How I use journaling to thrive at work
In 2014, I sold my thriving marketing agency in Australia, packed up and moved to New York City with my son. My reasons were many; I had always hoped to ‘do a stint’ in NYC, I had landed a decent job in an agency in Manhattan and I’d listened to Alicia Keys serenade me into it.
Once I found my feet in the bustle and hustle of the city that never sleeps, it hit me and hit me hard… this city never sleeps. And the quality of my work began to suffer.
As a proud introvert, I wasn’t long into my career in Australia before I recognized that my best work was done when alone and I had time to think away from my desk. While I had kept a personal journal since high school, then found meditation and been a student of mindfulness in my personal life for several years, it wasn’t until I was in NYC that I started to piece all of this together.
Before living there, I had visited New York City more times than I could count on a single hand. When I visited, I thought the city was magical. There was a buzz, an energy that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Coupled with everything we see in movies and on television, it’s easy to be romanced by New York City.
Reality Check
The pace of New York City is like nothing else I’ve experienced on earth. That ‘energy’ I felt when I visited Manhattan? Yeah, that’s 9 million stressed people rushing to the next thing. That’s the vibe of an entire city moving at 10X the pace of anywhere else on the planet.
Honestly, it took me two years to find my groove in the city. I was exhausted most of the time. I felt like I couldn’t keep up. The number of people around and the demands of the day - it was utterly draining. I sensed my strategic work suffering - finding some time to just ‘stare out the window’ and think about a problem felt practically impossible.
Finding My Flow
I began to lean into meditation, journaling, walking in nature and finding time to just be. It was tough to make a habit of this in NYC, where busy is a badge of honour, and the demands of life seem to be in hyper-drive. I would often forget to do it. Sometimes weeks would go by without this intention of mindfulness and I’d fall into the hustle again, feeling drained and like I was caught in a rip.
On the days when I made space for a little mindfulness, my work felt easier, my thinking was more inspired and I was able to find that sense of ‘flow’ that I’d been missing since leaving Australia.
The ‘observation journalling’ I did at work was enlightening. I found new ways to think about problems, approach situations with my team, or discuss my recommendations with clients. After so many years of journaling about my personal life — working through any issues and situations with reflective, unstructured writing — I honestly don’t know what took me so long to apply it to my work! And so, The Mindful Journal was born.
Try This At Work
When you’re feeling that sense of overwhelm and mental fatigue creep in, close all your devices and step outside for a few moments. Take a journal with you. Start with some deep breaths and then you have a couple of options:
You can free write, without any objective. Whatever words come to you, let them be what flows out of your hand and on to the page. Remove all judgment, and don’t analyze what you’re writing. When you are done, or after 15 minutes, you can decide whether you want to review what you wrote, or simply return to work with a clearer mind.
Draw. Colour. Allow yourself to focus on just one simple thing for 10-15 minutes. Let this be a meditative experience.
Use a prompt to journal about the work you’re doing, so that you can see it from a different perspective. There are several of these in the The Mindful journal!
Beginner's Mindset
This is one of many prompts in the journal. Remove all devices, grab a blank piece of paper or a journal. Try it now and let me know how it inspired your work.
Choose a problem, challenge or issue you're solving. Clear your mind, suspend what you know, and set aside opinions and beliefs. Perhaps imagine someone in your life who has no connection or experience with this situation (I like to use my mother, or my son!).
What questions would they ask about this problem? Write them all down. No censoring or answering the questions, just list them all.
Now, approach the challenge with a beginner's mindset and list all the ways to address or reframe it.
What did you experience during this exercise? Share your reflections in the comments.
Photo by Hannah Olinger