Cashay logo

Empowering your money

6 reasons why mindfulness is important for your career

Elizabeth Hines is a writer and editor at Academized and UK Writings. She is also a contributing writer for OX Essays. As a digital marketer, she helps companies improve their marketing strategies and concepts. As a content writer, she writes articles about the latest tech and marketing trends, innovations, and strategies.

Burnout and stress can take a toll on your career trajectory.

But by introducing a mindfulness routine, you allow yourself to tap into what’s going on in the present moment, without the need to be judgmental or frustrated about it. This means it can give you the tools to take a pause, take stock in your mental state, and refocus on the task at hand.

The idea of being mindful comes from meditative practices that help you create space to slow down and focus inward.

Here are six ways that mindfulness can be beneficial to your career.

Close up of a young woman meditating at home
Close up of a young woman meditating at home (Marko Geber via Getty Images)

Career development

Mindfulness can be beneficial when it comes to career development, according to Jacob Deeming, a project manager at Paper Fellows and Boom Essays.

“For students not sure what to pursue career-wise, mindfulness can help them better understand and manage any career-related issues," he said.

In addition, mindfulness allows you to advocate for yourself, meaning that it will be easier for you to understand and communicate your career options and visions with other people, and be certain in such choices.

Stress relief

One of the biggest benefits of mindfulness is that it helps reduce stress, especially when you’re working.

Balancing work and life is stressful – from schedules, to completing tasks, to collaborating with many people, etc. Yes, chronic stress is inevitable in the workplace.

As a result, implementing mindfulness allows the individual to let go of stress, and build plenty of resilience.

Tired overworked businesswoman massaging, touching temples, feeling headache after working long hours with computer, suffering from pain at workplace, having health problem
Tired overworked businesswoman massaging, touching temples, feeling headache after working long hours with computer, suffering from pain at workplace, having health problem (fizkes via Getty Images)

Improving focus

Mindfulness and meditation allow you to train yourself by paying attention to things. It’s through attention training that you can stay focused on the task at hand.

As you train yourself more and more, the better your focusing abilities will be. This can be particularly helpful when switching from task to task.

Promoting creativity

Who DOESN’T want to express creativity in their work?

Mindfulness allows you to tap into your creative mind state, allowing the creative juices to flow, and keeping negative thoughts at bay. Negativity will only stifle self-expression and creative thinking.

Therefore, mindfulness is needed to ensure that you’re focused on the “here and now,” and that you’re putting your skills to work.

Thoughtful afro young woman looking for new job online, using laptop at cafe, taking notes, side view, copy space
Thoughtful afro young woman looking for new job online, using laptop at cafe, taking notes, side view, copy space (Prostock-Studio via Getty Images)

Improving intuition

Your intuition can help you in more ways than you might realize.

“For those who tend to experience ‘gut feelings,’ mindfulness can actually promote this kind of awareness,” said Isabel Dutton, a business writer at Essay Roo and Lia Help. “An enhanced intuition allows you to improve how you perform tasks in your day-to-day work cycle. In addition, it allows you to make better decisions, while taking into account the internal and external parts of what’s being done.”

Enhancing social relationships

Finally, your career will most likely have you collaborating with other people (i.e. coworkers, clients, etc.). In fact, it pays to have positive workplace relationships with anyone that you come across in your career.

So, when practicing mindfulness, you’ll see major improvements in social relationships, like:

  • Positivity in the workplace

  • Eliminates stressors, which may affect teamwork, communications, etc.

  • Promotes motivation in employees

  • Encourages courtesy and respect for others

Cheerful business team having morning briefing in office, sharing creative ideas, close up
Cheerful business team having morning briefing in office, sharing creative ideas, close up (Prostock-Studio via Getty Images)

Though, the biggest factor to take away from this point is your communication will be more effective and clear.

Ultimately, mindfulness won’t shut off your thoughts, or have you empty the mind. Instead, mindfulness will invite you to pay closer attention to physical sensations, organize and focus your thoughts and emotions, analyze your thoughts more effectively, and boost your creative thinking.

  • Pay attention to your physical sensations

  • Keep your thoughts and emotions in check

  • Analyze your thoughts and emotions more clearly, AND

  • Be creative about situations

Therefore, seeing that mindfulness has many benefits, it’s essential to have in your career – no matter the industry! Mindfulness challenges you to improve in many ways than one, but its benefits are priceless. As you work to bring in mindfulness, not only will you work really well in your career, but your coworkers, clients, CEOs, etc. will definitely thank you for it.

Yahoo Money sister site Cashay has a weekly newsletter.
Yahoo Money sister site Cashay has a weekly newsletter.

Read more information and tips in our Advice section
Read more personal finance information, news, and tips on Cashay
Follow Cashay on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook