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June 19, 2019 By shineadmin Leave a Comment

The power of mindfulness in today’s digitally distracted world

corporate-meditation1We’re all distracted. The problem is everywhere. On trains, in restaurants, in homes, in business meetings and at conferences the temptation to check your inbox, tweet your thoughts or research something is too great for most people. It’s normal now for people watching TV in the sanctuary of their homes to be invited to “get involved” with the movie or programme rather than just sit back, relax and be entertained. At work, laptops are the constant companion of most people in meetings and with new emails or slack chats coming through whilst we are physically present our minds are often pulled away from the people we are with. What does this mean? Our attention spans are shorter, many of us feel overwhelmed by the constant stream of information, and our focus and productivity are suffering. And a state of continuous partial attention means interactions with those around us can remain shallow.

This isn’t going to go away. Technology is continuing to develop at a faster and faster rate and it is up to us to take responsibility for our own attention, wellbeing, our own tolerance for information, and make the appropriate changes to ensure we have a balanced and controlled use of tech rather than feeling it is controlling us.

Mindfulness is central to Shine Offline’s ethos of understanding our relationships with our digital technology and using our devices in an intentional way that supports our goals and values. We understand the impact digital distractions are having on people’s lives but also know that this is the world we live in and that it is up to us as individuals to each manage the role it plays, how we deal with it and how much we can handle.

Reasons why mindfulness is invaluable to thrive in today’s always-on world.

It helps you to exercise your attention

The origins of mindfulness are in Buddhism but for many people these days, including the team at Shine Offline, it is practised in a secular form. Many mindfulness teachers would describe the practise as brain training. A workout for the mind. When we practice mindfulness what we are doing is finding an anchor for our attention, usually the breath as a starting point, and bringing our attention back here every time our mind wanders. Practising this exercise regularly builds our “attention muscle” and ability to focus. It is neuroplasticity in practice – the brain changes depending on how you use it and regular meditators are found to have very different brains to people who never practice mindfulness. In a world designed to distract us, with notifications pinging and live chats streaming, exercising this part of our brains is invaluable in managing our own attention.

It increases our awareness of our thoughts and behaviour

Humans live on autopilot much of the time and one behaviour that has become automated for many people is checking. Checking the phone, inbox, slack, news, social media. The mobility of our digital technology has resulted in it being very easy to check our devices, and the work and personal information coming through on them, constantly. The simple practise of mindfulness can help to increase our awareness of our thoughts and behaviours and in turn help us to change them. Through the regular mindfulness practice of coming back to the breath whenever our minds wander we can start to remove the autopilot and live our lives in a way we choose. We believe it is no coincidence that mindfulness has risen at the same time as smartphone use – our devices constantly pull us out of the present moment.

It gives us a break from the phone

In a world where there is always a post to check, an update to read, an email to make sure you haven’t missed, having a really valid reason to have a break from our digital is invaluable. Getting into the habit of putting the phone on flight mode and in the drawer every day for 10 or 15 minutes to practise some mindfulness creates an offline space in our world that so many of us crave.

At the end of every session we run at Shine Offline we ask workshop participants what their biggest take away has been from some time thinking about their relationship with their digital technology. The value of mindfulness in today’s distracted world is one of the most popular responses. And we know, first hand, why. Everyone could benefit from just 10 minutes a day of focus on the breath.

If you fancy giving it a go we would recommend this short guided meditation by one of the UK’s leading Mindfulness teachers Mark Williams.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: digital wellbeing, distraction, employee wellbeing, guided meditation, mindfulness, overwhelm, rest, shine offline, work related stress, workplace wellbeing

February 21, 2019 By shineadmin Leave a Comment

Maximising breaks in your working day

Why proper breaks during the working day have never been more important

The modern day tea break

Oh, its 10.30. Time for a break. Think I’ll go and stick the kettle on and have a coffee and see if there’s any of that birthday cake left in the kitchen. Be good to catch up with Megan too and see how she is after that run in with Simon in the ops meeting. Phone in hand, ready to go…

Sound familiar? We all need breaks in our days. At work they’re vital if we want to perform at our best and not become overwhelmed. We are all taking so much information in during our working day that stepping away from the desk to allow some time to recalibrate is really important. And although many people still do this something has fundamentally changed – the presence of the smartphone.

