Mindfulness which traditionally was practiced by Buddhist Monks is now taking over the world. If you haven’t heard of mindfulness before, you may only think mindfulness is practiced at health retreats or in yoga.
Mindfulness in the workplace is the latest trend to hit businesses globally.
Mindfulness in short, is largely focused around being in the present moment. Present breath, emotions, body, feelings, thoughts and also taking a non-judgmental approach to life. This practice is being incorporated heavily into many businesses, in hopes to improve productivity and overall employee wellbeing.
Google which is known globally as one of the happiest and efficient workplaces, has hired their own head of mindfulness in order to enlighten minds, open hearts, and create world peace. His name is Chade-Meng Tan. He believes that qualities of peace joy and happiness align with success and profits, and this is exactly what he is implementing at the large scale organisation of Google.
No matter if you are a Nurse, Marketing Director, Plumber, or even a CEO all kinds of people no matter what job can implement mindfulness in their daily work life. This can be done by taking some time out of your day to calm your mind, do a quick mediation, or even just a deep breathing exercise which will help to rebalance your nervous system. Try to also avoid too much multitasking in your job, give one job your sole attention for a period of time… be consciously present to that one task. Find out more ways to practice mindfulness in your workplace on smiling mind.
If you and your employees as a collective begin taking a little time out of the day to implement some mindfulness in your daily work life, you could join the many other businesses and begin reaping in the benefits of a calm, relaxed and happy mind.
Benefits of implementing mindfulness at your business
Reduced Stress
When your workday just is not going to plan, it is hard not to get stressed and go into a fight, flight, freeze response state in order to deal with what is happening around you. Going into this stressed state does not make for a productive day and it can really cloud and impact your thinking. Using mindfulness as a way to bring yourself into an aware state meaning you are coming back into the present moment, will help slow down your stress response and bring you into a state of clarity and calm, which is important in order to get your tasks done. It is important to recognize when things are getting a little bit much for you to handle, and this is when you can also ask a team member or manager for help.
Increased Problem Solving
Clearing your mind and ensuring you are only focusing on one task at a time, will make way for a quicker more efficient way to problem solve in the workplace. Without a clouded and stressed mind, you will think in a more rational way, exiting stress and pressure from your brain, making it a space for clear-minded thinking.
When you are feeling like everything is getting a bit overwhelming, this could be a time for you to take a minute out of your day for some meditation or deep breathing, helping you come back to work with better judgment and better ability to complete your tasks ahead.
Level head
Being level headed at work Is a quality that all employers and your team would praise a person for. It is important that even in the most volatile or stressful situations, you are keeping your cool and know how to go about the situation in a professional manner. Mindfulness will help you achieve this.
According to Gill Crossland-Thackray from the Guardian “Introducing mindfulness into the workplace does not prevent conflict from arising or difficult issues from coming up. But when difficult issues do arise… they are more likely to be skillfully acknowledged, held, and responded to by the group. Over time with mindfulness, we learn to develop the inner resources that will help us navigate through difficult, trying, and stressful situations with more ease, comfort, and grace”.
Being able to effectively deal with all situations that have been thrown at you in a day, will in turn be a lot less stressful for you.
Increased emotional intelligence and resilience
According to the behavioral intelligence website, mindfulness helps to increase your emotional intelligence in three different ways. Being mindful not only at your job but in everyday life will help improve a person’s ability to comprehend their emotions, and recognize other people’s emotions around you. For example, if you can see your boss or another team member is being super stressed, they may be more agitated (not behaving like their normal self’s). If you are more aware of these emotional changes, you are less likely to be affected by them, and more understanding of what they may be experiencing right now, helping to decrease people’s emotional response to workplace issues. Mindfulness may also assist in a person “determining which emotions are beneficial when undertaking certain tasks”. Emotional intelligence is a big part of a lot of jobs, and it is a skill that can help you go far in your career. It can help improve your workplace communication, problem-solving and most importantly your relationships with others in the workplace.
Introducing gratitude to improve your corporate culture
Gratitude which is heavily linked to mindfulness is another way you and your employees can promote a healthier and happier corporate culture. Gratitude stems from being appreciative and acknowledging the goodness of life. Being grateful for your place of work, or the amazing teammates you have around you can help improve your personal job satisfaction. You will all work better in a team, and appreciate all your collogues ideas and assistance. Higher levels of job satisfaction among all your employees will help increase productivity, reduce employee turnover, and make for an overall better workplace environment.
Little tip! There are companies that can come to your organization and help you with assisting teach your employees about the positive impacts of mindfulness and gratitude, and how you can incorporate both these aspects into your individual workplace. Visit the smiling mind website for more information on this.