Imagine this... It's time for your weekly meeting. Everyone is excited to be there. They go over their tasks, achievements, and hardships. Before breaking, the team tunes in to a meditation and take 15 minutes to practice mindfulness. They leave the meeting feeling confident, focused and ready to take on their work. Their day is full of successes. The office is calm and happy.
In today's workplace, scenarios like these are rarely the case. Does this sound more like your team's weekly meeting?
Everyone shows up. Some people wander in late. They go over their tasks and failures. Stress builds. They have work to do and need to get out of the meeting. Everyone wraps up. They leave feeling anxious and already drained for the day. They spend most of the day wishing they were somewhere else. Tasks aren't completed. They are scattered. The cycle starts again the next day.
It's no surprise if you recognize some of these things from your own offices. Over 80% of Americans report being stressed in the workplace. And stress at work can spill over into home life, causing an unbreakable cycle. Focus and creativity are difficult with some many things to worry about. Work may inevitably suffer and the culture of your company may take a major hit.
But can just 15 minutes of mindfulness at your all-hands meeting make that big of a difference?
According to the Harvard Business Review, the answer is yes! A quick 10-12 minute meditation showed that meditators were about 22% more creative than their non-meditating peers. Furthermore, meditators reported feeling more positive and relaxed, with less negativity. Meditation decreased participants’ feeling of restlessness (by 23%), nervousness (by 17%), and irritation (by 24%).
Another study showed that workers from different industries can find the benefits in just a 10-day mindfulness workshop. Bankers, teachers, social workers, retail employees and others reported significantly decreased levels of emotional exhaustion.
Bringing short meditation sessions into your team meetings is an affordable and easy way to improve culture and overall work production.
Eager to see how mindfulness can make a difference in your office? Chat with us today and see how we can help. Our team plan is designed to reduce stress, improve focus productivity and working relationships with these key features.