Mindfulness at Work For Dummies

Mindfulness at Work For Dummies

by Juliet Adams, Shamash Alidina
Released June 2014
Publisher(s): For Dummies
ISBN: 9781118727997

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Book description

Master your mind, manage stress and boost your productivity!

Mindfulness at Work For Dummies provides essential guidance for employees at all levels of an organization who are seeking more focus and clarity in their work. It explains how mindfulness can help employers wishing to implement mindful practices into the workplace, and provides leaders and mentors within an organization with the tools they need to become more effective leaders and coaches. The audio download contains guided mindfulness exercises and meditations suited to workplace scenarios, a core feature of mindfulness programmes.

Mindfulness at Work For Dummies includes:

  • An introduction to mindfulness, and how it can help improve working behaviour

  • An explanation of how the brain retains new mindful working patterns... with a bit of practice!

  • Useful tips on incorporating mindfulness into your working day

  • How organisations can benefit from implementing mindful approaches to work

  • Guidance for leaders on how mindfulness can help develop their leadership qualities

    •

    Table of contents

      1. Introduction
        1. About This Book
        2. Foolish Assumptions
        3. Icons Used in This Book
        4. Beyond the Book
        5. Where to Go from Here
      2. Part I: Getting Started with Mindfulness at Work
      3. Chapter 1: Exploring Mindfulness in the Workplace
        1. Becoming More Mindful at Work
          1. Clarifying what mindfulness is
          2. Taking a look at the background
          3. Recognising what mindfulness isn’t
        2. Finding Out Why Your Brain Needs Mindfulness
          1. Evolving from lizard to spaceman
          2. Discovering your brain’s hidden rules
          3. Recognising that you are what you think
          4. Exploring your brain at work
        3. Starting Your Mindful Journey
          1. Being mindful at work yourself
          2. Overcoming common challenges
          3. Creating a mindful workplace
          4. Living the dream: Mindfulness at work
      4. Chapter 2: Exploring the Benefits of Mindfulness in the Workplace
        1. Discovering the Benefits for Employees
          1. Increased mental resilience
          2. Improved relationships
          3. Honed mental clarity and focus
          4. Mindful leadership
        2. Looking at the Organisational Benefits of Mindfulness
          1. Happier, more engaged employees
          2. Greater creativity
          3. Increased productivity
          4. Improved decision making
          5. Reducing staff turnover
      5. Chapter 3: Applying Mindfulness in the Workplace
        1. Gaining Perspective in the Modern-Day Workplace
          1. Engaging with a VUCA world
          2. Applying mindfulness in changing times
          3. Employing mindfulness for new ways of working
          4. Building resilience
        2. Adjusting Your Mental Mindset
          1. Focusing on the present moment
          2. Treating thoughts as mental processes
          3. Approaching rather than avoiding difficulties
        3. Rewiring Your Brain
          1. Getting to grips with the science of mindfulness
          2. Resculpting your brain to make you more productive at work
          3. Using mindfulness to increase your present-moment circuitry
        4. Developing Mindfulness at Work
          1. Examining intentions and attitudes
          2. Remembering that practice makes perfect
          3. Experimenting with mindfulness in the workplace lab
          4. Acting ethically for the organisation and its people
          5. Living life mindfully
      6. Part II: Working with Mindfulness
      7. Chapter 4: Practising Mindfulness Day to Day
        1. Starting the Day Mindfully
          1. Making time for mindfulness
          2. Integrating mindfulness into your morning routine
        2. Travelling Mindfully
          1. Driving with intent
          2. Thinking about trains, planes and mindfulness
          3. Walking mindfully
        3. Taking Mindful Pauses
          1. Pausing at your desk
          2. Enjoying water cooler moments
          3. Waking up and smelling the coffee
        4. Ending Your Day Mindfully
          1. Managing energy and sleep
          2. Following a mindful evening routine
          3. Using mindful exercises
          4. Appreciating the good
      8. Chapter 5: Boosting your Mental Resilience
        1. Recognising the Need for Resilience at Work
          1. The modern day stress epidemic
          2. Understanding fight or flight
        2. Mindful Working to Enhance Resilience
          1. Managing multiple, conflicting demands
          2. Grouping tasks
          3. Dealing with distractions
        3. Mindfully managing your emotions
          1. Trying the ‘Managing emotions mindfully’ exercise
          2. Dealing with difficult people
        4. Mindful Ways to Maintain Peak Performance
          1. Maintaining peak performance
          2. Using mindfulness to enhance productivity
          3. Being in the moment
