Mindfulness at Work: How to Use Journaling to Be More Effective

Mindfulness at work has become a more prevalent concept in the last few years. After all, when the world finally recognised COVID-19 as a pandemic in 2020, lives were changed abruptly. Working from home brought a convergence in work and life that eventually led to a myriad of mental, emotional, and professional consequences.

A Wave of (COVID-19) Burnout

According to a 2020 survey, the biggest challenges of WFH include being unable to log off after work, difficulty collaborating with colleagues, and feeling unmotivated.

To make matters worse, parents had to do double-duty, as schools turned to virtual learning. Not only do they have to take care of the kids and home 24/7 while being an employee, but they also must be part-time tutors and worry about other distractions at work. Then, Zoom fatigue crept in—described as the "emotional and physical drain caused by video conferencing."

This dangerous cocktail exacerbated by stress can lead to poor productivity, motivation, and mental health—in a word, burnout. Mindfulness at work became vital for employees to disconnect after work, improve attention and performance, and manage screen fatigue. Some even got into the habit of journaling.

What is Mindfulness?

A study defines mindfulness as "being aware of and paying attention to what is occurring in the moment"—both inside and around oneself—without judgement.

In a way, being mindful is a requirement in the practise of journaling—after all, you cannot write down your thoughts in detail if you are not conscious about everything. In addition, there are many ways to go about journaling and more mindfulness tips to try.

Journaling became a coping mechanism for many when the world went on lockdown. One type of journaling called Bullet Journal (BuJo) even saw an increase in popularity. While a standard journal typically mimics storytelling, BuJo comes with a to-do list and journal entries. Its creator Ryder Carroll even calls it "a mindfulness practise disguised as a productivity system."

Write It Down: The Benefits of Mindfulness Journaling

Journaling is not easy, especially for someone practically doing a balancing act every day, but these benefits may convince you to start.

Visualise your tasks, goals, and more

Simply listing down your responsibilities and goals makes them seem more manageable because it allows you to develop a detailed process on how to tackle them, which makes journaling a valuable practise of mindfulness at work. It is also a form of visualisation.

A research in 2020 found that people who put things down on paper have a higher chance of reaching their goals than those who don't. It also helps that writing has some psychological benefits, like boosting memory and learning and minimising distractibility.

Creates awareness

Journaling is a way to put your feelings about a difficult situation in writing. And when you are mindful enough to put the events in detail, you understand things better. It leads to new insights and helps you process your emotions. This also helps in problem-solving—only when you have a better understanding of the challenge do you get to come up with solutions.

Positive mental health effects

This is the main reason many picked up the habit of mindfulness journaling amidst the pandemic. During a difficult time, it has been proven to be a healthy outlet that can help reduce the effects of anxiety and depression.

A study showed that people living with medical conditions and anxiety who wrote online for 15 minutes three days a week over 12 weeks increased their feelings of well-being and had fewer depressive symptoms after a month. They continuously improved during those 12 weeks.

Strengthens immunity and improves recovery time

Surprisingly, according to different studies, journaling is good for mental and physical health. In 2018, Cambridge asked participants to write their thoughts or feelings about the most stressful or upsetting event that happened to them. After four months, those who wrote for about 15 minutes daily reported fewer doctor visits and sick days.

In addition, women with breast cancer had fewer physical symptoms and medical appointments when they wrote about their experiences. However, researchers did note that writing about unpleasant experiences could heighten anxiety and depression levels.

Besides these, a journal can also help wounds heal faster— expressive writing has been proven to help speed up wound healing in adults.

Also read: 7 Scientifically Proven Ways to Reduce Work-Related Stress

Other Mindfulness Tips to Try

People are different, and if you're one who doesn't like to write but still wants to practise mindfulness through other techniques to help with WFH burnout, here are six more ways.

Mindfulness meditation

This kind of meditation simply anchors your attention to the present without analysing the events happening.

How to do it:

Sit in silence and bring your attention to what is happening in the present moment. All emotions, thoughts, sensations, or noises are noted and not considered a distraction. There is also no need to analyse or judge them. It will help if you recognise that being distracted during meditation is normal; you only need to bring your attention back to the present.

Mindful check-in

The purpose of this technique is a lot like mindfulness meditation.

How to do it:

Ask and answer the following:

• What is happening inside me now?
• What am I feeling in my body?
• What is happening around right now?

3-minute breathing space

Breathing space is a mindfulness practise that allows you to become aware of and accept your experiences as they are, including thoughts, feelings, and sensations.

How to do it:

• Ask yourself about how you're really feeling, what thoughts are going through your mind, and what body sensations you are experiencing.
• Direct attention to your breathing and use it to bring yourself in the moment.
• From your breath, expand your awareness to your body, including posture, facial expressions, and other sensations that you may feel.

Breathing

This is a simpler version of the 3-minute breathing space.

How to do it:

Focus on your breathing, including the rising and falling of your stomach or the feelings in your nostrils, such as the warmth or coldness of the air.

Body scan

Body scans intend to anchor your attention to the present and make you aware of your bodily sensations.

How to do it:

Sit comfortably, take slow, long breaths, close your eyes, and imagine a band of light circling the top of your head—this is what you will use to "scan" your body. Therefore, continue visualising that band of light moving down your body slowly to help you discover the sensations you're feeling—pain, itches, tingling, and many others.

Grounding exercise

Do this technique to identify objects and events around that bring your attention to the present.

How to do it:

Analyse your environment and find a total of 15 things:

• five you can see
• four you can feel
• three you can hear
• two you can smell
• one you can taste

Repeat this as many times as needed.

Mindfulness at Work: Finding Peace Through Journaling

Being present instead of worrying about the past or future can make you feel calm and peaceful.

Journaling and other mindfulness tips and techniques help you focus in the current time. Writing down your thoughts, feelings, experiences, and tasks frees up mental space so you have more room to concentrate. When you don't have the nagging feeling that you forgot something, you get to live an "intentional" life—with meaning and purpose, and still be productive.

WFH is here to stay, and a lot can still happen. Other stressors are out there, but you can be prepared for whatever lies ahead when you continue being mindful.

Visit our Career Resources page for more tips on how you can develop your career through holistic wellness. Read more expert insights and advice to help you on your journey.