Mindfulness at work

Many of us have two halves to our lives – work and home.  In your home life you can easily choose to experience more mindfulness and being present in your life.  We can also practice meditation, yoga, reiki which are all good for your body and soul.  The question is;

“How can you bring mindfulness into your hectic business day where your schedule is often not your own?”

This series of articles aims to give you some ideas, hints and tips to be used in your work life.  The first is;

You need to find a personal calmness when your environment is dynamic, fast moving and perhaps a little chaotic.  Sometimes it is easier to get swept up in this environment and add your energy to the swirl of activity.  However to be truly productive, effective and creative in your approach to your tasks and challenges, you need to undertake them from a personal point of calmness.

At work everyone expects you to look after your body, to ensure it has sufficient food and water along with a trip to the bathroom.  Why would anyone be surprised that you also need to look after your ‘inner you’ by allowing yourself to feel some calmness where you can reflect on your challenges.  It takes you to prioritise this need and to create five minutes to be in the now at work.

I had a great manager who regularly gave stand-up chats to his teams to ensure they were up-to-date with what we were doing,  making himself known to his teams and give them the chance to ask questions.  By nature he was an introvert so this style of leadership was a personal challenge to him.  Just before these stand-ups he used to turn his back on the open plan office, and gaze at a picture on the wall near his desk.  In that picture he found his calmness and received reassurance from his ‘inner you’.  Being in contact with his ‘inner you’ made him a better leader.  His teams loved him and were very loyal to him.

Each of us need to prioritise this need and to find our technique for finding calmness and connecting with our ‘inner you’ during the business day.  My manager found his approach, other approaches might include a short walk for reflection, a meditation or a period of pray.  All work well and most people in the office will not even notice you took five minutes out, but you will notice the difference in your own personal well being.

Alison Pooley-Wem – life coach, author and leadership consultant, MBCS CITP, former Business Transformation Director, IT Director, Programme Director who led major transformation programmes for corporate and multi-national organisations such as Amey PLC, Christies. News UK.

Alison is married with five grown-up children. Many of the techniques in her ‘leading yourself’ coaching and courses are based on her life experiences in her professional and family life. She retains a calmness and clarity enabling her to assess the right things to do.

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