Mindfulness at Work: Managing Stress When Everything Is Hitting the Fan

Given how we’re programmed to view work, mindfulness and work seem like opposites.  Mindfulness conjures up feelings of peace and serenity while the thought of work brings on a wave of stress.

Deadlines, meetings, quotas, difficult bosses or co-workers and the weight of all the work that needs to get done.  Work doesn’t create much of an opportunity for calm.

While it’s impossible to eliminate stress, it is possible to manage how situations affect you.  You may not be able to control what’s going on around you, but you always have the ability to control the story you tell yourself about it.  And that dictates how you feel about it.

From personal experience (I continue my 25+ year career as a corporate executive), I can tell you that it’s possible to weave mindfulness throughout your day so that those stressful times don’t take quite the toll on you that they did.

The Mindful Approach to Stress

We all handle stress differently.  Some people appear to be completely calm when their insides are doing flips.  Others are calm inside and out.  Some become clearly rattled on a daily basis while others can handle things up to a point and then “lose it.”

The stress that you feel is based on how you interpret what’s going on around you.  Everyone sees the world a little differently based on their beliefs, past experiences and social programming.  What may be “no big deal” for one person could totally rock another person’s world.

Mindfulness can help you turn earth-shattering situations into something closer to “no big deal.”

When my to-do list gets longer than I know I can manage in a day, week or month, my stress level starts to rise.  My monkey mind starts screeching, “Oh my god! How are you ever going to get all this done?!?!?”  As soon as I start to feel this, I take a deep breath, noticing what’s happening. Then I take a few more deep breaths and bring myself back from that scary (yet unlikely) future.  I come back to the present moment where everything is just fine.

I remind myself that the world won’t blow up if everything isn’t done right away.  I’m only human.  All I can do is my best each day.  My best will be different each day.  My best is not perfection, and I’ll never expect that extreme of myself (or drive myself crazy trying to achieve it).

Then I look at my list and choose the one most important thing that I can do right now, and I start doing that without worrying about the rest.

Multi-tasking is a myth.  Your brain can’t focus on many things at once without burning itself up.  If you want to stay calm and focused, you can only focus on one thing at a time.  Do that thing until it’s done enough (not perfectly), take a break, then move onto the next thing on your list.

Make sure you breathe along the way.  When you notice that your shoulders, neck or chest are tight, your breath is short or you’ve been holding it, it’s time to take a break to close your eyes, sit still and take ten deep breaths.  This helps to bring you down from the higher levels of stress and tension that you probably didn’t realize you were experiencing.

The Power of the Pomodoro

This is the reason I like to use a Pomodoro timer when I’m working.  The Pomodoro technique helps you to stay focused and productive without burning yourself out.  You work on one thing, undistracted, for 25 minutes.  Then you take a 5 minute break.  This half hour is one Pomodoro.  After about four Pomodoro’s, you take a longer, 15 minute break.

I like to take a walk or get on my stepper and look out the window during my breaks.  The idea is to do something simple (preferably physical) that gets you away from what you’re working on and doesn’t require much thought.  Your break should be exactly that – a break.

Until I discovered the Pomodoro technique, I would sit for hours either working on one project or going from one thing to the next on my to-do list without a break.  After a few hours, my body would hurt and I would have no energy to continue.

The Pomodoro technique keeps me focused because I know that I only have 25 minutes to get something done.  The breaks get me up and moving (sitting is the new smoking, you know) and help me to relax in the midst of all that’s going on.

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Slow Is the New Fast

On that note, it’s okay to relax in the middle of what could be something stressful.  I’ve tested this and felt pretty silly afterward when I started working myself up over the same type of issue later.

For example, in the mornings when I have to go to the office, I’m usually running a little late (“hang out time” with my family every morning is a priority and can get extended).  I begin to feel rushed and stressed.

One morning as I started feeling this way, I paused and noticed what was happening.  My inner voice reminded me that this happens frequently, and the world doesn’t end when I arrive at the office a few minutes late.

It also reminded me that rushing, feeling stressed and anxious do nothing toward getting me to the office any sooner.  In fact, these emotions drain me and put me in a bad mood by the time I get to the office.

So I experimented by choosing to feel calm while I got dressed, kissed my family goodbye in a relaxed manner (which made them feel more cherished instead of brushed off for something “more important”) and enjoyed the scenery and my audiobook on my commute.

I arrived feeling much more relaxed and ready for the day.  And I arrived at the same time that I would have if I had rushed.

Feeling Rushed Is a Choice

In most, but not all, cases, feeling stressed out, anxious, rushed and all the related feelings is a choice.  Our unfortunate cultural programming tells us that we’re supposed to feel this way.  As if we’re not getting enough things done if we don’t feel the pressure.

I currently work in the behavioral health industry and can tell you that depression and anxiety are the two most prevalent mental health issues in the world today.  And they’re both completely in your power to control, if you choose.

The next time you’re feeling stressed out, pause to notice the sensations in your body and the thoughts passing through your head.  Realize that most of them are not helpful to your situation.  Take a deep breath or three to calm yourself.

Then choose the one thing you can do that will help you the most, and do that calmly.  Smile, regardless of how you feel.  Sit or stand tall.

Rushing and stressing won’t help you.  Moving in a relaxed way will.  In some cases you may even be able to complete things more quickly by slowing down.  And you’ll make fewer mistakes.

I can hear your monkey mind now, screeching that this is a crazy, stupid idea.  He’s doing that because he’s the one screeching at you to hurry up and stress out.  How has that worked for you?  He’s just trying to keep his job, and going against his screeches is threatening to him.

You are not the monkey.  You have the ability to make your own choices.  Choose what’s best for your True Self, not what the monkey or anyone else thinks you should do.

Simple Steps

The next time your stress is rising and your monkey is screeching, follow these steps to bring more calm to your day, accomplish just as much (if not more) and feel more relaxed at the end of the day:

1. Notice when you’re feeling stressed, tense, anxious or worked up.
2. Pause and take three deep breaths.
3. Remind yourself that you’re only human and your best is the best you can do.
4. Examine the future that your monkey mind is scaring you with. Realize that it’s incredibly unlikely to happen.
5. Bring yourself back to the present moment where everything is just fine.
6. Take a few more deep breaths.
7. Focus on the one action you can take that will make the most impact on your situation.
8. Take action on that one thing and nothing else. Immerse yourself in it.
9. Take a break. Do something physical that’s different than what you were working on.
10. Do the next most important thing.
11. Smile

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