Mindfulness – A Time Perspective

By David Grippe - Pennsylvania State University 9/16/2020

There is a tremendous value to understanding the actions we can take to help reduce stress in the workplace. Both employers and employees deal with stressors every day. In today’s technology-driven society, people are more stimulated and distracted than ever before. I believe that a key component to reducing stress in the workplace is understanding the relationship between time and mindfulness. From an organizational behavior standpoint, time can be evaluated from the perspective of anticipation behavior (future time awareness), reactionary behavior (present time awareness), and awareness of the past. Understanding the systems that employees utilize to evaluate time is important to manage stress in the workplace. To analyze this in depth, it is necessary to define mindfulness and evaluate each time perspective with relation to mindfulness. After closer inspection of the relationship between time and mindfulness, we can discuss why understanding this relationship helps to manage stress within the workplace.

Mindfulness

According to Brown & Ryan (2003) mindfulness “is most commonly defined as the state of being attentive to and aware of what is taking place in the present” (Brown & Ryan, 2003, p. 822). They also mention that the levels of mindfulness vary in clarity and in frequency (Brown & Ryan, 2003). Time is a variable that is found twice when considering the definition above. Time can be described as a state—past, present, or future. The above definition of mindfulness focuses on the present state.  Time can also be considered as a measurement to calculate the frequency of a behavior. These factors come into play throughout the analysis of the relationship between time and mindfulness and help to better understand what changes managers and employees can make to reduce stress in the workplace.

But how does a manager help to make an employee more mindful? In the Harvard Business Review, Ellen Langer was asked a similar question. Langer has researched mindfulness for over 40 years and was asked “How do you create a more mindful organization?” Her response was “I tell leaders they should make not knowing OK” (Langer, 2014, p. 72). She goes on to explain that there are many different paths to the same destination and it’s important to ask “what are the benefits of doing it this way versus another way” (Langer, 2014, p. 72). Managers can help increase the mindfulness levels of employees by maintaining an open and safe space for suggestions and creativity. They can also help to manage the focus of their employees on problem solving and understanding the challenges they must overcome.

Anticipation Behavior

If being mindful is being attentive to the present state of time, how does anticipation behavior relate to mindfulness? A study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology (2018) discusses how anticipating and planning ahead can affect a person’s well being, achievement-related outcomes, and many more behavioral characteristics (Kooij, Rudolph, Kanfer, & Betts, 2018). The study mentions that “anxiety is a future-oriented emotion,” however those that tend to plan ahead also tend to be more conscientious individuals (Kooij, Rudolph, Kanfer, & Betts, 2018, p. 882). This implies that practicing mindfulness may actually increase anticipation behavior and reduce anxiety. It is important to understand that being mindful is what prompts thinking and planning future goals. Certain anticipation behaviors, such as time management skills and efficiency planning, can improve employee outcomes. When reviewing specific anticipation behaviors, we can consider how the frequency of mindfulness can relate to stress management.

Time Management

Being mindful helps you to understand where you are and helps you to determine what you need to do next. Within the context of organizational behavior, I am using the term “time management” as a phrase best explained by Alan Lakein (1973). He describes time management as identifying goals, prioritizing tasks, allocating time, and making lists (Lakein, 1973). Time management is actually a series of tasks that requires you to set intentions for future behaviors. Therese Hoff Macan (1994) found that those “who perceived themselves to have control over their time also reported fewer job-induced and somatic tensions and greater job satisfaction” (Macan, 1994, p. 383). A study published in Higher Education Research & Development Journal found that the more you practice time management behaviors, the higher your morale and the lower your stress levels become (Kearns & Gardiner, 2007). These findings help to identify how mindfulness and anticipation behavior can relate to stress on a deeper level. From a management perspective, by increasing employee mindfulness, you can help to increase anticipation behaviors and ultimately reduce stress in the workplace.

Workplace Efficiency

Practicing mindfulness by anticipating tasks can increase your efficiency in the workplace and at home. Spending time thinking about ways that job design can be improved or brainstorming ways that tasks can be automated are great examples of this. These kinds of activities are also able to reduce stress by decreasing workload and work strain. An article in the Journal of Organizational Behavior found that “planning behavior leads to more control and therefore less strain, more satisfaction, and feeling more productive than others.” (Claessens, Van Eerde, Rutte, & Roe, 2004, p. 947).

