In this day and age, people tend to forget the importance of taking a break and being mindful at work. Unconsciously, we tend to live our lives on autopilot, rushing from one task to another which can create stress and anxiety and affect our performance. In commemoration of World Mental Health Day, GudangAda aims to remind you of the importance of staying mindful at work.

With the rise of hustle culture, we often sleep late, wake up in the morning and think about our work assignments immediately. We start most of our working days preparing for morning catch up meetings at 10.00 AM. The rest of the day is usually filled with so many e back to back meetings that sometimes we even skip our lunch to complete an urgent work-related task.

While daily routines can be useful in ensuring we are on track to complete our tasks, they should not serve as crutches to help us get through the day. Getting lost in a whirlwind of tasks on a long to-do list can be stressful, resulting in us feeling fatigued in the morning, or restless the whole day. The opposite of operating on autopilot is practising mindfulness — which focuses on being aware and attentive at any given moment. Mindfulness is about slowing down and living in the present. So how do we move from a hustle culture to becoming more mindful?

Recently, GudangAda employees were invited to a company event featuring Life & Executive Coach, Jourdan Hussein. During the session, he shared how to manage stress at the workplace through a holistic approach incorporating both our body and mind. He also elaborated on how our mental state can play a crucial role in allowing us to integrate our work and daily life better.

In conjunction with World Mental Health Day which fell on October 10th, we would like to give you some pro tips to stay mindful in order to manage stress at wor. Here are some takeaways from the session!!

Aspiring To Be Mindful

There is a thin line between being mindful and operating on autopilot. In fact, many people tend to neglect the importance of being fully mindful which results in us feeling disengaged and worn out from our daily routine. Adopting mindfulness in every action would help us reduce stress and be fully aware of our body and its presence. In striving to be mindful, we can apply these three phases: to connect, disconnect, and reconnect.

Connecting with our Inner Self

To be connected with ourselves, we first need to get acquainted with our emotions. By truly understanding how we are feeling at any given moment, we are able to express ourselves sufficiently, which would then help others understand us better. Sadly, most of us tend to refuse to deep dive into our emotions and may ignore situations where we feel upset or triggered.

To fully understand the emotions that trigger us, we would first need to get to the root of our emotions. Recognising how we feel could mean starting to scan our body, for instance through meditation and journaling. Many times, these actions could help us in mapping out our emotional triggers carefully.

Disconnect by Taking a Break

After knowing the causes behind our emotions, it is the time to de-stress the body and mind which means it is necessary to disconnect frequently. Disconnecting means to take a break for a while, to avoid the external factors that may trigger our emotional reactivity.

It’s okay to take some time to rest, without feeling the need to constantly bee productive and achieve something.While our society may normalise an always-on culture, it is important to disconnect frequently. Listen to your body wisely, stop, and have a good rest.

Reconnect to Maintain your Energy

Being a fully functional member of society unfortunately means that other people can often become a source of our stress. It is important to recognise that we are all human and every single one of us in the workplace has emotions and stories to tell. Therefore, besides aspiring to be mindful of ourselves, we also need to have empathy for others.

Being empathetic to others’ situations and emotions can indirectly help to prevent stressors and maintain our positive energy. Fostering genuine communication and mindful listening could help us become more aware of others, beyond our needs and perspectives. We are all social creatures so reconnecting with others, while still staying within our lane can improve our mental well-being.

While we all strive to be productive at work, being mindful is an essential state of mind that we should not forget. Knowing your limit is important for you to stay connected with your mind and surroundings at work. Love your mind and body. Be mindful, your work can wait.

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