Embracing mindfulness and meditation can change perspectives, resulting in improved happiness and productivity in the workplace.

Happiness and productivity: two simple reasons to embrace mindfulness and meditation. Here’s how to make 2018 a year of fresh perspectives.

Laptop: check. Shoes: shined. Chair: adjusted. Headphones: in. Workstation: a perfect mess. There are physical factors that affect our productivity each day – in some cases, things we absolutely can’t live or work without. But as you go about your daily business, there’s another consideration that trumps all else: your state of mind.

According to Smiling Mind, in the past year one in five Australians have taken time off due to mental pressures, costing businesses more than $10 billion in lost time and productivity. And the
human cost is even scarier. Cardiovascular disease, hypertension, anxiety and depression – workplace stress walks hand-in-hand with many of our leading causes of death.

The good news is, all of the contributing factors are preventable. And the only side-effects of the treatment are happier, more positive work environments, staff retention, higher engagement, increases in self-esteem, reduced anxiety and more collaboration. Most of us could live with that.

It’s high time to incorporate some basic mindfulness and meditation techniques and get started on a path to everyday workplace health and productivity.

 

Visualise success together 

Take ten minutes over morning coffee to celebrate triumphs and brainstorm challenges in the same room. Talk about goals, and the benefits of reaching specific milestones. With a holistic view of the role we each play in the bigger picture, everyone’s empowered to extend themselves an collaborate towards positive outcomes. And by measuring success as we go, the fruits of our labours never go unnoticed.

 

Focus on the why?

What is the purpose of your actions? What is the best-case outcome? What are you hoping to learn from any given experience? Get to the heart of why something – anything – is important to achieve and the pathway to the desired end-goal becomes clearer.

 

Share the goodness

Whether it’s five minutes or one hour, make time for simple meditation sessions in the office. By encouraging mindfulness and meditation at work, you facilitate shared experiences. But it’s important to be open to a range of techniques. Come in with an open mind, demonstrate the benefits and offer incentives for getting on board. It may be a hard sell to begin with, but the results will speak for themselves.

The science is in: mindfulness works. And there are plenty of credible, versatile and informative apps and programs available to help you integrate daily practices into your office routine. After all, who doesn’t want higher productivity and a happier and healthier work life? You could call it a no-brainer (except that kind of flies in the face of the basic principle).

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