Tips for Carving Out Time for Mindfulness
Carving out time for mindfulness doesn’t have to mean adding more to your already full plate. It’s about noticing the moments that are already here—those first sips of coffee, the pause before you walk into a meeting, the breath you take at a doorway. With a little intention and care, these small practices become anchors that steady your nervous system and bring you back to yourself, even in the midst of a demanding day.
1. Start your day with nourishing your own wellbeing.
Jon Kabat-Zinn calls this “tuning your instrument.” Imagine that going into your day is like preparing to play a Mozart concerto. Take the time to tune your instrument (your mind) before playing the first notes. This might mean taking a few extra moments to quickly do a body scan before getting out of bed, listening to a guided mindfulness meditation, taking some time to stretch and let your body wake up, bringing awareness to your senses as you shower and brush your teeth, or simply resisting the temptation to check your phone or email first thing in the morning.
For me, this looks like setting my alarm a few minutes early, bringing my full attention to the process of making my coffee (savoring the smells, feeling my body as I wait for the water to boil, listening to the sounds of the liquid splashing into my favorite mug, and giving myself permission to savor the first few sips). People in my household also know that I stay in silence until after I have had my first cup of coffee and taken a few minutes to sit with it on my cushion and do at least 10 minutes of mindful breathing.
Starting the day with a few gentle moments of turning inward and tending to yourself. This will tone your nervous system for what is to come. Better yet, book-end your days. If you can give yourself time to practice for 10 or 15 minutes in the morning and evening, this will place a container of care around your entire day.
2. Every transition is an opportunity for mindfulness.
Every time you shift from one activity to another is an opportunity to reset your attention. In the Foundations of Mindful Leadership Course, you’ll learn about single-tasking: the practice of doing just one thing with full awareness. In fact, this practice of orienting to the present moment is at the heart of skillful crisis response, and can support you in staying regulated even in the midst of chaos in your environment. Access the five senses, feel the sensations of breath, move with awareness, or notice gravity.
Each time you walk into your office, pause and take a mindful breath. Every time the phone rings, pause briefly, feel sensations in your body, then answer it. As you stand up from your chair, stretch your hands towards the ceiling or roll your shoulders. Whenever you go through a doorway, or step into the hallway from a classroom, take just a few seconds to feel the sensations of gravity in your body and the pressure of your feet connecting with the floor underneath you. Give yourself permission to come back to center as you move from one task or interaction to another. The more you practice this in moments of calm, the more available this skill will be to you in moments of crisis.
3. Ask for support in protecting your practice time.
It is not weakness to ask for help where you need it. Delegate the logistics of carving out time to your administrative assistant, if you have one. Let them know that you need five minutes to prepare and unwind before and after meetings, and to build this into your schedule. If there is something in your schedule that happens regularly at a certain time of day, build a practice period into this event, before or after. Use this time to “Press Pause,” take a few mindful breaths, just sit in silence, or do some gentle mindful movement. Use a “do not disturb” door hanger to protect your practice time, and educate staff and students to respect this, unless there is a true emergency that requires your immediate attention.
4. Find a buddy or invite others to practice with you.
You can also build some accountability into your practice schedule by inviting an office colleague or counselor to practice with you. Or, you might just check in with each other and review what practices you’ve done, share your reflections, and name any challenges you are facing in finding time to practice. A handful of mindfulness apps, such as Insight Timer can track your practice, connect you with others, and many of the guided practices offered with this workbook are available there.
5. Set fierce boundaries around technology
Use the “Do Not Disturb” feature: Download the guided practices that most support you to your phone or tablet, so that you can be on airplane mode or at least do not disturb while you are listening. At work, you can let your office staff know that you will be doing this, and to knock on your door if there is a true emergency.
Practice not checking your phone during certain periods of the day: Avoid scrolling as a way of filling in-between/down time and resist the urge to look at your phone when you are in a meeting, walking the hallways, visiting classrooms, or monitoring the cafeteria. Not only does this protect your attention, but it also sends a message that you are present and available to connect.
Manage your notifications: Turn off everything non-essential, so that you are not getting pinged and dinged every time someone likes an Instagram photo or a cryptocurrency goes down in value. If there are people in your life whose communication rattles you or distracts you while you are at work, “hide alerts” on those messages.
Marie Condo your inbox (to the extent that you are able): Unsubscribe from everything extraneous that you can so that your email inbox is not filled with clutter and junk mail that can easily overwhelm you. Mark emails as unread if they need a response, otherwise swipe or click on them to “mark as read” to let yourself know that they do not need further attention. Your number of new messages in your inbox impacts your sense of overwhelm and should only reflect what actually needs your attention. If the little red notification on your phone is regularly showing a number of emails in the thousands, this creates a ton of subliminal extra noise in your system around to-do items. Better yet, go into your settings and turn that little red bugger off! You don’t need to be reminded of how many people need you every time you glance at your phone.
Schedule digital communication: Set specific times when you will check and respond to emails and messages, put it on your calendar, and explicitly inform staff of this so that they can manage their expectations around how long it might take you to respond. Have a separate notification system for emergencies and urgent communications, or ask staff to mark emails as urgent if they need an immediate reply.
Making space for mindfulness is less about perfection and more about practice. Each pause, each boundary, each mindful breath is a way of tending to yourself so you can show up with clarity and presence for those around you. If you are ready to take these skills deeper and explore how mindful awareness can steady you in leadership and in life, the Foundations of Mindful Leadership Course offers a supportive place to begin.
