Mindfulness at Work – 5 tips to improve your work performance
On a daily basis very often we find ourselves being unable to remember what others have said to us during conversations, we have no recollection of our daily tasks. Simply saying we are zoning out, living on an autopilot. Such state of mind is having a negative impact on our life and is not helping to perform well at work. In a constantly changing working environment, with so many distractions and such state of mind, we are becoming overwhelmed and stressed. According to researchers, these constant pressures of work are causing mental health issues, which are becoming one of the leading causes of sick leave.

How to deal with the pressure at work and turn our workplace into a pleasant and calm environment?

Companies like Adobe, Facebook, Google, HubSpot and much more have all looked in to alternative ways of dealing with such problems. Mindfulness practice became a part of companies human resources programs. The aim is to help people enhance their ability to concentrate, feel calm, reduce stress and stay in control.

Can mindfulness really help to improve work-related wellbeing and performance at work?

In recent years the concept of mindfulness has become increasingly popular and according to many professionals and academics exploring this topic, it can. In recent years there have been many studies on the general concept of Mindfulness conducted that proved it’s effectiveness. Researchers have started exploring the workplace benefits, finding that it may improve everything from social relationships, memory and task performance.

So what is Mindfulness and how can we practice it?

Mindfulness is an awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally,” says Kabat-Zinn.
Considering the wide range of definitions, the most conceptualizations of mindfulness have a common element. At the core of most definitions of mindfulness is a focus on the “here and now”.  According to Jon Kabat-Zinn “Mindfulness is an awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally,” says Kabat-Zinn. “It’s about knowing what is on your mind.” Based on the English Oxford Dictionaries “Mindfulness is a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.”

Why Are Companies Embracing Mindfulness?

Mindfulness at work improves performance

Most organizations are aware of the importance of their human capital and care about the wellbeing and development of their employees. Mindfulness is one of the tools to achieve that. It is simple to learn, quick to put into practice and potentially very powerful. Mindfulness can be practiced during everyday activities and not just when seated in formal meditation. It is just like building your body muscles; by practicing mindfulness we are building the muscles of our attention.

What kind of effects can mindfulness have on our lives?

From the personal point of view, growing bodies of research show that mindfulness can decrease stress, anxiety, increase mental and physical health and cognitive functioning.  What is also very important is that it helps to Improve brain functioning – regular practice of mindfulness increases the brain’s ability to repair itself and grow new neural connections. It also helps to become more empathic.

From the perspective of the employer, it helps to bring the focus of its employees and concentration on the task at hand, enhance engagement, reduce burnout and help employees to cope with organizational changes. Research data also indicates that workplace mindfulness not only improves performance, it also increases the degree of attachment to the employer, which leads to decreased employee turnover.

We would like to share with you 5 tips that our team at Soil Solutions agrees to be most effective and simple:

mindfulness at work

1. – Focus on the breath

2. – Give full attention to seemingly mundane task

3. – Use Mindful Reminders

4. – Switch off as many distractions as you can.

5. – Be a Single-Tasker

By practicing these simple techniques you can learn how to create a moment of peacefulness and concentration at any time of the day. When mindfulness is regularly practiced our concentration becomes more powerful, and when we are fully concentrated, we have a chance to make a breakthrough and perform at our highest levels.

So why not to start today…?

If you would like to learn more about Mindfulness and its benefits we recommend these 10 Top books posted by Margo Campbell on – http://www.mindfultips.com/top-10-books-for-learning-mindfulness/

Please share with us your experience in the comments below this blog post.

Refferences

Selby, J., (2003). Quiet Your Mind: How to Quieten Upsetting Thoughts and Regain Inner Harmony

Killingsworth, M. A., & Gilbert, D. T. (2010). A wandering mind is an unhappy mind. Science, 330(6006), 932. http://doi.org/10.1126/science.1192439

Stahl, B., Goldstein, E., Santorelli, S., (2010). A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook

Heaversedge, J., Halliwell, E. (2012). The Mindful Manifesto: How Doing Less and Noticing More Can Help Us Thrive in a Stressed-Out World Paperback

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