How to Practise Mindfulness at Your Workplace
With so many stresses around, mindfulness is essential for keeping us centred and balanced. But fitting it into your routine can prove challenging and, as such, often falls by the wayside. It doesn’t have to be like this though, there are ways to incorporate mindfulness at your workplace without causing disruption to your day and allowing you that time out that we all need in our lives.
This article looks at methods you can put in place to ensure that you don’t miss out on mindfulness when you are busy at your desk.
Recognise Distractions and Regain Focus
It can be easy to switch to autopilot when you are at work, particularly if you are performing a routine activity. But mindfulness is about being conscious and present, so concentrating fully on what you are doing is a way to practise mindfulness at your workplace.
Now, this is easier said than done in most work environments. There are conversations, phone calls, gossip, customers and many more distractions to take you out of your focus. In these situations, you should recognise their presence and the fact that you have broken your concentration, before regaining that focus and carrying on with your task.
Do not try to do too much at once. Stick to the task at hand in order to remain more mindful.
Breathing Exercises
Although more of us are looking into mindfulness to help us cope with the stress of life, it is still unusual to see someone performing obvious displays of mindfulness at the workplace. This might mean you want to keep your mindfulness more discreet. Breathing exercises fit the bill of being mindful but inconspicuous.
Try box breathing, where you imagine the sides of a box as you hold your breath for the same number of seconds four times, tracking your progress between corners in your mind as you go. You could also try lengthening your exhale to make it longer than the inhale, which aids with slowing your heart rate and calming your mind.
Learn to Love Your Job (Even if You Think You Don’t)
Whatever you do, whether you are staff or you run your own business, it is difficult to be mindful if you don’t enjoy what you do. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but you need to derive some meaning from it.
Even if you are struggling with your relationship with work, take time to note the things that you are grateful for at work, the moments you enjoy (even if it is just the social aspects), the events during the day that put a smile on your face. You might find that there is more to celebrate than you thought.
Keep this list close at hand to remind you to be positive and enjoy the happy times.
Take a Meditation Break
As busy as your job might be, you still have to look after yourself and, if taking ten minutes from your desk means you come back more calm, collected and focused, then you will end up being more productive than if you had just tried to work through it.
You could bring up implementing mindfulness breaks into the workday with management if you are an employee and see if they will allow them. Letting workers take ten minutes to meditate, use a mindfulness app or take part in a similar activity is a great way of encouraging mindfulness at the workplace, which can bring great benefits to an organisation.
How Do You Introduce Mindfulness at Your Workplace?
I would love to hear any other ideas for introducing mindfulness at your workplace. I am a busy mum with a full-time job as well as Afrotouch Design, so mindfulness is certainly a way of claiming back some time for myself when I am hard at work designing a new range of African inspired greetings cards. Contact me today with your mindfulness tips.