Mindfulness at Work For Dummies

Shamash Alidina is a professional mindfulness trainer, teacher, and lecturer. He has over 10 years' experience teaching mindfulness in schools and university courses. Juliet Adams designs and delivers professional mindfulness at work training, and co-delivers WorkplaceMT trainer development in the UK and Netherlands.

Introduction 1

About This Book 2

Foolish Assumptions 2

Icons Used in This Book 3

Beyond the Book 3

Where to Go from Here 4

Part I: Getting Started with Mindfulness at Work 5

Chapter 1: Exploring Mindfulness in the Workplace 7

Becoming More Mindful at Work 7

Clarifying what mindfulness is 8

Taking a look at the background 8

Recognising what mindfulness isn’t 11

Finding Out Why Your Brain Needs Mindfulness 14

Evolving from lizard to spaceman 15

Discovering your brain’s hidden rules 16

Recognising that you are what you think 17

Exploring your brain at work 19

Starting Your Mindful Journey 23

Being mindful at work yourself 24

Overcoming common challenges 25

Creating a mindful workplace 26

Living the dream: Mindfulness at work 27

Chapter 2: Exploring the Benefits of Mindfulness in the Workplace 29

Discovering the Benefits for Employees 29

Increased mental resilience 29

Improved relationships 32

Honed mental clarity and focus 34

Mindful leadership 36

Looking at the Organisational Benefits of Mindfulness 38

Happier, more engaged employees 39

Greater creativity 41

Increased productivity 43

Improved decision making 45

Reducing staff turnover 47

Chapter 3: Applying Mindfulness in the Workplace 49

Gaining Perspective in the Modern-Day Workplace 49

Engaging with a VUCA world 50

Applying mindfulness in changing times 51

Employing mindfulness for new ways of working 53

Building resilience 54

Adjusting Your Mental Mindset 56

Focusing on the present moment 57

Treating thoughts as mental processes 58

Approaching rather than avoiding difficulties 60

Rewiring Your Brain 62

Getting to grips with the science of mindfulness 62

Resculpting your brain to make you more productive at work 63

Using mindfulness to increase your present-moment circuitry 64

Developing Mindfulness at Work 65

Examining intentions and attitudes 66

Remembering that practice makes perfect 69

Experimenting with mindfulness in the workplace lab 70

Acting ethically for the organisation and its people 71

Living life mindfully 72

Part II: Working with Mindfulness 75

Chapter 4: Practising Mindfulness Day to Day 77

Starting the Day Mindfully 78

Making time for mindfulness 79

Integrating mindfulness into your morning routine 81

Travelling Mindfully 82

Driving with intent 83

Thinking about trains, planes and mindfulness 84

Walking mindfully 87

Taking Mindful Pauses 88

Pausing at your desk 89

Enjoying water cooler moments 90

Waking up and smelling the coffee 90

Ending Your Day Mindfully 91

Managing energy and sleep 91

Following a mindful evening routine 92

Using mindful exercises 93

Appreciating the good 94

Chapter 5: Boosting your Mental Resilience 97

Recognising the Need for Resilience at Work 98

The modern day stress epidemic 98

Understanding fight or flight 99

Mindful Working to Enhance Resilience 100

Managing multiple, conflicting demands 100

Grouping tasks 104

Dealing with distractions 104

Mindfully managing your emotions 105

Trying the ‘Managing emotions mindfully’ exercise 107

Dealing with difficult people 108

Mindful Ways to Maintain Peak Performance 110

Maintaining peak performance 110

Using mindfulness to enhance productivity 112

Being in the moment 112

Being Kind to Yourself 113

Discovering the Neuroscience of Kindness and compassion 115

Rewiring your brain 116

Last, but by no means least 116

Chapter 6: Discovering Mindfulness At Work Training 117

Introducing MAWT 117

Getting ready 118

Identifying the outcomes you desire 118

Considering alternatives to self-study 119

MAWT Part 1: Core Training 119

Preparing for MAWT 120

Week 1: Understanding mindfulness at work 122

Week 2: Working with the body in mind 132

Chapter 7: Applying Mindfulness At Work Training 143

