Mindfulness at Work

by Stephen McKenzie

Mindfulness at Work reveals how the practice of mindfulness - the ability to focus our attention on what is rather than be distracted by what isn't - can be a powerful antidote to the distractions and stresses of our modern lives, especially our working lives. So, if you want to: reduce your stress become more productive improve your decision - making skills enjoy better relationships with your colleagues work more creatively develop your leadership skills, and generally enjoy your job more ... then mindfulness can help! Written by an expert with years of both clinical and personal experience, Mindfulness at Work includes examples of mindfulness in action in the workplace, while also looking at how the principles of mindfulness can be applied to specific professions, from sales and marketing to teaching, from law to medicine, from the trades to the creative arts.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Personal Development

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Seana · Rating 1 out of 5]

And we're done - I was about 3/4 of the way through when the author flippantly equated "professional slavery" with actual slavery. I don't care if it was published four years ago, any author mindless enough to espouse that false equivalency is not an authority on mindfulness.

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not finish this. I couldn't. From the first page he had gotten the fundamentals of mindfulness wrong. It is not an ancient practice, it was something crafted from ancient Buddhist principles and psychology in the 70s by Jon Kabat Zinn. It also has 3 major principles not two.

That's not to get to the poor writing (like using mindless three times in one sentence or fully six times on one page and the font is fairly large.)

Then finally I drew the line when he related mindless managers to the leadership style of Hitler, Stalin and the famines or African leaders (which he could not name) deliberately causing food shortages.

This is not a good book about mindfulness and has some horribly heavy handed points. Please do not read! There are plenty of lovely introduction to mindfulness books out there which can be applied to the workplace.

[Sasha Sproch · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I find Mindfulness in general to be a worthwhile and useful pursuit, I found McKenzie's book to be a poor portrayal of both the practice, and it's benefits. This book, instead of being an exploration of some aspect, strategy, or benefit of mindfulness, is filled with trite aphorisms and clumsy transitions between them. This book lacks substance, and often tries to shoehorn other peoples' ideas or quotations, to be "really" about mindfulness. The arguments are weak, and the message is repetitive. There were a few clever moments of humor, but overall, this book is not worth reading. There are other, better sources of information on the practice of Mindfulness.

[Lily P. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some thoughtful quotes from quotable people.

Felt like a shallow dip into mindfulness with some force fit shoehorning to make things like mindfulness when selling and mindfulness for lawyers.

Ok then.

[Justine Oh · Rating 5 out of 5]

History is not my strong suit so, despite the unflattering reviews, I picked this book. I did not regret it.

I found myself aware of the situations/ conditions in which I was previously ignorant. I feel my conscious there.

[Kara Rowley · Rating 3 out of 5]

All about the mind

[Rodney TS · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book of factual measure integrated with history of other 'workers' journeys. A foundation book of mindfulness.

[Vicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

slightly cheesy at times, but overall quite useful in giving examples of how one can be more mindful/more aware and tuned in at work

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book did not really hold my attention very well, which is somewhat ironic. I really enjoyed how it was organized. The material was accessible and practical. The book always wasn't overly detailed or long winded.

[Jen Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

It seemed like all the "meat" was in the beginning. But it was still reasonably informative:
Begin in stillness
Separate components with pauses
Work until the work is finished
Meet our working need
Allow our instruments to do the work
Focus on where our work is taking place
Let our work flow

[Gary Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book

[Richard Gombert · Rating 1 out of 5]

Snake oil to be sold to the masses to placate them.
Basically it says, "you are a mindless minion and here's how to be happy as a mindless minion."
thinly disguised pealeism.

[Angel Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook

[Emily Griswold Bunty · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were some nuggets of gold hidden amongst the fluff, but nothing I had not learned from other sources. The author used some bizarre analogies and repeated himself a lot.

[Paola Zaira Sciutto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Molto interessante e ricco di spunti ma mi aspettavo qualcosa di un po' più pratico.