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How To Practice Mindfulness In The Workplace

Working in an office can be really exciting and rewarding while other times it can be stressful and feel soul-sucking. So how do you handle…

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Working in an office can be really exciting and rewarding while other times it can be stressful and feel soul-sucking.

So how do you handle it when your boss is blowing up your inbox asking about that project? What about when a coworker was supposed to help you on a presentation but then flakes out last minute? Your clients are calling you left and right as you watch your voicemail light up. Or maybe, you share your workspace with an individual who is just spreading their stressed out and negative vibes like pink-eye in a kindergarten classroom?

If you’re anything like me, you might struggle with handling it well.

I get it – working in an office environment is hard. I would top the charts when it comes to feeding into my coworker’s bad vibes. I used to get so stressed out that I would make myself sick – seriously, every morning I would drive to work with a trash bag because my stomach hurt so bad- I used to anticipate my boss coming into my office yelling at me for doing something wrong or coming in 2 minutes late. I used to get so overwhelmed with my workload that I would just become paralyzed and then fall behind. Worst of all – I put my work ahead of everything in my life. My health, my friends, my family, MY SANITY – it all took a backseat to my career.

It wasn’t until I had a total burnout that I realized I had to make some SERIOUS changes to the way that I approached my life-work balance.

Luckily, I was introduced to mindfulness and my entire world changed.

Here are a few ways that I practice mindfulness in the workplace.

If you’re new to mindfulness or need a refresh, click here

  • Take care of your body

    Eat breakfast, drink enough water throughout the day, bring a healthy lunch, have snacks on hand, get a workout in. It’s really difficult to be mindful and present when you’re dragging from not having enough energy or even having the slightest amount of dehydration. My suggestion? Keep snacks and oatmeal at your desk for desperate times.

  • Don’t go on Autopilot

    You know when you’re driving and you suddenly realize that you are getting off at your exit or you’ve somehow moved over 3 lanes and have no idea how you got there? You completely zoned out but your brain still kept working for you to get to your destination. That doesn’t just happen on the road, it can happen in your life too. Especially when it comes to monotonous tasks.

    Even if it’s the simplest task, be mindful of your actions while participating in the task. For example, if you’re changing the paper from the printer, feel the paper glide past your fingers. Continue to breathe deep.

Get away from your desk

I spent close to 5 years working in retail before I transitioned into corporate. This meant, I was used to spending 8 hours a day on my feet, walking around, standing behind the register etc. My body was in constant motion. Then I suddenly went to sitting in a chair for 8 hours and talking on the phone. I noticed that I was having really bad anxiety at certain times of the day. When I told my acupuncturist about this, he suggested that I take walks as many times as possible and to stand up from my desk every 15-25 minutes. I was really fortunate because my office was lenient with break policies and I could basically go outside and walk whenever my little heart pleased. I made sure to stand up and do a little bit of stretching as often as possible, just to get the blood flowing. I would get up to use the restroom, grab a snack, head to the water filter, talk to a coworker or even print something at a printer on a different floor. This helped SO much. The way that my acupuncturist explained it was that I had a lot of pent up energy in my body that wasn’t being expressed or used up. When my energy was just sitting there and not being used, it was just gassing my anxiety. I became so dedicated to my walks that I actually blocked out 15 minute walks about 2-3 times a day in my calendar and schedule my meetings and calls around them. Within a few weeks of walking and stretching at my desk, I noticed a huge improvement in my overall wellbeing.

  • Don’t go on Autopilot

    You know when you’re driving and you suddenly realize that you are getting off at your exit or you’ve somehow moved over 3 lanes and have no idea how you got there? You completely zoned out but your brain still kept working for you to get to your destination. That doesn’t just happen on the road, it can happen in your life too. Especially when it comes to monotonous tasks.

    Even if it’s the simplest task, be mindful of your actions while participating in the task. For example, if you’re changing the paper from the printer, feel the paper glide past your fingers. Continue to breathe deep.

