“In light of the mind’s tendency to wander, we view mindfulness (in the workplace and elsewhere) as a remarkable feat: situating the mind in present moment time despite psychological pressures to the contrary. In performing this mental feat in a dynamic work environment, individuals attend to a number of stimuli and events and, as a result, perform effectively.” – Erik Dane
We spend approximately 25% of our adult lives at work. How we spend that time is immensely important for our overall well-being, including our psychological and physical health. Indeed the work environment has even become an important part of our social lives, with friendships and leisure time activities often attached to the work environment. But, more than half of employees in the U.S. are unhappy at work and worldwide nearly 2/3 of workers are unhappy.
Workers indicate that interest in their work is the number one thing that makes them happy with work and the people with whom they work is the second. One way to accentuate interest in work is through mindfulness. Indeed, it has been demonstrated that meditation practice is associated with improved job performance, job satisfaction, and work engagement (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/07/17/work-smarter-with-meditation/). In addition, mindfulness has been shown to improve workplace mental health (see http://contemplative-studies.org/wp/index.php/2015/11/04/healing-in-the-workplace-with-mindfulness/). Hence, further exploration of the relationship of mindfulness to work satisfaction is warranted.
In today’s Research News article “Mindfulness at Work: Antecedents and Consequences of Employee Awareness and Absent-mindedness”
Reb and colleagues surveyed 231 workers and their supervisors in Singapore measuring their levels of mindfulness and work satisfaction and performance. They found that the more mindfully aware the employee was the higher the employees well-being, including higher levels of job satisfaction, need satisfaction, task performance, and work above expectations, and the lower the levels of emotional exhaustion and performance deviance.
These are interesting and potentially important findings that mindful awareness is significantly positively associated with greater employee well-being and superior job performance. Mindful workers not only feel better, they also perform better. It should be kept in mind that this study looked at existing levels of mindfulness and existing levels of well-being and performance and consequently does not demonstrate which is cause and which is effect or whether some other factor is responsible for the relationship. A study is needed where the effects of active mindfulness training on well-being and performance are assessed in the workplace.
Since mindfulness is known to be associated with improvements in attention and present moment awareness it would appear obvious that this would produce better job performance. In addition, mindfulness is known to reduce the psychological and physiological responses to stress. This would help in dealing with the difficulties encountered in everyday work. Finally, mindfulness has been shown to improve emotion regulation. This would allow a worker to clearly feel their emotional reactions to situations at work and to be able to appropriately and constructively respond to the emotions.
So, improve well-being and productivity at work with mindfulness.
“Toxic emotions disrupt the workplace, and mindfulness increases your awareness of these destructive patterns, helping you recognize them before they run rampant. It’s a way of reprogramming your mind to think in healthier, less stressful, ways.” – Drew Hansen
CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies