I'm not afraid to die. I just don't want to be there when it happens.
Woody Allen
The Buddha also said "No birth, no death." If you identify with your body you will surely die. Jesus also promised "everlasting life." I interpret these ideas as identifying with the level of consciousness above the ego, above the mundane material world. Contemplating your death with each breath might inspire you to live each moment, but it seems a rather dour way to do it.
I prefer the story of the Taoist monk who, while out on a walk, was chased by a tiger. He ran as fast as he could, but ended up running off a cliff. Fortunately, he managed to catch a root before he fell to the jagged rocks below. Hanging with a single hand from the root, the monk then looked up. The tiger was awaiting him at the top of the cliff. The monk looked down. Another tiger was below, waiting for him to fall. The monk then looked to the side and saw a lovely flower blooming. He leaned over and smelled it.
Death is inevitable. It happens to us all. It isn't really an end any more than birth is a beginning. I might not want to take another breath. I'm going to, though. I have very little control over it. Same with dying. It's a given. Why even concern ourselves with it?
This is the single most important point of it all. Death meditation accomplishes 2 things. It gets you to focus and use your time effectively and productively. The other is that Death becomes one of those things to you like buying a new laptop/smartphone every now and then. It's just something that happens.
Ānāpānasati is actually the highest form of meditation in Buddhism. It's stated that each person who achieves Buddhahood reach their with Ānāpānasati meditation. But there are many methods to get to places. You could use a private jet or a bicycle. It's hard to learn to fly a jet. But it's easy to ride a bicycle. Buddha wanted to give something for everyone.
At the end of it all, it's all about elevating your consciousness.
Interesting how our views differ so much even though we agree that accepting the inevitability of death is one of the most important things to deal with in our lives.
For me, I don't see it as becoming more productive and using our time more efficiently it's about not taking life too seriously. I had to face the fact of death at 9 years old. Realizing that I would eventually die made me not want to go to school, to learn math or even learn to read. Why go to all that trouble if I was eventually going to die? I had lots of counseling but that attitude has followed me my entire life. What attracted me to Buddhism was the promise of ending the birth/death cycle, to not come back to have to do it all over again, to "die before you die" and identify with the deathlessness of consciousness at large. Life isn't as much a path as it is a guantlet, a beating down that only ends when you cease to identify with that which is alive. If you don't clear the gauntlet before you die, it's "game over" and you start again. I try to accept the beatings and the beatifications with equanimity and not attach to them. At this stage in my journey that's about all I can do.
To me they go hand in hand. A relaxed fist hits harder than a clenched fist. When you really don't mind what happens..... at least in my case I naturally focus on the things that does the most impact. That's how I quit school. I was one of the best students and that was by merely putting 20%(or even lees) of the effort of your average "A" for everything student.
Now I spend most my time reading, researching, watching and playing while earning as much as my average friend's income (without counting those who are still in college) I had to pass through a major fallout from practically everyone I knew. But it was worth it. If I'm going to die anyways, I've got to make my living time count. So there are things I must avoid and there are things I must favor. Read my previous article: https://steemit.com/psychology/@vimukthi/a-gateway-into-my-mind-my-realization-about-my-worst-fear-my-life-and-things-that-scares-me
Having to live a life over and over is less terrifying to me. What's more chilling is the loss of maturity. If death was just changing robes I won't have a huge problem with it. Death acts like a reset button. That's what draw me into the ending of life-death cycle. Death is the biggest obstacle I know for spiritual development.
Happy steeming my friend :-)BTW you might also find this article helpful:https://steemit.com/buddhism/@vimukthi/a-gateway-into-buddhism-not-a-step-by-step-venture-dive-right-in-with-6-powerful-verses-and-3-profound-books-to-read