Consider being under pressure to meet an important deadline and having an employee walk into your office to tell you about a donkey rescue centre she recently visited. Instead of paying attention to her story, you find yourself thinking “I have to respond to that email,” or even planning what you’ll have for lunch that day.
To master the art of mindfulness, you need to begin by learning to be curious, as well as being inquisitive and interested in the experience without trying to change it. Mindfulness requires you to shift your focus from the ‘future ideal’ to the present (ie someone who listens attentively to the story), accepting and embracing and learning in great detail about all aspects of yourself, without rejecting the uncomfortable and shameful bits (ie the fact that you care more about incoming emails than the plight of donkeys).
It allows you to connect more with the people around you and have them walk away from any conversation with you having felt listened to and understood.
As it goes when learning any new skill, staying in the present takes practise. When you first try it, it may feel foreign and you may be sceptical of its power.
To start with a straightforward example: next time you drive to work in traffic, practice being mindful.
Don’t allow your thoughts to stray to the past to the chaos you might have left behind before running out the door (“did I turn the coffee machine off?”) nor wander to the future to (“what meetings do I have today?” or “I have to remember to reply to that email”). Rather, being mindful requires you to stay in the present, simply taking in your present experience of the commute.
It also requires you to pay attention in a non-judgemental way to what’s going on around you (guy in the car next to you singing way too loud and with the window open: try not to judge or close your window). Simply observe, listen and enjoy it, even if it’s bad.
At first, you may only manage 10 seconds without letting your mind wander, but after a while this might extend to several minutes. Eventually you will find yourself calling on this skill to achieve higher levels of insight, make better decisions, improve your ability to recall important facts from conversations, generate more abstract ideas and reduce stress levels.
As we approach 2013, commit to being more mindful. You will find this will train your brain to pay more attention while at work. When stuck in rush-hour traffic, challenge your mind to be present without judgment. When having a conversation with a colleague, be wholly present and surprise yourself to learn that you actually enjoy donkey stories. Stop multi-tasking and take the time to simply be present and observe the benefits on your performance.
Adrianna Loveday is a registered psychologist with Randstad’s HR Consulting division. This article first appeared on Women’s Agenda.
