Let’s face it: We’ve all made “busyness” our business. Days filled with meetings, meetings about meetings, calls, and presentations have become the new normal. Unless we’re fortunate enough to get some breathing space, most of us won’t realize that we’re just living the days in an auto-pilot mode, thinking that all this will eventually take us where we want to go.
But psychological research shows us that we couldn’t be more wrong. So what should we do then? Start being more mindful. It isn’t that tough to implement, all it takes is the willingness to make a few changes to your routine.
Before you begin your day, hit pause.
Another grueling workday lies ahead of you, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take a moment to silence yourself and observe your surroundings. Take in the sights and sounds you would usually ignore, sure at first; you’ll feel that this isn’t helping, but the idea is to break out of your old routines and start making space for new, productive habits.
Observe how your body reacts.
How does your body respond when at work you face a negative situation, such as an unpleasant work review? Also, observe your body’s reactions to pleasant work situations like your boss appreciating you for your work. The idea is to understand the effects of different situations on your body and adjust your routine according to them. So if a tense-review meeting just got over, take a quick walk, sip tea, or do something before you start getting worked up.
Try to understand your colleagues, and don’t judge them.
Given the scope of interactions in a professional setting, it’s very tough to make an effort & understand the people you work with, but a lot easier to judge them. Maybe there were times you dismissed an idea coming from a colleague thinking it’s just naive excitement or brushed away genuine inputs into your work owing to your limited understanding of their capabilities.
Critical thinking and healthy debate are necessary, but so is being non-judgemental when you observe your colleagues, their impact on work and ultimately your behaviour at work.
Don’t judge yourself by your shortcomings.
Self-evaluation is vital, but the problem with most of us is we evaluate ourselves only when things go wrong, this pattern of judging ourselves on our failures, only increases self-doubt, and ultimately stress in our lives. Try to also focus on the progress you’ve achieved, or the good things you did, this will bring a certain sense of balance, and help you appreciate how far you’ve come along, without getting too caught up by the momentary failures you’ve faced.
Visualize your future successes.
Take a moment to picture the best possible outcome for yourself. Sure this won’t lead to sky-rocketing success, but it’s the practice of this technique that holds the key to a future you, that’s more positive about outcomes, open to ideas and the accomplishments that come from them and be less stressed about things going awry.
Looking for more tips to inculcate mindfulness in your daily life? Our Experts can certainly help you. Connect with them right now.