Continuing Your Mindfulness at Work Training (MAWT) 143

Week 3: Mindful communication at work 144

Week 4: Mindfully working with difficult people and strong emotions 151

Week 5: Mindful working in times of change 159

Post-Course Summary 166

Chapter 8: Practising Mindfulness in the Digital Age 169

Choosing When to Use Technology 169

Recognising the pros and cons of technology 170

Rebalancing your use of technology 170

Communicating Mindfully 174

Emailing mindfully 176

Phoning mindfully 178

Using a smart phone mindfully 179

Engaging with social media mindfully 181

Writing mindfully 181

Using Technology Mindfully 183

Focusing on one task 183

Discovering technology that enhances focus 184

Part III: Mindfulness for Organisations 187

Chapter 9: Improving Team Performance with Mindfulness 189

Identifying and Harnessing Team Dynamics 189

Understanding team dynamics 190

Managing team dynamics mindfully 192

Improving Team Performance 194

Recognising what’s important 194

Introducing Mindfulness to Your Team 197

Keeping your eye on the goal 198

Staying focused using mindfulness 199

Enhancing Internal and External Business Relationships 199

Becoming mindfully ready for anything 200

Being in the meeting 201

Boosting Team Morale 202

Improving morale with mindfulness 203

Focusing team effort with mindfulness 204

Improving team relationships with mindfulness 205

Chapter 10: Using Mindfulness to Assist Different Business Functions 207

Mindfulness for Human Resources 207

Managing downsizing and redundancies mindfully 208

Dealing with discipline and grievances mindfully 210

Increasing employee engagement 211

Applying some techniques 211

Mindfulness for Occupational Health 213

Improving staff well-being with mindfulness 214

Tackling stress with mindfulness 214

Reducing sickness absence with mindfulness 215

Mindfulness for Learning and Organisational Development 216

Improving learning with mindfulness 216

Introducing mindful practices into the workplace 219

Mindfulness for Service Delivery and Customer Service 219

Maintaining customer focus 220

Dealing with customer feedback mindfully 221

Communicating mindfully with customers 222

Mindfulness for Marketing and PR 222

Communicating powerfully 223

Keeping in tune with consumer and cultural trends 223

Improving responsiveness 224

Chapter 11: Integrating Mindfulness with Coaching 225

Discovering Mindful Coaching 225

Seeing mindfulness as a coaching toolbox 227

Applying mindfulness in coaching 229

Introducing Practical Ways to Integrate Mindfulness into Coaching 230

Increasing insight and clarity 231

Overcoming self-doubt 233

Coaching Team Members in Being Mindful 235

Integrating mindfulness into your team coaching 236

Overcoming barriers to mindfulness 237

Rolling Out Mindfulness through Coaching 238

Dealing with individuals 238

Working with teams 240

Involving the whole organisation 240

Chapter 12: Commissioning Mindfulness Training in the Workplace 243

Bringing Mindfulness Training to Work 243

Starting with the end in mind 243

Choosing from the menu of possibilities 244

Building in evaluation 246

Considering options for introductions and pilots 247

Taking care of the practicalities 248

Working in partnership and managing expectations 250

Identifying follow-up strategies 250

Making Sense of the Different Approaches to Teaching Workplace Mindfulness 251

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) 251

Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) 252

Mindfulness At Work Training (MAWT) 254

Search Inside Yourself (SIY) 254

Hiring an Experienced Mindfulness Practitioner 255

Checking out credentials 255

Clarifying organisational experience 257

Judging compatibility 257

Agreeing on what’s possible 258

Hiring a Mindfulness Coach 258

Identifying the benefits of mindfulness coaching 258

Choosing the right coach 259

Mindfulness Pilot Checklist 259

Part IV: Leading with Mindfulness 261

Chapter 13: Thriving on the Challenges of Leadership 263

Thriving Rather Than Surviving 265

Three ways to lead and thrive 266

Being a More Mindful Leader 267

