Mindfulness is the practice of bringing your awareness to the present moment - tuning into what you’re feeling and sensing as you experience it. It can be practiced in many different ways. Here are 5 simple ways you can bring mindfulness into your work:
1. Take 5 deep breaths deep into your belly before you join a meeting.
Belly breathing is a fantastic way to bring your attention to the present moment. Bringing our breath deep into our belly stimulates blood flow, lessens muscle tension, and improves concentration. If you aren’t sure how or where to start check out this helpful video from IU School of Medicine (Go Hoosiers!)
2. Be present in meetings.
That means no Slack, no emails, no texts on the side. Focus on what is in front of you. Be in the present moment. Whether you’re on camera or not, the other participants can tell if your attention is drifting into other things. Being present shows consideration and respect for the people you are meeting with. If you feel yourself getting distracted while on a call, come back to your breath or focus on where your feet touch the floor to return to the moment.
3. Pause before responding to emails or instant messages.
Sometimes our brain jumps ahead to a response before we’ve really processed what we’ve read. The building isn’t going to burn down if you take a few minutes before you respond*. So take a beat. Re-read the message if necessary and then craft a response that is likely more thoughtful and considerate than the reactive response you were going to send before.
*If the message is in fact informing you that the building is on fire, please make a swift and safe exit - no need to wait 5 minutes.
4. Change your physical landscape between tasks
Context switching at work is challenging when we are bombarded from all sides with every part of our business. I find that changing my physical landscape as I switch between clients/tasks/projects helps me to refocus on the next thing and signal to my brain that we are starting something new. This can be as simple as changing your desk from sitting to standing, working from a different room, or even changing the playlist you're listening to.
5. Ask someone how they are doing and really listen to the answer.
Creating real connection and fostering empathy with the people you work with can greatly improve your sentiment towards your workplace and job. This is especially important if you are a leader of other people. And doing this work, while promoting mindfulness and kindness, also has proven to improve business outcomes. According to Gallup research updated in 2022, “Engaged employees make it a point to show up to work and do more work -- highly engaged business units realize an 81% difference in absenteeism and a 14% difference in productivity.”