Increasing efficiency can also decrease mindfulness if the frequency of the behavior becomes too common. In the book Atomic Habits, the author describes how creating habits by successfully managing your daily schedule reduces stress (Clear, 2018). Habits are automated responses to external cues and ultimately free up our conscious mind for more important tasks (Clear, 2018). The more you repeat a specific behavior, the more likely it will seem to become automatic and the less you need to think about the behavior (Clear, 2018). This is a very interesting discussion point because, once a habit has been created,  you are no longer being mindful. It is now an unconscious response to a cue from the environment. This is a factor that still must be considered because stress will be reduced.

Reactionary Behavior

Organizations and employees often take a look at metrics of where they are (present time) to help them understand their needs and what actions they will take next. Being mindful serves as a feedback loop that provides information on the health of a person or a system. In the article Mindfulness at Work, the authors discuss a few processes that link mindfulness to self regulation (Glomb, Duffy, Bono, & Yang, 2011). They mention that mindfulness not only implies thought observation, but also that there is an “increased attention to and awareness of the body’s physiological response systems” (Glomb, Duffy, Bono, & Yang, 2011, p. 127). Mindfulness can help employees improve self-care in many ways. A self-care behavior is a specific type of reactionary behavior that focuses on healing oneself after receiving negative feedback. We can consider the frequency of this behavior and how it relates to stress levels.

Self-Care

When practicing mindfulness, your attention can be on anything you like. One of the ways you can practice mindfulness is to focus your attention on healing and self-care. You are intentionally taking the time to focus on your body and release any built up tension. Mindfulness can decrease pain, decrease blood pressure, and improve overall physical health (Glomb, Duffy, Bono, & Yang, 2011). In Mindfulness at Work, “mindfulness and mindfulness-based practices have been clearly linked to reduce symptoms of mental, psychological, and psychiatric conditions” (Glomb, Duffy, Bono, & Yang, 2011, p. 121). A study of low-dose mindfulness based practices proved that even twenty minutes of meditation a day significantly decreased stress levels (Klatt, Buckworth, & Malarkey, 2008). This is interesting because the frequency of the low-dose mindfulness practice is once per day, but the practice itself was not very intense (Klatt, Buckworth, & Malarkey, 2008). Perhaps it’s not necessarily the depth, but the frequency of practicing mindfulness that makes the difference.

Awareness of the Past

How does practicing mindfulness influence our perspective of previous experiences? Some issues are “saturated with associations, concepts, beliefs, judgements, and feelings” (Weick & Sutcliffe, 2006, p. 521). The meaning of these associations divert the mind away from the present events and decrease mindfulness (Weick & Sutcliffe, 2006). Mindfulness allows a person to accept thoughts or events with a perspective of separation from the self (Ruedy & Schweitzer, 2010). Practicing mindfulness has the potential to change our perspective of past decisions and experiences. Mindfulness can even open up paths to acceptance and forgiveness. Being mindful “allows one to hold in attention ideas which might potentially be threatening to the self” (Ruedy & Schweitzer, 2010, p. 76). This is very powerful because many of us hold on to the past and make judgements based on our own perspectives of the experiences. This is valuable information, because being mindful of how past experiences affected you can help you to let go of the stress those experiences may have caused.

An article written by Chloe Clarkson examines the benefits of mindfulness and self forgiveness. She wrote about how she was overworked and harassed by her co-workers. (Clarkson, 2016). After practicing mindfulness she came to the realization that she had to change her perspective about herself (Clarkson, 2016). She said “these constant thoughts were a cruel and self-punishing process” (Clarkson, 2016). Chloe also explains that because of her bad experience she had made judgements and associated all jobs with stress (Clarkson, 2016). She mentions that “After a long time of self-reflection and personal progress, I realized that I had to move on from my bad experience” (Clarkson, 2016). Practicing mindfulness helps individuals to dig below the associations that they have made in the past, and accept the faults in themselves and others.

Discussion

To be aware of how you feel and to accept whatever events may be happening certainly holds the potential to reduce stress and conflict in the workplace. The relationship between time and mindfulness is important to understand, because time is intricately woven into the definition of mindfulness. Levels of mindfulness can change throughout the day, but to practice mindfulness is similar to building a muscle. There are ways that managers can help foster employee mindfulness as they have the ability to create environments that allow employees’ minds to be stimulated (Langer, 2014).

