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How to Achieve Mindfulness at Work


Posted by Insightlink on 12/02/14

Having the Right Attitude Makes Happiness Happen


Lately there has been a lot of research and discussion around the subject of employee stress and the need for employers to initiate strategies to meet the needs of their employees. To succeed, however, it can’t be all one-sided as, like any relationship, it takes effort from both sides to make any relationship work.

In this way, it is important for employees to consider their own behavior and attitudes towards their work environments to ensure they aren’t sabotaging themselves. If employers and managers are making the effort, employees need to be mindful of their own feelings and how they are influencing their own opinions to ensure they are giving their work and their managers the best opportunity to be good employers. Experts agree there is a business case for being fully present and mindful of what’s going on around you. To be mindful is to be aware and intentional, in other words, “aware of what’s going on around you, aware of what’s going on inside you as a response to what’s going on around you, and being intentional about what you’re going to do next”.

The belief is that individuals have more control over their own happiness than many people realize. Being mindful contributes to happiness and is an important factor in achieving employee engagement. Employees who are mindful bring a positive attitude to their work, which influences their interactions with fellow co-workers and customers as well as with their managers.

Achieving mindfulness is within reach too. Here are 5 ways to embrace mindfulness at work as laid out by Laura Vanderkam in a recent FastCompany article:

1. MOVE MORE THROUGHOUT THE DAY.
Physical movement improves mental acuity. A mere five to ten minutes per hour "will put you on top of your curve in terms of your mental focus”, says Scott Eblin author of Overworked and Overwhelmed: The Mindfulness Alternative. The simplest way is to set an alarm to remind yourself to get up.


2. TAKE THREE DEEP BREATHS.
Presumably you’re breathing already, so it’s no more work to do it right. Breathe deeply so that your belly moves in and out, rather than just your shoulders or chest. Taking a few deep breaths before a meeting "clears the chatter in your mind”.


3. VISUALIZE POSITIVE OUTCOMES BEFORE MEETINGS.
Visualizing a positive outcome, and what it will take to get there, keeps you focused on the people in front of you, rather than the million other items on your to-do list.


4. LISTEN FULLY WITHOUT AN AGENDA.
Try giving a conversation partner five minutes to tell you what he or she wants, without trying to steer it and without looking at your phone (or watch). When Eblin has people try this, "they are amazed at how deep they go in five minutes”.

5. FIND THE POSITIVE IN ANY SITUATION.
"Ask yourself, when everything seems to be hitting the fan at once, what’s going right? There’s pretty much always something that’s going right”, says Eblin. If five projects have taken a disastrous turn, think of the one that hasn’t, and ask "great, how can I build on that?". Panic triggers the fight-or-flight response; gratitude builds mindfulness and increases the chances that there will be more to be grateful about in the future.

 

 

Original article here:
http://www.fastcompany.com/3038639/5-ways-to-embrace-mindfulness-at-work

 

 

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