TLT HD - Month in Review
January/February 2020
This month's FACULTY FOCUS articles on Yammer:
BE A BETTER YOU, USING KORU MINDFULNESS TECHNIQUES
Koru is a mindfulness curriculum that can be adapted for any population. Developed at Duke and empirically tested, a Koru mindfulness practice shows that those who participate in a daily mindfulness practice:
- Feel more calm - faculty's lives are fraught with stress (tenure, teaching, research, committees, etc.) so allowing your body to learn to deal with this stress is important to your well-being.
- Sleep better - better sleep helps heath and cognitive functioning so it's important that faculty get their 8 hours.
- Live more in the moment - living in moment doesn't mean don't plan ahead. It just means to enjoy the moment you are in! Whether it's teaching, doing research, or enjoying your home life, embrace that moment and don't think about the next thing that's coming up.
- Greater compassion, primarily self-compassion - helps people have less negative thoughts toward themselves and others. I work with faculty every day and I can tell you, no one is harder on faculty than themselves.
It only takes 10 minutes a day...
...and the amazing folks at the Counseling Center are here to help!
They offer a Lunchtime Meditation Group every Wednesday at 1:00 and multiple times a semester they hold a 4 Week Koru Mindfulness class (one day a week).
You can learn more, and find some guided meditations at the Koru website
Here are more resources and studies:
Why It's Great to be Grateful!
When’s the last time you stopped and smelled the roses, sent a thank-you letter, or wrote in your gratitude journal? Wait…you don’t have a gratitude journal!?! Just kidding, I don’t have one either. But, I’m starting one, today! Why? Well, according to The Greater Good Science Center’s white paper, The Science of Gratitude (2018), several studies link gratitude to improved physical, mental, and social well-being.
Practicing gratitude in your life may:
- Improve sleep quality (Emmons & McCullough, 2003; Wood, Joseph, Lloyd, & Atkins, 2009; Jackowska, Brown, Ronaldson, & Steptoe, 2016)
- Reduce biomarkers for inflammation (Redwine et al., 2016)
- Increase happiness and optimism (McCullough et al., 2002; Jackowska et al., 2016; Morgan et al., 2017)
- Improve life satisfaction (Lambert, Fincham, Stillman, & Dean, 2009; Rash, Matsuba, & Prkachin, 2011; Lin, 2014)
- Prevent burnout (Chan, 2011; Lanham, Michelle, Rye, Mark, Rimsky, Liza, & Weill, 2012)
- Improve self-esteem (Rash, Matsuba, & Prkachin, 2011)
- Decrease materialism (Lambert, Fincham, Stillman, & Dean, 2009)
- Reduce stress (Killen & Macaskill, 2015)
- Decrease symptoms of depression (Seligman et al., 2005; Lambert, Fincham, & Stillman, 2012; Harbaugh & Vasey, 2014)
- Increase patience and humility (Dickens & DeSteno, 2016; Ruberton, Kruse, & Lyubomirsky, 2016)
In the workplace, practicing gratitude may:
- Increase prosocial behavior (Andersson, Giacalone, & Jurkiewicz, 2007; Spence, Brown, Keeping, & Lian, 2013)
- Increase cooperation (DeSteno, Bartlett, Baumann, Williams, & Dickens, 2010)
- Strengthen relationships (O’Connell, O’Shea, & Gallagher, 2016)
- Increase motivation and work performance (Grant & Wrzesniewski, 2010; Grant & Gino, 2010)
- Increase job satisfaction (Waters, 2012, Kaplan et al., 2014)
Here’s a great video (16:57) on how we can practice gratitude at CofC:
How do you practice gratitude?
ARE YOU A PROCRASTINATOR OR A DOER?
A recent study suggests the difference between being a Procrastinator or a Doer may be how our brains are wired. It’s about how we filter our emotions related to the task. Don’t fret Procrastinators! There is hope. Mindful meditation has been shown to rewire some of those connections.
Read the full article here:
Here are some productivity tips to help with procrastination:
- Use a timer - If you don't have an external deadline, use a timer to focus for set periods - for example, 25 minutes at a time with 5 minute breaks and a longer break every 90 minutes.
- Make a list - Write a list of tasks but break it down into smaller, more specific ones. This makes them easier to action and complete.
- Minimize interruptions - Try to minimize interruptions like email notifications. Putting your phone on airplane mode or going somewhere to work where you won't be disturbed will also help.
- Keep yourself busy - Being "busy" is easier than doing the thing we are avoiding. Instead of doing the task at hand, we do other stuff instead and kid ourselves that we don't have the time. You do have the time. You just need to make it.
....and don't forget to try some Mindful Meditation
https://www.mindful.org/meditation/mindfulness-getting-started/