How Mindfulness Can Impact Women in the Workplace
We all know that the corporate world is both a hectic and stressful place. If you want to avoid those stresses impacting your life, then you need to exercise self-care. Failing to make time for self-care means failing to make time for your overall sense of wellbeing.
Corporate women tend focus more of their time on meeting the needs of their job, families, and other commitments, which can lead to neglecting their own needs. There are startling statistics regarding the poor health and wellbeing in working professionals. According to the Australian Psychological Society (APS) Stress and Wellbeing in Australia survey taken in 2014, Australians reported significantly lower levels of overall workplace wellbeing compared with findings in 2012 and 2011. Our wellbeing and home life is being negatively affected by our jobs and this needs to change.
It is unrealistic to think that we can remove stress and anxiety from the workplace completely, and a busy woman cannot be pulled out of her job for a huge portion of time, which can create anxiety in itself. However, there is a technique that is starting to be used more widely in Western clinical intervention and by many women to reduce the everyday stresses we face at work; it is called mindfulness.
Mindfulness is the mental state achieved by focusing your awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting your feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations. This creates a therapeutic reaction and can reduce ongoing stress women face at work.
The APS Stress and Wellbeing in Australia survey tells us that there are now lower levels of job satisfaction than findings reported in 2012 and 2011, and significantly lower levels of work-life balance than in 2011. The levels of stress that women face these days are much higher and are increasing the demands placed on our lives.
Because of this, companies are starting to pay attention and many of them offer work life balance options for their staff and a quiet place to recharge and calm the mind. There are also a lot of ‘Corporate Mindfulness’ programs available to assist companies in training their staff to have a mindful outlook on their lives and work.
But how can you work on achieving mindfulness in the workplace if your company has no such program? The key is finding ways to take a few minutes from each day. By tweaking that time here and there you allow yourself to sit and enjoy the sounds, smells, and sights around you or focusing on breathing exercises. You can go for a walk at lunchtime and sit for as little as five minutes to refocus and refresh your mind. If you are extremely time poor at work, you can close your eyes for two to three minutes while sitting at your desk and focus on your breathing. The most important thing to remember is that mindfulness doesn’t mean you need to clear your head completely or be in a dark room away from everything; it’s bout being aware in the present moment and focusing on what is happening in your mind and body at that time — no matter where it is or how long you set aside for it.
Like most women, you are probably significantly overwhelmed and highly stressed by the amount of work and how little time you have to complete it all. You may even spend your commute to work thinking about how much you have to do and worry at night about it leaving you tired and lethargic the following morning.
Stress can affect our lives and our health. Women can literally worry themselves sick, which can lead to taking time off work, which then causes a flow on effect of even more anxiety about your increasing workload and demands.
Take control of your own health by doing some research on how you can help yourself. With the application of mindfulness techniques in the workplace you will be able to catch yourself thinking negatively about work. Use your commute into work as the perfect time to listen to a guided meditation. By doing this you can redirect your thoughts into something positive and focus on what you can do at work and more importantly, what you can control. It won’t take long before you start seeing the benefits. You will start feeling better physically and mentally and will be able to go about your workday with a lot less anxiety, and eventually be able to leave work problems behind when you leave at the end of the day.
After my own experience in how much mindfulness had assisted my anxiety and stress. I decided to open up the topic for discussion amongst other women in corporate jobs. I was surprised to find that many of the women in my workplace were not aware of what mindfulness meant. Most assumed it meant shutting of your mind and thoughts and having a completely blank mind. When I asked a colleague if they had tried mindfulness techniques to help manage their stress her reply was: ‘I can’t switch off and clear my head completely.’
Once the meaning of mindfulness and the benefits it creates are understood, you will be more inclined to practice it to assist with your own stresses and anxiety at work. All of the women I spoke with were open to the idea of taking a few minutes each day to sit alone and practice mindfulness and even suggested organising their own mindfulness groups at work.
Mindfulness is also being used a technique in psychological treatment. Honour student Renee Gergis who is studying a Bachelor of Psychology at RMIT states ‘Rather than attempting to control or extinguish issues of stress or symptoms of mental illness, the focus is on accepting that it is natural for these thoughts to occur. By allowing us to acknowledge these thoughts, feelings and sensations as passing, it allows the person to get on with their life.’
Renee also advocates using mindfulness in the workplace and states ‘workplaces need to be vigilant in ensuring that all employees are healthy and relatively stress free. Providing recourses and psycho-eduction (e.g. R U OK Day, mental health week) allowing workers to have flexible working arrangements, or providing access to a quiet space during the work day can be helpful.’
In the corporate world, we are constantly exposed to an environment that is focused on deadlines and efficiency and at times highly stressful situations. Continued stress has a negative impact on our lives and the lives of those around us, both physically and mentally. Taking a few minutes out of the workday (not just during lunchtime) to practice mindfulness can significantly reduce the stress and anxiety we face in the workplace.
It is critical that women engage in self-care and practicing mindfulness is a simple and effective way to accomplish this.
Regular practice of mindfulness can:
- assist with stress management
- reduce anxiety
- increase focus during tasks at work and home
- promote new ideas and thought processes
- improve relationships
- increase in self-regulation and wellbeing
- increase in emotional intelligence
- assist in our ability to manage conflict
- assist us to communicate more effectively
- allow us to consider alternative perspectives
- allow us to stay in control of our emotions
- increase in the brain’s ability to repair itself and grow new neural connections.
Techniques and tips for practicing mindfulness:- The Smiling Mind is a free phone application that offers daily mindfulness and mediation practices; Headspace also has a meditation application.
- There is a range of free-guided meditation applications for your phone.
- Take five minutes at the end of your lunch break to sit and practice mindfulness.
- Use your commute times to and from work as a place to practise mindfulness — a few minutes of train travel could be devoted to it.
- Start up a meditation/mindfulness space at work where you can have a group practice together.
- Sit at your desk for a few minutes with your eyes closed and focus on your breathing.
- The important thing is to remember to try and practice both in and out of the workplace and find and system that works well for you.
References:
https://www.psychology.org.au/Assets/Files/2014-APS-NPW-Survey-WEB-reduced.pdf
law.unimelb.edu.au/lasc/support-for-wellbeing/mindfulness-resources/apps-on-mindfulness
© Sarah K. Gill 2016