Healthy Communities • Healthy Living
Let Mindfulness keep you focused and elevate your work day
18 July 2018 - by YMCA of Greater Toronto
Like many people, you probably came to work today with ambitious goals, determined to be productive — only to soon find yourself at a loss, not even a quarter way through your to-do list. Here is where practicing mindfulness can help.
Mindfulness means bringing purposeful attention to your thoughts, actions, and feelings. The act of mindfulness includes being an objective observer, and seeing things as they actually are without judgement.
A study has found that your mind typically wanders about 50% of the time, and the workplace is one of the places where it tends to wander the most. Mindfulness enables you to better recognize when your attention is being diverted — whether to the constant flow of incoming emails in your inbox or to the endless stream of thoughts in your head — and reminds you to return awareness to the task at hand. The act of noticing where your mind has shifted at any time is part of mindfulness.
When you are going through your list of items to do for the day, using a mindful approach compels you to be “present” while performing each activity. You are not worrying about the next item on your to-do list, nor are you ruminating about your progress — or lack thereof. You’re not even finding motivating distractions like how you can be a better planner or be more productive (in other words, procrastinating).
Here are a few tips that you can use when practicing mindfulness in your work day.
Set aside some time in the day when you will be intentionally mindful. You can do this while taking a walk, eating a snack, having lunch, or even during a meeting. Use reminders, and try choosing the same time or activity each workday to help you develop a daily mindfulness practice.
When you are listening, listen. When you are speaking, speak. When you are writing an email, just focus on writing that email. Single-tasking is the only way you can fully experience the moment that you’re in. When you’re constantly “mind-travelling” to different places, you lose your capacity to be effective.
This simple and effective approach to practicing mindfulness allows you to pause and reset before continuing with your day. You can use it anywhere, including times when you may be feeling stressed or overwhelmed.
Determine which ones you would like to develop to become more mindful.
If you find mindfulness exercises difficult at first, don’t worry; Mindfulness is like a muscle that can be strengthened over time. Repeated practice can rewire the brain so that it gets easier each time to tap into a mindful state — one that is purposeful, aware, and non-judgmental.
Mindfulness means bringing purposeful attention to your thoughts, actions, and feelings. The act of mindfulness includes being an objective observer, and seeing things as they actually are without judgement.
A study has found that your mind typically wanders about 50% of the time, and the workplace is one of the places where it tends to wander the most. Mindfulness enables you to better recognize when your attention is being diverted — whether to the constant flow of incoming emails in your inbox or to the endless stream of thoughts in your head — and reminds you to return awareness to the task at hand. The act of noticing where your mind has shifted at any time is part of mindfulness.
When you are going through your list of items to do for the day, using a mindful approach compels you to be “present” while performing each activity. You are not worrying about the next item on your to-do list, nor are you ruminating about your progress — or lack thereof. You’re not even finding motivating distractions like how you can be a better planner or be more productive (in other words, procrastinating).
Here are a few tips that you can use when practicing mindfulness in your work day.
1. Take Mindful Breaks
Set aside some time in the day when you will be intentionally mindful. You can do this while taking a walk, eating a snack, having lunch, or even during a meeting. Use reminders, and try choosing the same time or activity each workday to help you develop a daily mindfulness practice.
2. Focus on doing one thing at a time.
When you are listening, listen. When you are speaking, speak. When you are writing an email, just focus on writing that email. Single-tasking is the only way you can fully experience the moment that you’re in. When you’re constantly “mind-travelling” to different places, you lose your capacity to be effective.
3. Learn and use the STOP technique.
This simple and effective approach to practicing mindfulness allows you to pause and reset before continuing with your day. You can use it anywhere, including times when you may be feeling stressed or overwhelmed.
4. Focus on the 9 attitudes for cultivating mindfulness.
Determine which ones you would like to develop to become more mindful.
If you find mindfulness exercises difficult at first, don’t worry; Mindfulness is like a muscle that can be strengthened over time. Repeated practice can rewire the brain so that it gets easier each time to tap into a mindful state — one that is purposeful, aware, and non-judgmental.
