Day two of a virtual conference today (mornings only), the majority of which was all rather technical, and most definitely not worthy of blogging about.
However, the last session of the conference was given over to thinking more about how we all get along in a busy and stressful work environment, and just for half an hour we had an introduction to mindfulness which was actually rather well done.
Two takeaways:
Gratitude - it is all too easy to dwell on the negatives - the things that haven't gone well, the things that haven't been achieved, the 'constructive' feedback we've received. It is extremely important to focus on what we are grateful for in life, and what is going well. Building up a habit of gratitude can help. We were encouraged to dwell on what some things we were grateful for at that moment, and maybe even write them down. I thought about:
- being sat in the sunshine in my office and feeling the warmth through the window
- that it had been cold when I'd got in first thing, but that my wife had reminded my to take a fan heater to keep me warm
- watching a Disney movie with my family the previous evening
- that my shoulder wasn't hurting, and that I'd taken some positive action and felt hopeful that it was improving.
- look around the room at five things you might not normally notice, then close your eyes
- take a moment to notice four things you can feel (your feet on the floor, your hands on the desk ...)
- listen for three sounds
- can you smell two things (your clothes, skin, anything in the room)
- what can you taste (a snack you had, the coffee you just finished).