What is the main message of Mindful Work?

The main message of Mindful Work is the power of practicing mindfulness in the workplace.

How long does it take to read Mindful Work?

The reading time for Mindful Work varies. However, the Blinkist summary can be read in just 15 minutes.

Who is the author of Mindful Work?

The author of Mindful Work is David Gelles.

Mindfulness & Happiness

Mindful Work Book Summary - Mindful Work Book explained in key points

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Mindful Work summary

Name: Mindful Work
Rating: 4.2 (97 reviews)
Author: David Gelles

David Gelles

How Meditation is Changing Business from the Inside Out

4.2 (97 ratings)

17 mins

Brief summary

Mindful Work by David Gelles is a guide for bringing mindfulness into the workplace. It's a call to action for creating a more compassionate and productive work environment by focusing on the present moment. The book provides useful tips for incorporating mindfulness into daily work life.

Topics

Work Culture

Table of Contents

Mindful Work
Summary of 8 key ideas

Audio & text in the Blinkist app

Key idea 1 of 8

What’s in it for me? Calm yourself down; Get mindful.

We’re all in this stressful and crazy world together. A world that’s moving so fast that you can’t keep up with everything and everyone. How many times a day do you think, “I need to calm down,” and before you know it, you’re googling for cheap tickets to the Bahamas?

But wait! There’s a cheaper way to go about it. You don’t have to run away or jump on a plane every time you feel completely burned out. In fact, you don’t even have to leave your workplace to refresh your focus and sustain your otherwise great ability to solve problems. Here’s the key: Mindfulness.

Many companies have already opened up to the idea of mindfulness, and how it might benefit their work culture and thus business in general. And this is exactly what these blinks will teach you. They feature great insights into mindfulness, the way it works and who (aside from yourself and your business) is benefitting from it.

In these blinks, you’ll discover

that the benefits of mindfulness are supported by scientific proof;
how the big US food company General Mills relates to mindfulness; and
why multitasking is a very bad idea.

Mindfulness is already practiced in well-known companies.

For many people, work hours have become blurred and things like checking business emails outside of office hours have become commonplace. With this change, stress has become a considerable risk, not only to employees, but to companies at large. Shockingly, according to the World Health Organization, stress costs American businesses as much as $300 billion a year.

To deal with this challenge, more and more companies are catching on to mindfulness. You can think of mindfulness as the easiest form of meditation. Basically, it means paying attention to the present moment and noticing your thoughts without judgment.

So how does mindfulness relate to work? Simply put, it makes dealing with issues at work easier.

Mindfulness has many benefits, which we will delve into in the blinks that follow. But what all of these benefits have in common is that they make us more self-aware, train our focus and increase clarity. All of which are valuable qualities to have in the workplace.

Mindfulness allows you to step back from the problem and observe it so you can deal with it more objectively and reach solutions more easily. For example, working with a colleague who slacks off can make you livid, but being mindful can help you realize the reasons for their behavior. Perhaps they are tired because they have a newborn baby, and talking to them about it can solve the problem.

As a new generation of companies start to understand the benefits of mindfulness, a mindful work culture is already gaining momentum.

Even multinational companies have cottoned on. General Mills, for example, was a pioneer in providing mindfulness training during work time. The training was initiated by Janice Marturano, who began practicing mindfulness after dealing with personal and professional stress. Soon, hundreds of General Mills employees were participating, and now all of the firm’s buildings have meditation rooms.

Mindfulness affects our behavior and our brains.

Up until the 1990s, it was difficult for fans of mindfulness to get others on board with the idea. The effects they were experiencing with the technique weren’t quantifiable and there was no scientific study to support the practice.

However, since the invention of functional magnetic resonance imaging or fMRI – a technology that can measure brain activity through blood flow – the benefits of mindfulness can now be scientifically proven.

The most popular form of meditation training today is Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction.

As more studies and more high-profile people like Steve Jobs began endorsing mindfulness, people started paying attention. But it wasn’t until one man in particular started tailoring mindfulness practices to Western culture that it really gained popularity.

During the late 1970s, Jon Kabat-Zinn developed a method called Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). MBSR is independent of any religious belief and is based on training the attention, with the goal of becoming fully present and focusing on the physical sensations in the body.

Practicing mindfulness enhances your focus.

As we’ve seen, mindfulness is about observing your thoughts and emotions and deciding what to concentrate on.

Focusing on one thing at a time is far more efficient than multitasking, and mindfulness is great at helping you do just that. At work in particular, we’re bombarded with stimuli such as multiple computer screens, which cause perpetual distractions. So how do we react? By multitasking.

Being mindful cultivates compassion.

Have you ever noticed that people who practice mindfulness not only seem to be calmer, but also kinder and more open?

This is because mindfulness nurtures a sense of self-compassion and connectedness to others. As you learn to observe your emotions in a non-judgmental way, you’ll start to see that feelings like frustration are natural and that we all have a bad day now and then.

Mindful companies develop social responsibility.

Because it involves you and everyone around you, mindfulness can be applied directly to your work, fostering compassion for others and the world beyond.

Businesses with a mindful culture are likely to act responsibly when it comes to the environment, too.

Mindful leadership involves all the qualities of a great leader.

What makes a good leader? Strength? Empathy? Strategic focus? Sadly, most leaders don’t embody these qualities, seldom listen to their employees and fail to communicate their targets.

This is not the case for mindful leaders, however. Mindful leaders respond to challenges more easily, because they’re more focused on their goals. They’re aware of their own emotions and aims, acknowledge what is happening around them, and listen attentively. Because of this, they are far better positioned to make decisions based on honesty and compassion.

There is more to mindfulness than following a trend and making money from it.

As with any trend, there will always be people who jump on the bandwagon, eager to make a profit, and there will always be skeptics.

Of course, some skepticism on the use and effects of mindfulness is warranted. Indeed, some critics have grounds to think that the spiritual or compassionate motives behind mindfulness practices are being capitalized on and exploited.

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What is Mindful Work about?

Mindful Work (2015) provides an introduction to why and how mindfulness is practiced in the West today, on an individual, as well as professional level. Using examples from well-known companies, it explains the benefits that mindfulness can offer you, the people around you and the environment.

Mindful Work Review

Mindful Work (2015) by David Gelles is a fascinating exploration of the benefits of mindfulness in the workplace. Here's why this book is worth reading:

Through compelling stories and research, it reveals how mindfulness can enhance focus, productivity, and overall well-being in professional settings.
Gelles skillfully presents a balanced perspective by offering insights from corporate leaders, entrepreneurs, and mindfulness teachers, making the book relatable to a variety of readers.
With its practical tips and exercises, the book empowers readers to incorporate mindfulness into their daily work routines, leading to greater satisfaction and success.

Best quote from Mindful Work

Mindfulness, put simply, is the ability to see whats going on in our heads, without getting carried away with it.

—David Gelles

Who should read Mindful Work?

Anyone working in a stressful environment
Executives who want to be better leaders and establish a more compassionate company culture
Anyone seeking more focus, emotional strength and kindness for themselves and others

About the Author

David Gelles has been practicing mindfulness for over 15 years since learning about the technique in India. He has also written on mindfulness for the New York Times, Financial Times and Forbes.

Categories with Mindful Work

Mindfulness & Happiness Corporate Culture

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