Most people have probably come across the concept of mindfulness and have heard about its benefits. But how can you actually put things into practice in a simple and effective way? Here are 4 tips to help you benefit from mindfulness during your working day.
Start your day / shift with intention
Before you start your working day, take a moment to settle in and consider how you would like your day to go or how you want to show up in the workplace. Here are some ideas:
- I aim to be compassionate at all times.
- I will take a pause before each client / task
- I will take time to savour my lunch
- I will be open minded and curious
- I enjoy interactions with colleagues and patients
Choose one thing to focus on and perhaps write it on a sticky note so that you can remind yourself throughout the day.
Take a pause
Make pausing a regular occurrence through your day; even if it’s just 30 seconds or a minute. When we have lots of tasks to do or people to see, we can end up rushing from one thing to the next without taking a breath. Before starting the next task or seeing a client, consciously take a moment to check in with yourself:
- What are you about to do?
- How do you need to show up?
- What will make this situation go smoothly?
Take time to savour your cuppa or a drink; use it as a trigger to pause for a few minutes and reset yourself before the next thing.
Although we may feel short of time, taking a pause actually makes us more effective because we are paying attention to what we are doing and can focus our energy more efficiently.
Engage your senses
We can sometimes get caught up thinking about what we need to do next or ruminating about something that’s already happened, which means we are not focussing on the here and now. By engaging your senses it helps to bring you back to the present moment. There is a simple tool that I call “countdown to calm”, which is helpful if you are stuck in a particular thinking pattern or feeling overwhelmed by things. You use your senses to pay attention to what’s going on and you can use it wherever you are, whether sitting or moving.
Take a look around you; in your head list:
- 5 things you can SEE (be specific, maybe it’s the sun glinting on your computer screen or the texture of an object).
- 4 things you can HEAR (we are often so used to tuning out noise, this gets you to tune back in).
- 3 things you can FEEL (e.g. the warmth of the sun on your skin, the chair underneath you, the air con)
- 2 things you can SMELL (this encourages you to take a couple of deeper breaths, maybe there isn’t much to smell or maybe there is something pungent)
- 1 thing you can TASTE (maybe your last mouthful of coffee or maybe not much, it doesn’t matter)
Wind down
After a busy day you might be keen to just get home, but by taking a couple of moments to reflect on your day and consciously wind down, you are more likely to relax when you do get home.
- Write down 3 things that have gone well during your day or that you are grateful for
- Make a note of anything that you need to follow up with or do tomorrow so you know you won’t forget
- Write down anything that you want to let go of and leave at work
- Take a couple of deeper, slower breaths and remind yourself that it’s time to switch off and go home to enjoy your personal life.
- Use your commute home as time to decompress and let work go
Mindfulness is a practice, it’s about being consciously aware of what we are doing in the present moment. It takes practice, especially if it’s not something we are familiar with but it gets easier and becomes more automatic the more we do it. You may also start to notice that it influences other areas of your life too.
Rebecca Norton
If you would like any further ideas for improving your workplace wellbeing, please feel free to connect: