How to bring mindfulness into your work
Bring Mindfulness into your work is all about bringing awareness to the present moment, and for the average person, 90,000 hours worth of present moments are spent at work throughout their life. Therefore, if mindfulness is your goal, it’s extremely helpful to look at some of its applications during the working day.
The first step to mindfulness at work is to make your initial intention. Before you step into the building, tell yourself that today you will try to be present as much as possible. Then, there are a few things you can do to ensure you maintain an environment favorable to mindfulness throughout your workday.
During your day, commit to working on single tasks. It is almost impossible to focus completely on the present moment if your mind is split in two directions. While you’re working, make sure your pop-up notifications are turned off and avoid the temptation of checking your email. When we read our emails while doing another task, it often shifts our focus away from the present because it offers small, low-priority tasks for us to do. When we complete these types of tasks it activates our reward system. Try limiting yourself to pre-set slots of times to check your email, to avoid deviating from other tasks.
A good way to check in with yourself throughout the day is to set mindfulness phone reminders. These reminders can serve as cues to take a moment and ground yourself in the present and feel what it feels like to be fully aware of what’s happening in that instant. This helps to ensure you are not working on autopilot all day, and that you have opportunities to center your mind on the current task.
Work mindfulness habits don’t stop at the office door. When you get home from work, try to stay more present in your home-life by leaving work at your workplace. Avoid checking your work email or stressing about tasks you need to complete the next day. Live in the moment and feel what it feels like to be surrounded by your friends or family or resting after a long day.
If you succeed in making work mindfulness a habit, a whole world of benefits awaits you. You will find yourself stressing less and getting more, higher quality sleep. You will more easily come up with creative solutions and adapt to change.
Mindfulness skills are also valued by employers. Since we shifted to the digital age, we have lived in an “attention economy.” With so much information being bombarded at us, and people possessing varying mental processing skills, human attention is a scarce commodity. Companies are aware that focus and concentration are as important as technical skills in an employee. Employees with focusing skills just work better and can process information with the correct priorities. Because of this new trend, major companies have invested in mindfulness workshops to help increase the work quality of their employees.
It is a great idea to start cultivating mindfulness in the workplace as soon as you can. Not only will it lead to better work experiences for you, but it may also be the reason you get a promotion!
Bring mindfulness into your work does seem counter-intuitive. You’re considering the fact that, by stopping or slowing down, you can become more efficient, productive, happy, resilient and healthy at work.
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