Authentic leadership 267

Resonant leadership 269

Mindful leadership 270

Practising Mindful Leadership 270

Creating a positive and inspiring workplace culture 274

Coping with Stress and Pressure by Building Resilience 275

Maintaining peak performance 276

Implementing mindful strategies for rejuvenation 276

Chapter 14: Leading without Boundaries 279

Creating the Space to Lead 279

Seeing the bigger picture 280

Making time to be yourself 282

Being good to yourself 284

Managing your time and energy 284

Enhancing Leadership Creativity 287

Thinking without boundaries 287

Tapping into your intuition 289

Managing Complexity with Simplicity 289

Recognising that the past is history and tomorrow is a mystery 290

Working mindfully with your brain 291

Maintaining clarity and focus 293

Chapter 15: Leading People, Change and Strategy 295

Leading Mindfully when Change is the Norm 295

Meeting modern-day challenges with mindful solutions 296

Developing new change strategies 296

Embedding change individually and organisationally 297

Creating Strategies that Allow the Organisation to Flourish 299

Identifying organisational culture 299

Creating a collective vision for the future 301

Developing strategies mindfully 303

Embedding new values and behaviours 305

Creating a More Mindful Organisation 307

Remembering that looking beyond the bottom line is good for the bottom line 307

The Return On Investment (ROI) of mindfulness 308

Mindfully improving employee engagement and retention 310

Part V: The Part of Tens 313

Chapter 16: Ten Ways to Be More Mindful at Work 315

Be Consciously Present 315

Use Short Mindful Exercises at Work 316

Be a Single-Tasker 316

Use Mindful Reminders 317

Slow Down To Speed Up 318

Make Stress Your Friend 319

Feel Gratitude 319

Cultivate Humility 320

Accept What You Can’t Change 321

Adopt a Growth Mindset 322

Chapter 17: Ten Ways to Improve Your Brain with Mindfulness 325

Increase the Strength of Your Brain 326

Alter the Structure of Your Brain 326

Improve Your Ability to Learn 327

Gain More Cognitive Control 327

Improve Your Health and Well-Being without Going to the Gym! 328

Live Life with Less Fear 329

Make Yourself Happier 330

Regulate Your Emotions More Effectively 331

Improve Your Life without Even Trying 331

Improve Your Attention Span 332

Chapter 18: Ten Ways to Mindfully Manage Work Pressures 333

Mindfully Coping with Inappropriate Work Demands 333

Mindfully Dealing with a Lack of Control over Your Work 334

Mindfully Managing a Lack of, or Inappropriate, Support 335

Mindfully Managing Difficult Working Relationships 336

Mindfully Gaining Clarity about Your Job Role 337

Mindfully Navigating the Bumpy Road of Frequent Organisational Change 337

Mindfully Dealing with Difficult One-to-One Meetings 338

Mindfully Coping with the Threat of Redundancy 339

Mindfully Coping with Redundancy Survivor Syndrome 339

Using Mindfulness to Reduce Stress 340

Chapter 19: Ten Ways to be Mindful in a Minute 341

Start Your Day with an Energising, Mindful Shower 341

Begin with a Mindful Moment 342

Enjoy a Mindful Coffee 343

Use your Phone to Become More Mindful 344

Eat Lunch Mindfully 344

Be Mindful of Sounds 345

Appreciate the Good 346

Notice the Interplay between Your Thoughts, Emotions and Physiology 347

Become More Body Aware 347

Move Mindfully 347

Chapter 20: About Ten Resources for Further Study 349

Whizzing through Websites 349

Mindfulnet.org 349

Mindful.org 350

ShamashAlidina.com 350

Benefitting from Books 350

MBSR 351

MBCT 351

Other books worth a read 351

Practising with Audios 352

Reading Up on the Research 352

Accessing Apps 353

Locating Training Providers 354

Mindfulness at Work Training 354

The Mindfulness Exchange 354

Mindfulness Works 354

Identifying Universities and Management Schools Utilising Mindfulness 355

Reflecting on Retreats 355

Training to be a Mindfulness Teacher 356

Part VI: The Appendixes 357

Appendix A: Answers to Learning Check Questions 359

Week 1 Learning Check 359

Week 2 Learning Check 360

Appendix B: Summary of Research 361

Index 365