        5. Being Kind to Yourself
          1. Discovering the Neuroscience of Kindness and compassion
          2. Rewiring your brain
          3. Last, but by no means least . . .
      9. Chapter 6: Discovering Mindfulness At Work Training
        1. Introducing MAWT
          1. Getting ready
          2. Identifying the outcomes you desire
          3. Considering alternatives to self-study
        2. MAWT Part 1: Core Training
          1. Preparing for MAWT
          2. Week 1: Understanding mindfulness at work
          3. Week 2: Working with the body in mind
      10. Chapter 7: Applying Mindfulness At Work Training
        1. Continuing Your Mindfulness at Work Training (MAWT)
          1. Week 3: Mindful communication at work
          2. Week 4: Mindfully working with difficult people and strong emotions
          3. Week 5: Mindful working in times of change
        2. Post-Course Summary
      11. Chapter 8: Practising Mindfulness in the Digital Age
        1. Choosing When to Use Technology
          1. Recognising the pros and cons of technology
          2. Rebalancing your use of technology
        2. Communicating Mindfully
          1. Emailing mindfully
          2. Phoning mindfully
          3. Using a smart phone mindfully
          4. Engaging with social media mindfully
          5. Writing mindfully
        3. Using Technology Mindfully
          1. Focusing on one task
          2. Discovering technology that enhances focus
      12. Part III: Mindfulness for Organisations
      13. Chapter 9: Improving Team Performance with Mindfulness
        1. Identifying and Harnessing Team Dynamics
          1. Understanding team dynamics
          2. Managing team dynamics mindfully
        2. Improving Team Performance
          1. Recognising what’s important
        3. Introducing Mindfulness to Your Team
          1. Keeping your eye on the goal
          2. Staying focused using mindfulness
        4. Enhancing Internal and External Business Relationships
          1. Becoming mindfully ready for anything
          2. Being in the meeting
        5. Boosting Team Morale
          1. Improving morale with mindfulness
          2. Focusing team effort with mindfulness
          3. Improving team relationships with mindfulness
      14. Chapter 10: Using Mindfulness to Assist Different Business Functions
        1. Mindfulness for Human Resources
          1. Managing downsizing and redundancies mindfully
          2. Dealing with discipline and grievances mindfully
          3. Increasing employee engagement
          4. Applying some techniques
        2. Mindfulness for Occupational Health
          1. Improving staff well-being with mindfulness
          2. Tackling stress with mindfulness
          3. Reducing sickness absence with mindfulness
        3. Mindfulness for Learning and Organisational Development
          1. Improving learning with mindfulness
          2. Introducing mindful practices into the workplace
        4. Mindfulness for Service Delivery and Customer Service
          1. Maintaining customer focus
          2. Dealing with customer feedback mindfully
          3. Communicating mindfully with customers
        5. Mindfulness for Marketing and PR
          1. Communicating powerfully
          2. Keeping in tune with consumer and cultural trends
          3. Improving responsiveness
      15. Chapter 11: Integrating Mindfulness with Coaching
        1. Discovering Mindful Coaching
          1. Seeing mindfulness as a coaching toolbox
          2. Applying mindfulness in coaching
        2. Introducing Practical Ways to Integrate Mindfulness into Coaching
          1. Increasing insight and clarity
          2. Overcoming self-doubt
        3. Coaching Team Members in Being Mindful
          1. Integrating mindfulness into your team coaching
          2. Overcoming barriers to mindfulness
        4. Rolling Out Mindfulness through Coaching
          1. Dealing with individuals
          2. Working with teams
          3. Involving the whole organisation
      16. Chapter 12: Commissioning Mindfulness Training in the Workplace
        1. Bringing Mindfulness Training to Work
          1. Starting with the end in mind
          2. Choosing from the menu of possibilities
          3. Building in evaluation
          4. Considering options for introductions and pilots
          5. Taking care of the practicalities
          6. Working in partnership and managing expectations
          7. Identifying follow-up strategies
        2. Making Sense of the Different Approaches to Teaching Workplace Mindfulness
          1. Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
          2. Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)
          3. Mindfulness At Work Training (MAWT)
          4. Search Inside Yourself (SIY)
        3. Hiring an Experienced Mindfulness Practitioner
          1. Checking out credentials
          2. Clarifying organisational experience
          3. Judging compatibility
          4. Agreeing on what’s possible
        4. Hiring a Mindfulness Coach
          1. Identifying the benefits of mindfulness coaching
          2. Choosing the right coach
        5. Mindfulness Pilot Checklist
      17. Part IV: Leading with Mindfulness
