8 Tips To Practice Meditation While Working
So many of us spend most of our lives at work and working. Just because you are stressed out while working doesn’t mean you have to be constantly miserable. Work life balance is super important, and anything I can do to keep that healthy balance (even when I’m working from home), I’m all for! Meditation is an incredibly useful tool to ground yourself and bring yourself into the present when work gets stressful, so we’ve gathered some ideas to help you practice meditation while working. And even though sometimes to present can suck, you’re still alive and breathing, even if you don’t like your job, so try and use these tips to practice mediation while working to help you remember to be grateful for what you do have in the present moment.
1) Don’t care about what others are thinking
Stop worrying what your office mates may think. If you must, let them know you’re taking a moment to yourself. Even if it feels silly, you hopefully won’t be bothered by them once you’ve clarified you need some peace for a moment. Hopefully, they’ll be cool and get used to you taking a quick break from conversing or answering questions.
2) Put on headphones
Even if they are silent, wearing headphones is another good way to signal to others that you’re engaged in something else and not up for chit-chat.
3) Do it in the bathroom!
Some may scoff of this idea, but some people have no other places to get a moment to themselves when they work in an office environment. My old office had a basement level that only had conference rooms, so when I need to take a moment, I’d go there to catch a breath since it was much less crowded.
4) Be quick
Meditating doesn’t always have to be a full-on event with loud chanting and sitting cross-legged on the floor. Simply closing your eyes, taking a deep breath, and listening to the sounds around you for 30 seconds or so can be a good check-in with yourself to center your mind and calm yourself.
5) Count
Inside your head at a desk job or out loud if you work from home (or a variation of either, whatever pleases you!) count each breath you take, in and out, up to 60.
6) Smile
Smile at your computer, your keyboard, or your work and hold it for 10 seconds. Even if it seems a little crazy, it should help to bring you out of any funk you may be in when you need to take a moment to be present. Meditation reduces stress, increases our ability to retain information, and can even increase levels of happiness, so smile knowing you took a moment to do something much bigger for yourself than your daily work grind.
7) Go outside
I’ve spent many days inside my house or an office where I didn’t see any sunlight for 14+ hours. BAD IDEA. Even if you live in a cooler climate, remind yourself to head outside and if you can, take a seat somewhere at give yourself a moment to take in your surroundings.
8) Schedule it
Work can be insanely hectic – so try and throw a recurring reminder on your Outlook to popup and gently suggest you take a moment to ground yourself.
Give it a go this week – practice meditation while you’re working and try at least one of these tricks to see if you can get more focused and less stressed while at your desk.
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Great tips, I love the smiling at the computer one!
Thanks Julia, it’s kinda silly, but I do it ALL the time.