The Mindfulness Imperative: Why It’s Needed in Business

Whether or not you believe the practice of mindfulness can have significance in your day-to-day life, consider this: The field of public relations is arguably one of the most stressful jobs in existence. In fact, CareerCast listed the PR Executive as the sixth most stressful job in America last year just before corporate executive and newspaper reporter. And since PR pros work hand in hand with both journalists and executives, this combination can make for some pretty stressful situations and sleepless nights.

As a PR professional, each day you divide your time across different priorities and expectations, from managing budgets to addressing client needs and working with reporters on tight deadlines. This constant switching of your attention from one task to another over time activates your prefrontal cortex and causes your nervous system to constantly be on alert, forcing your mind to wander and ruminate about potential outcomes for a client and its impact in the press and for the agency.

But this is what PR work is all about. Sound judgment and critical thinking are important qualities in successful PR professionals and so is thoughtfully analyzing how news events will impact your client. You view your ability to multitask as a strength and what makes you so good at your job, and it is. But what if I told you that multitasking is in itself a myth – that people simply cannot focus on more than one task at a time?

And when you get home after work, is your mind still running on a treadmill? Does it take you minutes, or even hours, to decompress from your day of meetings? Do you have a hard time unplugging from your smartphone and mobile device as you sit down to eat dinner?

If so, then mindfulness may be something to explore.

Recently, the practice of mindfulness has moved from the fuzzy fringes and into the spotlight as a way to drive real and measurable impacts on employee happiness, businesses productivity, and the bottom line. Global companies like SAP, Google, Ford, Intel and Target have launched formal mindfulness training programs to help employees, managers, and the C-suite find a new way to get work done in today’s hectic and digitally infused workplace that demands our constant attention.

But what is mindfulness and how can it help you do your job better? Simply put, the practice of mindfulness is the ability to focus one’s attention at a particular task at hand, to act and think deliberately and without judgment. It’s this last part that is so difficult for PR folks – reserving judgment – especially since our profession requires us to analyze and assess everything that is presented to us throughout the day.

Different from meditation that focuses on uncluttering the mind, mindfulness is about consciously drawing one’s attention to the present moment and noting without frustration or analysis, any mental meanderings that may occur. Mindful breathing is a critical component of this, as discussed in the book Perfect Breathing written by Al Lee and Don Campbell. Medical practitioners like Dr. Brad Lichtenstein of The Breath Space provide programs for intentional breathing through biofeedback exercises with computers to guide people in learning mindfulness.  

According to The Harvard Business Review, “As a leadership strategy, mindfulness helps people to be more effective by directing focus to the most pertinent task at hand. Deprogramming multitasking tendencies and intentionally focusing with full attention results in higher quality interactions and decisions. Mindful decision makers take the time to consider all of their options, and therefore make more-informed decisions. Managers who model and promote mindful practices with their teams create an environment of engagement.”

David Gelles, a reporter for The New York Times, first reported on the rise of corporate mindfulness programs in 2012 for The Financial Times, when he described a novel but promising initiative at General Mills. Since that time, similar training programs have been introduced at Ford, Google, Target, Adobe —and even Goldman Sachs and Davos.

Adoption within multinational corporations has since exploded, perhaps due to its potential to drive bottom line improvements by reducing costs related to employee healthcare. Aetna estimates that since instituting its mindfulness program, it has saved about $2,000 per employee in healthcare costs, and gained about $3,000 per employee in productivity. This is in and of itself difficult to ignore. The belief is that mindful employees are healthier, more focused, and thereby more effective and productive at work.

Here are companies that have implemented mindfulness programs:

• Google – Known for providing its employees with impressive perks, from free meals to massages and even swimming pools, in 2007 Google launched its mindfulness course “Search Inside Yourself.” The company believes this program teaches employees resilience and emotional intelligence to help them understand their own motivations, as well as those of their colleagues.
• Aetna – With the goals of reducing employee stress and improving how stressful situations were managed at work, Aetna conceived, developed, and launched two different but complimentary mindfulness programs in 2010 – Viniyoga Stress Reduction and Mindfulness at Work — in collaboration with Duke University, eMindful, and the American Viniyoga Institute. The programs were so successful that now they offer them to their customers.
• Intel – Launched its Awake@Intel mindfulness program in 2012 and as a result, employees reported an average two-point decrease in stress (on a 10 point scale) and a three-point increase in happiness and well-being. Additionally, they reported a two-point increase in mental clarity, creativity and quality of relationships at work.
• General Mills – One of the first companies to develop/initiate/implement a mindfulness program back in 2006, General Mills offers courses designed to improve employee focus and creativity. The company also offers weekly meditation and yoga classes, as well as a dedicated room for meditation within every building on campus.

So take a long breath and resist the temptation to reach for your smartphone to check your email every three minutes. Think about how you want to live and for that matter, how you want to live at work. Instead of switching from one task to another, plan your day and schedule blocks of time on your calendar to dedicate time to specific activities that require contemplative thought.

Talk to your colleagues, your employees, your leadership team and consider what your company can do to help promote the concept of mindfulness. In the meantime, check out this enlightening TEDx video on mindfulness technologies and time management.

Your teams and prefrontal cortex will thank you.

This article previously appeared in the Communique blog.