Workplace Mindfulness: Techniques for staying calm and Focused
What is workplace meditation?
According to the oxford mindfulness centre, mindfulness means "moment-to-moment awareness of one's experience without judgment." It involves observing and acknowledging one's thoughts, emotions, bodily sensations, and external environment as they arise. It helps reduce stress, enhance concentration, and improve overall well-being. When you dwell on mindfulness, you can avoid distractions and produce quality work.
Benefits of Mindfulness
Mindfulness is beneficial for a couple of reasons. Some of which include:
Stress Reduction
Reports from National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health(1999) have proven that about 26% of workers are often stressed at work, affirming that workplace stress affects both the employee and the organisation's effectiveness. But in practising mindfulness, stress levels are reduced, enabling employees to develop a greater capacity to respond to stressors and a more balanced approach to challenges.?
Improved Mental Health
Mindfulness effectively manages various mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression, and substance abuse. It helps employees develop a non-reactive and compassionate stance towards their thoughts and emotions, reducing rumination and promoting emotional well-being.
Enhanced Focus and Concentration
Regular mindfulness practice strengthens an employee's ability to sustain attention and focus on the task at hand. By training their minds to stay present and resist various distractions, they can improve their productivity, efficiency, and overall performance in the workplace.
Coping Mechanism
Employee resistance is one of the many reasons why organisational changes fail. But with increased mindfulness, employees can adapt to organisational changes more effectively by reducing resistance, facilitating acceptance, and promoting a flexible attitude towards new circumstances.
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Increased Self-Awareness
When employees practice mindfulness, they cultivate self-awareness by learning to observe their thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations with curiosity and non-judgment. This heightened self-awareness allows them to gain insights into patterns of thinking and behaviour that facilitate positive life changes.
Techniques for staying calm and focused?
Mindful Meditations: Take short breaks throughout the day to engage in mindful meditations. It can be simply closing your eyes for a minute, focusing on your breath, and allowing your mind to rest. These moments of stillness can recharge your mental energy and improve focus.
Reading a book: Reading at least a chapter of a book can help to increase your concentration. It teaches you to focus on a task over an estimated period until you complete the study.
Seek Support: Reaching out to colleagues, supervisors, or mentors when feeling overwhelmed can be therapeutic and can help you stay calm and focused. You do not particularly need to talk about work. Sometimes, it could be you voicing out your concerns to them to feel much better.
Prioritise quality sleep: Every adult should get at most seven hours of sleep daily. It enables you to stay energised throughout the day and increase your focus. Not getting enough sleep can have significant drawbacks and adverse effects. Some of which include:
Take Regular Breaks: Schedule regular short breaks throughout the day. Use this time to stretch, take a brief walk, or take a quick mindfulness practice. Stepping away from work periodically helps to rejuvenate the mind, prevent burnout, and maintain focus.
Final thoughts
Mindfulness is beneficial to the physical and mental being of an employee. You should practice mindfulness if you still need to start. You stand to enjoy some of its benefits: reduced stress, heightened focus and concentration, improved resilience, and increased creativity and emotional intelligence. When you next read any of our blog posts, you must have begun practising mindfulness in the workplace.?