Practice Mindfulness at Work

"If you're in the room, be in the room." - Nigel Risner

Depending on which source I cite, I can qualify as one of the oldest millennials alive today. I am also glued to an array of digital devices - and this helps me identify as such. We millennials get a bad rap for being a distracted bunch of employees - connected to our devices, and always "on." 

With these qualifications, I write with the personal authority and experience of digital's anthropomorphic stranglehold on my daily activities, and its ability to distract me from being present. I've learned that mindfulness is a deliberate practice, and that it's imperative to exercise daily, mindful actions. 

Digital distractions break down our ability to concentrate, and maintain high levels of performance. Mindless surfing can turn would-be productive hours into wasted space, and take us away from our priorities and passions. It can even separate us from our loved-ones.

The more we squander our productive hours consuming meaningless content, the less time we are spending retaining quality information that can be applicable and helpful to our daily lives. 

This "moment thievery" that digital devices steal from us with pings and links, notifications and content rabbit holes, merely pales in comparison to a new-found freedom and enjoyment I've experienced in practicing deliberate mindfulness exercises in my work-life.

"We're currently the servant to the technology," says psychologist Professor Cary Cooper of Lancaster University.20. "We have to take over and become the master." - The Distraction Trap 

 Today, I'd like to share some of these exercises with you, with the hope that by practicing some mindfulness on a daily basis, you can all get a little bit more out of your moments, and be present for those around you.

Try to swap out some of your distracting habits, with some of these mindful practices, and watch the quality of your work, contentness of your life life, and your overall well-being increase significantly.

I double dare you - and that's a big deal coming from an 80's kid.

Daily Mindfulness Exercises: 

1. Commit to offline hours

When did you make a choice to be "always-on" or "on-demand"? I surely don't remember making a conscious decision. I simply woke up one day, and began checking my emails in bed. It just sort of happened. 

If I don't deliberately chose to make a mindful effort to manage my time, I wake up and begin to respond to my various digital notifications, before my feet hit the ground.

Sound familiar? 

Mindful, lifelong learners take time to notice and observe. There is a Cherokee historical custom known as "Going to the water" early in the morning, washing your face, and orientating yourself to the day. Chad Corntassel Smith tells us in his audiobook, Leadership Lessons from the Cherokee Nation, that this practice can teach us to be alert and attentive, and to learn by being an observer of the present moment. He continues to explain that even an object in the moment of dawn, can be perceived and observed differently at dusk, noting that each moment is unique. 

Before logging on in the morning, commit to an hour offline. By orientating your thoughts to the day ahead, without digital distractions, you can begin to see noticeable differences in your performance levels and ability to remain present. Not to mention, the quality of your day takes a turn for the amazing.  

2. Commit to your commute

I remember taking road trips as a kid. Our games were identifying landmarks, slug-bug and who can find the most out-of-state licence plates on the road. 

Today, we have televisions in our cars, and our cars can talk to us. Before we know it, our cars will be driving us. But, until we all have self-driving vehicles - we can mindfully commit to being present in our commute. No job, boss, client or deadline is worth dying for - or worse, killing for. Don't work and drive! 

Continuing the idea that being present while commuting can influence our direct futures for the positive, Frances Booth states in The Distraction Trap that, "Distracted walking causes serious injuries...more than 1,000 people were treated in emergency wards in US hospitals in 2011 for injuries they got while walking and using a mobile or other electronic device."

"Walking into a lamppost, falling into a ditch and stepping out into oncoming traffic were just some of the accidents reported."   - The Distraction Trap

We are only human. Commit to your commute by focusing on the road ahead. Take this time to allow your thoughts progress and develop into ideas. To master digital distractions while commuting, silence your cell. Experience your surroundings, observe and explore like we did in B.G. - before Google. 

3. Commit to breathing.

Volunteer to breathe at least 2-3 times daily. Mindful, voluntary breathing can impact the quality of our breathing, and can help us with an array of both physiological and psychological benefits.

"Like water cutting the Grand Canyon, it's the regularity of that -- that overtime produces very dramatic changes," advises Andrew Weil, MD Author of Spontaneous Happiness in the video Purpose Channel: How to Develop Purposeful Habits Inside and Outside the Workplace. 

To be contradictory, like any qualified millennial can be stereotyped, set yourself a digital reminder to help condition the habit of breathing. Voluntary breathing is a simple, yet effective practice that requires zero money or downtime. At first, it may seem distracting to breathe.

For me, I find myself instantly relaxed after voluntary breathing. The busyness of my mind, and all of the open desktop windows begin to take a back seat to the practice. But, when I return to the task at hand, my thoughts are sharper and more precise. I prefer to walk and breathe - and leave the devices at my desk. 

4. Commit to your colleagues

"No one benefits from vacant philosophizing. A good servant-leader always keeps the goal in view, i.e. making clear what people’s needs are in order to meet those needs, and moving toward that goal by asking the right questions," from Servant Leadership Across Cultures.

Commit to active and engaged listening. If what's going on in your inbox or chat room is of higher priority than the person sitting in front of you, reschedule. Pay the respect to the fundamental nature of interpersonal communications and set "multi-tasking aside. We are only human, afterall. 

5. Commit to your priorities (work-related)

"Depending on your profession, there will always be a continuous flow of small short-term tasks,"states Joris Merks Benjaminsen in Think and Grow Digital: What the Net Generation Needs to Know to Survive and Thrive in Any Organization. "Keeping your e-mail inbox empty is probably the most common small task that always feels urgent but can consume more time than you think."

I once had a mentor teach me a very simple practice that I use to this day in regard to aligning my priorities with the goals of the business. He simply stated, "List out all of the things that you are working on this month. Now, work on whichever task will result in the most return for the company." It's really that simple.

 For additional learning resources on the deliberate practice of mindfulness,  click here.

Safari Books Online