The relationship between time and mindfulness helps to identify the significance of mindfulness-based stress reduction and the many other benefits of mindfulness as well. Mindfulness can improve anticipation behaviors such as time management skills and efficiency planning. It can help to change reactionary behaviors to increase overall health and wellness of employees. It can help employees to resolve past associations and judgements, set aside their ego, and listen to others with acceptance and humility. Finally, it can help facilitate thoughts of forgiveness towards those who have made mistakes and resolve conflict. Even if the frequency of practicing mindfulness is relatively low, the benefits are found to be quite significant (Klatt, Buckworth, & Malarkey, 2008).

With the knowledge of how mindfulness and time are related, it is easier to manage stress within the workplace. Managers can set aside time for employee brainstorming activities for past, present, and future awareness. These activities can help to manage specific emotions  and reduce the stress that it causes (Kooij, Rudolph, Kanfer, & Betts, 2018).

Limitations

Considering the relationship between mindfulness and time is only one way to examine mindfulness. Going back to the definition of mindfulness again allows us to consider other ways to examine mindfulness. For example, mindfulness can be examined with its relation to awareness and clarity as well. We can examine how clarity of mind is related to stress in the workplace. This examination may lead us to other conclusions of mindfulness that have not been developed in this paper.

There are also many other behaviors related to anticipation, reaction, and awareness of past experiences, judgments, and beliefs that have not yet been considered due to the complexity and depth required. Further analysis of these behaviors may lead to more in-depth conclusions.

Conclusion

There are many internal and external factors that cause stress in the workplace. Stress management requires various tools to help mitigate and break up the tension. Practicing mindfulness is a great tool to help manage stress. With a deeper understanding of how mindfulness is related to time, managers can take particular actions that might not have been as clear before. Future study and analysis can help round out and deepen the study of mindfulness. Hopefully, this examination sparks a new light to the conversation.

References

Brown, K. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2003). The Benefits of Being Present: Mindfulness and its Role in Psychological Well-Being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology Vol. 84 No. 4, 822-848.

Claessens, B. J., Van Eerde, W., Rutte, C. G., & Roe, R. A. (2004). Planning behavior and perceived control. Journal of Organizational Behavior Vol. 25, 937-950.

Clarkson, C. (2016, April 14). How Mindfulness Changed my Perspective of Work. Retrieved from Everyday Mindfulness: https://www.everyday-mindfulness.org/how-mindfulness-changed-my-perspective-of-work/

Clear, J. (2018). Atomic Habits. New York: Penguin Random House.

Glomb, T. M., Duffy, M. K., Bono, J. E., & Yang, T. (2011). Mindfulness At Work. Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management, Volume 30, 115-157.

Kearns, H., & Gardiner, M. (2007). Is it time well spent? The relationship between time management behaviours, perceived effectiveness and work related morale and distress in a university context. Higher Education Research & Development Vol. 26 No. 2, 235-247.

Klatt, M. D., Buckworth, J., & Malarkey, W. B. (2008). Effects of Low-Dose Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR-Id) on Working Adults. Health Educucation Behavior Vol. 36 issue: 3, 601-614.

Kooij, D. T., Rudolph, C. W., Kanfer, R., & Betts, M. (2018). Future Time Perspective: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. American Psychological Association Vol. 103 No. 8, 867-893.

Lakein, A. (1973). How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life. New York: New American Library.

Langer, E. (2014, March). Minfulness in the Age of Complexity. (H. B. Review, Interviewer)

Macan, T. H. (1994). Time Management: Test of a Process Model. Journal of Applied Psychology Vol. 79, No. 3, 381-391.

Ruedy, N. E., & Schweitzer, M. E. (2010). In the Moment: The Effect of Mindfulness on Ethical Decision Making. Journal of Business Ethics Vol. 95, 73-87.

Stepek, M. (2017, September 10). Mindfulness: The power of forgiveness. Retrieved from Herald[Glasgow, Scotland]: https://link-gale-com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/apps/doc/A551668542/GIC?u=psucic&sid=GIC&xid=dc7d380b

Weick, K. E., & Sutcliffe, K. M. (2006). Mindfulness and the Quality of Organizational Attention. Organization Science, 514-524.