Bringing mindfulness to everyday life

Pick one specific simple activity you do several times each day. Some examples:

• washing your hands;
• washing dishes;
• walking down a particular hallway;
• picking up your phone;
• if you drive, stopping at a red light;
• if you commute on transit, getting onto the bus.

Practice being fully present for that one activity. (Also remember that part of the process of developing the habit of paying attention to this activity is forgetting that you meant to do it mindfully! Keep at it. Over time, your mind will get trained to bring simple attention to this specific thing.) What sensations do you notice as you pay attention? What kind of mind states and thoughts typically appear during this activity? Can you let go of the tendency to be lost in the past and future, and just be attentive to this experience? Include whatever mind states or emotions are present, just as they are. There's no need to always glide down the hallway: if you're stomping down the hallway, know that you're stomping; if you're slinking, know that you're slinking.

Reflect on ways that technology affects your state of mind. Take a period of time during the day when you turn off your phone. Notice the impulse to grab your phone and start scrolling through social media feeds when you have a spare moment. Experiment with not doing that sometimes. Boredom is just calm with a negative spin on it! Practice appreciating the tranquility that can be present in the free moments between activities, without adding distractions.

Harvard Business Review has a lot of articles on mindfulness these days! Here's one on incorporating mindfulness into an office job. https://hbr.org/2016/03/how-to-practice-mindfulness-throughout-your-work-day