      18. Chapter 13: Thriving on the Challenges of Leadership
        1. Thriving Rather Than Surviving
          1. Three ways to lead and thrive
        2. Being a More Mindful Leader
          1. Authentic leadership
          2. Resonant leadership
          3. Mindful leadership
        3. Practising Mindful Leadership
          1. Creating a positive and inspiring workplace culture
        4. Coping with Stress and Pressure by Building Resilience
          1. Maintaining peak performance
          2. Implementing mindful strategies for rejuvenation
      19. Chapter 14: Leading without Boundaries
        1. Creating the Space to Lead
          1. Seeing the bigger picture
          2. Making time to be yourself
          3. Being good to yourself
          4. Managing your time and energy
        2. Enhancing Leadership Creativity
          1. Thinking without boundaries
          2. Tapping into your intuition
        3. Managing Complexity with Simplicity
        4. Recognising that the past is history and tomorrow is a mystery
        5. Working mindfully with your brain
        6. Maintaining clarity and focus
      20. Chapter 15: Leading People, Change and Strategy
        1. Leading Mindfully when Change is the Norm
          1. Meeting modern-day challenges with mindful solutions
          2. Developing new change strategies
          3. Embedding change individually and organisationally
        2. Creating Strategies that Allow the Organisation to Flourish
          1. Identifying organisational culture
          2. Creating a collective vision for the future
          3. Developing strategies mindfully
          4. Embedding new values and behaviours
        3. Creating a More Mindful Organisation
          1. Remembering that looking beyond the bottom line is good for the bottom line
          2. The Return On Investment (ROI) of mindfulness
          3. Mindfully improving employee engagement and retention
      21. Part V: The Part of Tens
      22. Chapter 16: Ten Ways to Be More Mindful at Work
        1. Be Consciously Present
        2. Use Short Mindful Exercises at Work
        3. Be a Single-Tasker
        4. Use Mindful Reminders
        5. Slow Down To Speed Up
        6. Make Stress Your Friend
        7. Feel Gratitude
        8. Cultivate Humility
        9. Accept What You Can’t Change
        10. Adopt a Growth Mindset
      23. Chapter 17: Ten Ways to Improve Your Brain with Mindfulness
        1. Increase the Strength of Your Brain
        2. Alter the Structure of Your Brain
        3. Improve Your Ability to Learn
        4. Gain More Cognitive Control
        5. Improve Your Health and Well-Being without Going to the Gym!
        6. Live Life with Less Fear
        7. Make Yourself Happier
        8. Regulate Your Emotions More Effectively
        9. Improve Your Life without Even Trying
        10. Improve Your Attention Span
      24. Chapter 18: Ten Ways to Mindfully Manage Work Pressures
        1. Mindfully Coping with Inappropriate Work Demands
        2. Mindfully Dealing with a Lack of Control over Your Work
        3. Mindfully Managing a Lack of, or Inappropriate, Support
        4. Mindfully Managing Difficult Working Relationships
        5. Mindfully Gaining Clarity about Your Job Role
        6. Mindfully Navigating the Bumpy Road of Frequent Organisational Change
        7. Mindfully Dealing with Difficult One-to-One Meetings
        8. Mindfully Coping with the Threat of Redundancy
        9. Mindfully Coping with Redundancy Survivor Syndrome
        10. Using Mindfulness to Reduce Stress
      25. Chapter 19: Ten Ways to be Mindful in a Minute
        1. Start Your Day with an Energising, Mindful Shower
        2. Begin with a Mindful Moment
        3. Enjoy a Mindful Coffee
        4. Use your Phone to Become More Mindful
        5. Eat Lunch Mindfully
        6. Be Mindful of Sounds
        7. Appreciate the Good
        8. Notice the Interplay between Your Thoughts, Emotions and Physiology
        9. Become More Body Aware
        10. Move Mindfully
      26. Chapter 20: About Ten Resources for Further Study
        1. Whizzing through Websites
          1. Mindfulnet.org
          2. Mindful.org
          3. ShamashAlidina.com
        2. Benefitting from Books
          1. MBSR
          2. MBCT
          3. Other books worth a read
        3. Practising with Audios
        4. Reading Up on the Research
        5. Accessing Apps
        6. Locating Training Providers
          1. Mindfulness at Work Training
          2. The Mindfulness Exchange
          3. Mindfulness Works
        7. Identifying Universities and Management Schools Utilising Mindfulness
        8. Reflecting on Retreats
        9. Training to be a Mindfulness Teacher
      27. Part VI: The Appendixes
        1. Appendix A: Answers to Learning Check Questions
          1. Week 1 Learning Check
          2. Week 2 Learning Check
        2. Appendix B: Summary of Research
      28. About the Authors
      29. Cheat Sheet
      30. More Dummies Products

    Product information

    • Title: Mindfulness at Work For Dummies
    • Author(s): Juliet Adams, Shamash Alidina
    • Release date: June 2014
    • Publisher(s): For Dummies
    • ISBN: 9781118727997