These days a lot of us habitually carry our phone around with us everywhere we go. It’s an extension of ourselves. And as a result during our break times we are still processing information – be that scrolling through news or social media, whatsapp chats or even our work inbox! The chance for a proper break away to allow the mind to wander, have some rest and some downtime, just isn’t the same.

The importance of stepping away

In today’s always-on, digitally distracted world many psychologists and psychiatrists are reiterating the importance of breaks. Shine Offline’s associate Consultant psychiatrist Dr Ian Drever from Esher Groves clinic says:

“Being on a screen and multitasking makes us feel good. It gives us the illusion of productivity, but it’s all a bit of an empty sugar rush. All that’s happening is that we’re rewarding the novelty-seeking part of our brain by jumping around from one task to the next.

The real results come from sustained, focused, big-picture effort. This kind of work is hugely aided by switching off and having time away from screens, devices and distractions.”

What we do on our break times

If we are habitually checking news and social media during our break times this could be having a fundamentally negative impact on our mood. There are various scientific studies that demonstrate that social media use can have a negative impact on how we feel. And although called “social media” the vast majority of time spent on sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram is extremely passive. Research has shown the amount of active, non-passive social media use that occurs on is staggeringly low. 0.09% on Facebook, 1.6% on Instagram, and 0.048% on Twitter.

And in turn passive use of social media has been found to have a negative impact on our mood.

Research has found that batching notifications so that they are received at schedules throughout the day can have a positive affect on mood but at Shine Offline we would advise people to be sure not to spend all of their break times on their devices.

By all means stay up to date with the news or what your friends are up to on social media but be sure to have some screen free breaks throughout the day. As Dr Ian says, we work at our best when we have these breaks throughout the day.

The value of getting back to nature

Stepping away from the computer, leaving the phone behind and going outside for a change of scene and a chance to clear your head is priceless during a morning, lunchtime or afternoon break. The value of “forest bathing”, the Japanese term for immersing yourself in green space, has gained a lot of interest in the past few years with research showing the benefits to wellbeing of spending time in nature. If your office isn’t in the middle of the woods however just stepping outside and spending some time in a green space can have similar benefits. And of course, leaving the potentially distracting influence of your phone at your workstation and catching up with a colleague can also be incredibly valuable when it comes to developing good relationships at work.

Reconnect with colleagues

Tech writer and consultant Linda Stone coined the term Continuous Partial Attention back in 1998 as the behaviour of continuously dividing one’s attention. And psychologists report that if we have our smartphone in our hand or pocket at all times many of us are suffering from this condition as a result. Chatting to a colleague on a break, phone in pocket, a little part of our brain is always on the device, wondering when it is going to go off or what is waiting in there for us. And as a result we simply can’t give ourselves over 100% to the person we are with, the thing we are doing. Or immerse ourselves fully in some alone time during a break.

As humans we need breaks. Time to refresh and reload. So after you finish reading how about sticking your phone in the drawer and heading to the kitchen for a cuppa and slice of cake? Your head will thank you for it!

References:
Passive use of email
https://www.rivaliq.com/blog/2019-social-media-benchmark-report/
https://cognitiontoday.com/2019/08/effect-of-social-media-on-mental-health-well-being/

Batch but still have a break
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563219302596

Forest bathing
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jun/08/forest-bathing-japanese-practice-in-west-wellbeing

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: break time, breaks, burn out, burnout, digital detox, digital wellbeing, employee wellbeing, overwhelm, rest, shine offline, work related stress, workplace wellbeing

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