Leading Mindfully: Get to the Bottom of Change Fatigue

Dear Mindful Leader,

Feeling overwhelmed can look like resistance to change, or lack of enthusiasm for new ideas at work.?“Change fatigue” refers to a general sense of apathy or passive resignation toward organizational changes, and it’s one factor in the rampant employee burnout and resignation we’re seeing today.?

?Current neuroscience shows that when we’re struggling to adapt within rapidly shifting conditions, it can be due to the limitations of our working memory: the ability to hold relevant information in mind in order to accomplish the task in front of us—a bit like a mental whiteboard. As neuroscientist Amishi Jha explains,?“At a certain point, our cognitive capacities can become so degraded that we are unable to maintain new rules and goals in our working memory. They go out the window (or off the whiteboard) and instead, our attention leads us to do what is comfortable and familiar.”?With all the changes and challenges we've experienced over the past few years, our ability to adapt has been tested, and in some cases taxed, contributing to change fatigue.

Building our capacity for mental resilience is possible, according to Jha. Regular mindfulness practice and protect and strengthen working memory, helping ease the strain that leads to change fatigue. Read on for ways to empower yourself and your organization to address fatigue, so that you can skilfully meet what’s next.

The Brain Science of Attention and Overwhelm

We’re living in Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous times. Neuroscientist Amishi Jha explains ten ways your brain reacts—and how mindfulness can help you survive, and even thrive. Learn More

By Amishi Jha

Navigating Change is Hard. Here’s How it Makes Us Better Leaders

Change isn’t always easy but, as Ryan Vaughn writes, when we stay comfortable, we are robbing ourselves of the transformation we say we want.?Learn More

By Ryan H. Vaughn

Building Your Capacity to Navigate Difficult y

A 16-minute mindfulness practice from Rich Fernandez on honing our capacity to shift, take perspective, and be in wise relationship with our difficulties.?Learn More

?By Rich Fernandez

Why You Should Take a Relaxing Lunch Break

According to a new study, we concentrate better and feel less stressed when we purposefully detach from work and enjoy a real break.?Learn More

By Jill Suttie ?

In this guided meditation on impermanence, Aden Van Noppen reminds us that when the outside world feels overwhelming, we can often find inner calm by coming back to the breath.?“Even with the constant change we always have this rootedness. It is always available to us, to remind us that we are held amid the change in our lives moment to moment,”?she says.

Follow this?guided practice for grounding yourself with the breath .