How can you be mindful and productive in a busy workday?

A useful way to set intention is to think of gently asking yourself to 'come back' to here, instead of stopping yourself from going 'away'!

Create circuit breaker moments in the day. Sit by a window, taking in the moment, the sun, the sights and breathe. Peppering such mindful moments through the work day provides your mind with micro resets that help with the mental load.

One thing besides setting those daily intensions is to try to shift the focus from all the busy work to the work that matters most regarding all those long-term goals we are aiming to achieve. If we’re only working on a reactive mode, participating all those meetings or responding to the e-mails, we might end up of not getting the things done we ought to. Even if we had set those intentions! So it’s great to protect your calendar and time to be able to commit and dedicate your time & energy to the important needle moving activities. That’s a tip to enhance joy, energy and the feeling of really getting things done. People tend to forget that they can manage their calendars better, if they really wanted to.

In my experience, if I start the day focusing on my faith and reflecting on my "true north", I keep the day in perspective and focus on what matters.

Initiate with morning mindfulness, prioritize tasks sequentially, employ deep breathing, transition mindfully, declutter workspace, practice active listening, set firm boundaries, and reflect on achievements. These tactics enhance awareness, diminish stress, and amplify productivity, fostering equilibrium in a demanding work routine.

- One thing I found helpful is taking a quick 1-minute break every hour. Mentally put aside the work you are doing for a minute, connect with your breathing, do a quick body scan to release any tension that you might be holding. This goes a long way in coming back to that tranquil mindful state of mind.

You can also do 2 minute exercises where you focus on one of your senses for 30-50 seconds at a time. For example, you can look at one thing in particular and really focus on seeing shades or textures you had not seen before. You can close your eyes and pay attention to the farthest sound you can hear, then focus on the closest sound you can hear. You can also touch something and really focus on the texture and temperature. These short exercises (which Coach Shirzad at Stanford calls "PQ Reps") help your mind focus on the present.

A fifteen-minute break in the morning and afternoon to walk, stretch, or take a nap is a wonderful way to recharge. Also, take an hour lunch, especially if you are not being paid for that time. And do not eat at your workstation; make a conscious effort to eat outside of your workspace

In my experience getting away from your desk is the best way of taking a mindful break. Get outside if you can, go for a walk and pay attention to the small details you might not normally notice. Colours, shapes, textures, fragrances in the air, different sounds. Try paying attention to each different sense for a minute or two and when you get distracted (as you inevitably will), just notice and come back to your point of focus again.

Any movement away from the desk, getting some sunshine, just changing the environment, always does wonders for my productivity and ability to think creatively.

I encourage my direct reports to triage requests. Just because someone has asked you to complete something, doesn't mean it needs to be done immediately. We have a system on my team; there's the immediate need, the EOB (End of business day), and the red alert. The red alert is usually something that can't wait for an hour or more. We've found that many of the requests that are presented to us as red alerts can wait for an hour or more or the end of the business day.

If we want to be productive at work it is essential to have a sense of presence and focus. Without that we may flit from task to task without the attentiveness these tasks deserve. It is apparent to our team when we aren't present and constantly distracted. That distraction is contagious and before we know it people look elsewhere for direction or help. Mindful awareness leads to increased productivity and much better decision-making as we become more aware of our emotions as well as those around us and reactions. We can respond to challenges with clarity and composure. Mindfulness naturally promotes empathy and compassion, enabling us to understand and support our colleagues better, and fostering a positive work culture.

I manage my emotions by working through them when they happen. This keeps issues in context with the situation and helps in the understanding of the triggers. By dealing with these issues straight away you minimise their internal escalation into a bigger problem.

I agree that to communicate mindfully, we need to pay attention to our speech as well as the others’. As speech is our thoughts coming out of our mouth, it is so similar to being mindful of our thoughts. Noticing our own words and listenning to others with intention, attention and nonjudgemental attitude that we all can improve.

Here is another perspective. Often people consider mindfulness to be something special and think that they need to set aside exclusive time to practice mindfulness. However that may not be true always. Mindfulness is being present in the moment and focusing on the task that you are doing at the moment. It can be practiced as simply as your daily habits. For example making your bed perfectly as the first mindful task of the day that you do by paying attention to each edge and corner of the bed while you make it or paying attention to your meals instead of getting distracted by your phone. Yes, in the modern day world we will sometimes need to multitask, however mindfulness is a everyday conscious choice we make as and when possible.

Being mindful of your energy levels and schedule your day accordingly. For example, I do my best deep work in the mornings. Hence, I rarely schedule meetings in the mornings. In the afternoons I sometimes experience a dip in energy. Hence, I schedule calls I am excited about in the afternoon as they tend to energize me.