic in hand. Everything else can wait!
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