The constant clatter of the keyboard. The buzz of the phone ringing all day long. The endless amounts of caffeine downed to keep one alert. Meetings that stretch forever. The need to reach out to that glass of alcohol or light a cigarette.
Much has changed in the past two decades. Everyone is encountering higher stress levels. The modern man is also joining in to help with domestic chores. Juggling careers and homes is not limited to a single gender only. The busy man of today has got to do his share of workload for the home, office, and even be accessible 24X7 for work.
A busy schedule often finds no time for meditation for the modern man. He’s this go-getter - one who knows how to ace his professional life and family life. In the midst of all this, achieving mindfulness at work turns out to be an uphill climb. Practicing mindfulness is, however, quite easy and requires dedication and devotion (similar to the way you perform other tasks).
What is mindfulness? It’s a practice where you’ll learn to be in the present moment and work on your responses to situations. You’ll no longer react but develop higher self-awareness levels. Read more about mindfulness here .
As a Mindfulness Practitioner®, I’m sharing 10 mindfulness techniques you can use on an everyday basis. These are simple, easy, and beneficial for every working man.
Mindfulness Techniques for the Busy Man: 10 Ways to Practice Daily
Wondering how to practice mindfulness? Let’s check out.
1) Urge Yourself to Remember
As a busy working professional, it’s easy to forget being mindful at work. One of the best ways to practice mindfulness techniques is to set some kind of reminder that brings you back to the present moment. A majority of professionals often end up wasting productive time either online or lost in thoughts. By setting a reminder (on your phone, laptop, or even request a colleague), you train your mind to be back in the present moment. This ensures you take control of the day and don’t work in a mechanical mode. The moment you find yourself being carried away with stress, you can be mindful and look at the situation from a fresh perspective.
2) Develop Self-Awareness
Mindfulness meditation is one of the ways to work on higher self-awareness levels. Mindfulness is not to be confused only with meditation. This is one of the techniques to achieve a balanced state. With a higher conscious level of what’s happening in the now, you are more mindful at work. You can also manage emotions easily without allowing your mind to wander.
What is Mindfulness Meditation?
You can consider this as a mental work out. You pay attention to the current experiences without trying to block or ignore your feelings.
How to do It:
- Download the Mindfulness Practitioner® App (It’s free!)
- Find a comfortable corner
- Be seated
- Listen to the meditation sessions
- Allow some time to focus your mind
Practice daily for best effects. You will notice a change in your thinking. You can choose from morning meditation to those that build confidence, reduce stress, achieve goals, and more. As a busy man, you can fit this in your schedule and even attempt it during the work hours.
3) Work on your Mantras
I’ve interacted with many busy professionals who were initially confused about practicing mindfulness at work. One simple mindfulness technique is to work on creating a mantra for yourself. It can be as simple as, “I am happy, strong, and completing my task on time.” You can begin your day with this mantra and repeat it many times throughout the day. Work on your areas of improvements and develop your lines for the week.
4) Be a Good Listener
You might wonder why would I write about developing listening skills for practicing mindfulness? So often, we rarely learn to listen, and even if we do, we always have our own opinion to put across. Improving our own listening skills gives us the ability to connect with self and others around. This means you also turn into a good listener to your own thoughts! Be a listener at work, and you’ll notice a change happening within. Ask yourself: What you are feeling at the present moment? How do you want to feel everyday? How can you bring a shift in your current lifestyle? How can you initiate a change in yourself? How will you feel once you make these changes? How do you feel right now while making this change? How will you feel witnessing a happier version of you? Have you asked the right questions while acknowledging another point of view? Use this mindfulness technique at work to develop your listening skills
5) Practice Mindfulness Breathing
I’ve had many reactions to practicing mindfulness breathing at work. It’s commonly believed that meditation and breathing go hand in hand. So, this cannot be done at work. What the working man often misses is the ability to practice breathwork at the office. By setting small reminders, you can learn to relax for as little as 3 minutes. Try this mindfulness meditation technique:
- Sit up straight in your chair
- Your posture must be relaxed and alert
- Focus on your breath
- Breath in
- Breathe out
- Feel yourself relax as you breathe out.
- Now, count 1 to 11 as you breathe in. Count 1 to 8 as you breathe out. Repeat this technique for around 2-3 minutes to feel better immediately
6) Focus on a Single Task
“What?”
Yes, this is the reaction I get from most of my clients. As a Mindfulness Practitioner, I insist on working on a single task instead of being a multi-tasker. This improves your level of focus. Your productivity goes higher without all the stress. You’ll notice that you’ll accomplish more tasks in an effortless manner instead of being a juggler and getting stressed along the way. A mindful approach to a single task ensures you offer your best to the task at hand.
7) Embrace the Stress
I’ve often come in contact with people who want to do everything to avoid the stress. Let me tell you one thing - stress will always be there. You have to work on changing the way you deal with stress. One of the best mindfulness technique is to embrace the stress, work on how you respond to it, and find out the best ways to work on the obstacles.
- What are you stressing about?
- What can you do about it? (Make a list of what causes you stress)
- What are the things that need immediate attention? (Act on it)
- Which tasks can be dealt with later? (Know which task is in your control and those that you have no control over.)
Embrace stress as a way to work on your skills. Build an improved connection with self by preparing your mind to work on these stress issues.
8) Remember to Hit ‘Pause’!
This is not one of the most favorite mindfulness techniques for all at an initial phase. It often draws exclamations of surprise by men who are loaded with work. “Pause? We don’t have the time,” is the answer I receive. What most fail to notice that pausing refreshes your mind making you happier and less stressed. You can easily use this mindfulness technique to increase your productivity and creativity. All you need to do is take a couple of minutes to pause, observe, and enjoy the time at work. Rushing through your tasks simply makes you annoyed, tired, worried, anxious, and a difficult person to work with!
9) Spend Time on Reflection
It is as simple as spending 10 minutes a day with yourself. It’s easy to go through your work routine, accomplish your toughest task, win accolades, awards, and still feel lost. Spend time to ask yourself whether your day has gone good and how you could have handled things differently. This ensures you are aware of what you need and can work better towards your goals. A regular mindful practice like this makes you completely aware at work leading you to take better decisions that attract success.
10) Practice Gratitude
Developing gratitude towards self and others has a great impact on the way you feel, work, and connect with self and others. This is an important part of mindfulness - you develop an appreciation and improve your mental strength. You can do it at work, during the commute, towards the night time. You have to be mindful about the day and be grateful to self and others. This ensures you are relaxed and happy, creative, and develop stronger bonds at work.
Remember, the benefits of mindfulness are much more than I can mention here. You can also be a part of our Mindfulness Retreats and learn to make mindfulness a way of life. Write to [email protected] Looking for mindfulness meditation sessions? Download our Mindfulness Practitioner App. We’ll soon be coming up with mindfulness for women and children. Subscribe for details.
