Practical Steps to Being More Mindful at Work

Mindfulness is a bit of a buzzword of late; and in many cases, sounds like an ideology rather than anything that you can execute practically. Think about your daily life at work or at home, how can you practice being more mindful when your to-do list is endless?

The answer is that you have to make it work. If you want to deal with the endless to-do list well and do all the things that need to get done, then learning to fit it into your day is a must. You can be calmer, deal with stressful situations more, and avoid things like overeating as a result. So here are some ways that you can apply being more mindful in your work life.

Practice Short Mindful Breaks at Work

The good news is that we can train our brains to be more mindful. The way to do it is by doing more and more mindful exercises in your daily life. Then your brain will be trained to go into that mode much more easily over time. But what are mindful exercises? First of all, it is going to be hard to carve out a large amount of time, especially in a busy office. Even if you work out of home then it can still be busy and stressful. The exercises could be deep breathing or just being silent and present, thinking about how you are thinking and feeling.

Create a Comfortable Environment

The environment that you work in is going to have a big impact on how you think and feel. So everything from getting some quality office furniture to sit on, to the kinds of photos or quotes that you have up on the wall around you will make a difference. If you work from home then this can be easier to execute; you can put things up around your study or workspace as often as you would like. But even if you work in a formal office, think about what you could change. A different chair? Bring in some photographs from home? It will help you to focus if you’re more comfortable, as well as focusing more when it comes to taking a quick mindful break.

Avoid Multitasking

It can often be thought that you’re getting so much more done if you are able to multitask. But the thing is, you are actually much less likely to get more done when you multitask, as you can’t focus as well. You might tick the boxes, but they jobs or tasks might not be done well. So switch off any distractions, set yourself time limits, and group tasks into categories. Then you can work through methodically, starting with the most important first.

Start a Journal

If you have some downtime when you’re in the office, then it is a good idea to write, make notes, or start a journal. Getting thoughts and feelings down on paper can help you to be more mindful and to deal with things much more easily.

Header image source: Pexels

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