How to Manage Work Stress with Mindfulness

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5 years ago

I received a request from a reader (yes, you can email me questions here!) about managing stress at work. The reader, Jenn, is experiencing a lot of work stress right now given the changes at her company. In addition, she has a new baby at home. Jenn feels her stress results in mistakes at work, and more tense relationships with her colleagues.

Needless to say, she is also having communication issues with her husband as well. Jenn asked me how she can manage her work stress better in the hopes of improving her work and home lives.

My response was: mindfulness!

What is Mindfulness? How could it address work stress?

According to mindful.com, mindfulness is when, “the mind is fully attending to what’s happening, to what you’re doing, to the space you’re moving through.” When we don’t do this, “pretty soon we’re engrossed in obsessive thoughts … or fretting about the future. And that makes us anxious.”

Hmmm…ok. Can you say that in English?!

Ok, I’ll try. Practically speaking (and in my own words, which by no means are expert), what mindfulness entails is directing your focus to what’s going on in current moment (i.e. sounds and sensations. By focusing there, you force your brain to not pay attention to the planning, stressing, obsessing, etc.

When you don’t have racing thoughts, then you feel less stressed. In the end, you cannot become more stressed when your mind isn’t focused on the whatever is worrying or bothering you.

Ok, thanks Mrs. Type A. Your words sound definitely less educated than mindful.com’s. But I can at least understand what mindfulness is now. But…

How can I use mindfulness to address work stress?

For some reason, many people think mindfulness has no place at work. What’s interesting is that the first place I ever participated in mindfulness was at work!

I had a new manager and she felt that our leadership team would work better together and have better business results if we were more present. Over the course of a year, we would meet weekly and practice mindfulness together at work (yes, I live in California).

At first, I was very uncomfortable. It felt so weird to close my eyes at work in front of co-workers. But, I soon realized how beneficial the exercises were to my mind. I was more relaxed after those meetings. And, as such, I continued to practice mindfulness every morning for about 6 months.

What happened after 6 months?!

Well, during that time I was awarded a Manager of the Year Award and was promoted. I also was very personally and professionally happy. My life was balanced, and I slept the best I had in years.

Was reduced work stress and improved job performance definitely due to the mindfulness?

Well, I’m not sure. But I wouldn’t doubt it. Even if I didn’t have those results, it was nice to have 5 less minutes of stress every day!

If my experience doesn’t convince you, there is a lot of literature that links increased mindfulness with better employee performance and, to a similar degree, managerial effectiveness (which, in turn, drives employee performance and satisfaction). This study shows how mindfulness impacts employee well-being, resilience, collaboration, performance, and decision-making (among other things).

I hope that you are at least now just a little bit more open to trying mindfulness to address your work stress. And, even, help propel your overall success.

How do you practice Mindfulness?

I’m not a trained professional in mindfulness or meditation, so I will need to point you to the experts. In general, what you are doing is sitting quietly and observing your breath, thoughts, and body sensations.

Here are some sources to help you with the technique:

UCLA’s Mindfulness Awareness Research Center: this resource has a weekly podcast, classes, and free guided meditations (which I use multiple times a week).
Tara Brach: Tara is a psychologist and author who focuses on, among other things, meditation. Her website (and books) are immensely powerful resources. Not only does she offer meditations on her website, but she also hosts a weekly chat/podcast that are available on the website. Words can’t really do justice to what Tara has to offer… check out her website!
Headspace: Headspace’s mission is to, “improve the health and happiness of the world.” That lofty mission would stress any other company out…but not Headspace. Headspace offers some meditations for free, but you’ll need a subscription at some point to access new content. I’ve only used it for free, and found it useful.
Calm: to me, Calm is just like Headspace but with Matthew McConaughey. Seriously, Calm has Sleep Stories (and other stories) read by famous people (including Matthew McConaughey). I’m sure it’s differentiated from Headspace in other ways, but — to me — they’re both similiar subscription meditation services.

Where should I start?

Since this blog focuses on giving actionable advice, I wanted to give some specific steps to take in order to ensure mindfulness addresses your work stress:

1. Week #1: Take 3 min every morning and start with this free UCLA MARC Body Scan Meditation. For you working moms, mornings can be hard. Believe me, I know. What I do is take a few minutes for meditation every morning after parking in my work parking lot. I sit in my car, close my eyes and listen to a short meditation. I have my sunglasses on and my earpiece on. So, if anyone I know walked by, I would look like I’m on a phone call.

2. Week #2: Continue the 3 min meditation in the AM (perhaps alternate the Week 1 meditation with another of the short MARC Meditations). Add in 1hr Tara Brach Talk. You can listen to this during your commute. Here are a few of my favorites:

3. Week #3: Swap your Week #1 practice for a longer meditation (perhaps this one from MARC). Add a 2nd Tara Brach talk.

At this point, I would encourage you to reflect on the last 3 weeks and see what has changed for you (and what hasn’t). I’m willing to bet that you have experienced more calmness and increased effectiveness at your work, as well as your relationships (both professional and personal).