  • Focus on one task at a time

    I don’t care what anyone says but as humans we CANNOT multitask. There have been countless studies that show that humans are horrible and multitasking. Texting and driving? Nope. Eating and typing? Let me show you my ketchup stain from when I tried to have a “working-lunch.” We THINK we are getting more accomplished by focusing on several tasks at once but in truth, we are definitely not.

    I used to freak out every morning when I would walk into my office and see 300 emails, 12 voicemails, 20 Gchat messages and a stack of leftover documents to review.

    When I would become overwhelmed with a negative thought or just a random stream of thoughts – I would remind myself to connect with my breath first and then begin connecting all of my senses to the present moment.

    Then I would move onto the next task or review my schedule to see what would make for a more peaceful and productive workday.

Practice Gratitude

If it’s a task you hate doing, practice some gratitude. For me, I hated cleaning out my voicemails. I don’t know why but it really felt like the bane of my existence. When I began to practice mindfulness, I would take some deep breaths before I started checking my voicemails to really get me centered. As I continued, I shifted my perspective to feeling grateful for checking my voicemails (and trust me, it wasn’t easy at first) My thought process went like this:

This is dumb. I hate listening to these messages
“UGGHHH”
But at least I have people calling my back
“Ugh.”
I’m grateful that people are responding to my calls and emails.
*Sigh* Let’s repeat that 3 times…
I’m grateful that people are responding to my calls and emails.
I’m grateful that people are responding to my calls and emails.
I’m grateful that people are responding to my calls and emails.
I’m guess I’m grateful to even have a job
No….. I AM grateful to have a job
I’m grateful to have a job where I can check my voicemails when it fits my schedule

Accept What Is

Accepting what is, was probably the most difficult part of mindfulness. I used to be in a constant state of “this needs to change in order for me to happy” or “once I get that promotion, I’ll be satisfied.” I could never be happy or content with the present moment because I was constantly on this wild goose chase trying to find happiness, joy and peace.

Don’t join the chase, girl. TRUST.

There is never going to a promotion or car or job or significant other that is going to bring you lasting happiness until you learn to find it within yourself. (I mean – this is a post within itself.)

You have to accept whatever the situation may be. Did a client not call you back? Maybe you went over budget. Is your coworker driving you insane with a bunch of questions that they could answer on their own? Did you completely forget to add that really important meeting to your calendar and now you’re totally unprepared? Maybe you just completely dropped the ball on a project.

That’s life yo.

We are humans. Shit happens.

Accept the mistake you made and focus on the solution.

If we spend time beating ourselves up for the mistake we made, we’re wasting valuable time; time that we could be spending correcting the problem.

Accept that maybe a project is too large to tackle alone or you have too many projects and then ask for help if you need it – seriously. I’ve worked with senior management and C-level executives and they’ve all given similar feedback when it comes to asking for help; DO IT.

Set your ego aside and realize that you are being proactive rather than reactive.

If you’re struggling with hitting deadlines talk to your supervisor or manager about spreading your tasks out within your team or adjusting your schedule. It’s better to ask for help now than wait till you’re truly incapable of a solution and letting everyone down.

To sum this whole thing up:

Being mindful in the workplace will make you more productive, happier and calmer.

Who doesn’t want MORE of that?!

But on the real, you spend more time at your job than you do with your friends and family. It should be a healthy and happy place for you to be.

Leave me a comment down below and let me know how you practice mindfulness in your office!

Catch ya’ later!
Bree
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53 comments

  1. Great post Bree! I see that mindfulness in workplace is essential to be more productive. Being a founder of a company, I see that my employees have to tackle with a lot of stress and strict deadlines. I try to create an environment where they feel relaxed and the most productive thing that I see in my office are the bean bags 🙂 Instead of sticking to the desk, my employees just love working while comfortably sitting on a bean bag. I think this is also something that brings mindfulness at our working place.

    Reply

    1. Hey Omer! Yes, I completely agree! Employees who are relaxed and healthy are way more productive than others. I’m sure there are some actual stats on it out there too! Bean bags are great! I hated being in a cubicle and I prefer working in open spaces where I can easily collaborate with my coworkers! ✨

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