How to Use Mindfulness at Work Without Rolling Your Eyes
Jun 09, 2025
For the Women Who Are Tired, Brilliant, and Just Trying to Breathe
Let’s be honest. The word mindfulness makes some of us cringe. It’s been co-opted by every overpriced yoga mat company and your coworker who swears their turmeric matcha moon water changed their life. Meanwhile, you’re just trying to finish a grant proposal, eat lunch that isn’t trail mix, and avoid screaming into the void during a Zoom call.
But hear me out.
Mindfulness doesn’t have to mean chanting under a bonsai tree while a gong plays in the distance. It doesn’t have to mean pretending your inbox isn’t a disaster or that the phrase “just be present” doesn’t make you want to throw something. It can be gritty. Quiet. Slightly sarcastic. Just like you.
It can also be life-changing - especially if you’re a high-achieving, emotionally exhausted woman in STEM or academia who’s been trained to ignore her body, her limits, and the voice in her head begging her to just take one damn breath.
So let’s reclaim mindfulness from the Pinterest moms and the corporate wellness bros. Let’s make it ours.
Toxic Productivity Culture Called. You Can Hang Up Now.
Let’s start here. You weren’t born believing you had to earn rest.
You were taught it.
From the moment you were told that crying was weakness. That you were “so mature for your age.” That your value came from how much you could produce, how many boxes you could check, how close you could get to perfect without showing a single crack.
That is productivity culture. And it is a liar.
The truth? Your brain wasn’t designed to be “on” 10 hours a day. Especially not under fluorescent lights while being bombarded by Slack, email, and the ghost of your advisor’s expectations.
Mindfulness is one of the few ways we can interrupt that lie - without burning the whole thing down. (Although, let’s be real, a controlled burn does sound appealing some days.)
Micro-Breaks: Because You Are Not a Robot
Here’s a fun fact: your brain is a squishy, magnificent miracle - not a machine. It needs pauses to function well.
Enter: micro-breaks.
A micro-break is a 30-second to 2-minute reset for your nervous system. You can do them between tasks, before meetings, or after reading the same sentence in a paper for the fifth time and still not knowing what it means.
Try these:
- Close your eyes and take three slow breaths. In through your nose. Out through your mouth. That’s it.
- Stand up and stretch like a cat. Yes, even in the lab. Especially in the lab.
- Notice one thing around you with each of your senses: what do you see, hear, feel, smell, taste? (Hopefully not chemicals. Or despair.)
- Name your emotion out loud or silently: “I feel tense.” “I feel tired.” “I feel like drop-kicking my inbox.”
This isn’t silly. This is neuroscience.
Your brain needs those pauses to switch out of fight-flight mode and into rest-digest-connect mode.
As Viktor Frankl said:
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response.”
That space? That’s mindfulness.
Stop. Breathe. Be. (Yes, Even You)
Now let’s talk about a tiny practice with a huge impact: Stop-Breathe-Be.
It sounds simple. That’s because it is. But don’t confuse simple with easy. Especially when you’ve been trained to ignore your body for years.
Here’s how it works:
- Stop: Whatever you’re doing. Put your pen down. Take your hands off the keyboard. Pause mid-scroll.
- Breathe: Inhale. Exhale. Repeat once or twice. Slow it down. Feel it.
- Be: Just notice. What’s going on inside? Tight jaw? Racing thoughts? The urge to keep going? Just notice.
You don’t have to fix it. Or judge it. Or make it into a productivity hack.
Just. Be.
This moment is your chance to reconnect with yourself - not your role, your goals, your calendar - but you.
Mindfulness Doesn’t Mean Surrendering to the Madness
This isn’t about being Zen while your boss micromanages you or while your coworker takes credit for your ideas in that team meeting.
Mindfulness isn’t passivity. It’s clarity. Awareness. Choice.
It’s the difference between spiraling into perfectionism and saying, “Hey, I’m enough right now.”
It’s the pause between “I have to do it all” and “What if I don’t?”
It’s showing up for yourself in a world that told you your worth is how much you can take without breaking.
You’re allowed to take up space, take breaks, and take care of yourself. Even in a field that rewards burnout like it’s a badge of honor.
Real Talk: You Won’t Always Want to Do This
You’ll forget. You’ll roll your eyes. You’ll want to keep grinding.
That’s okay.
There is no gold star for being perfectly mindful. There is no cosmic tally.
Just try again. Start with the next breath. Or the next break. Or the next time you say, “Actually, I need a minute.”
That counts.
You count.
As Mary Oliver asked:
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
I hope your answer includes rest. And breath. And the quiet miracle of simply being.
Try This: Affirmations That Don’t Feel Like Lies
Sometimes we need words to fight the noise in our heads. Try these on:
- “I am not a machine. I get to pause.”
- “Rest is resistance. Rest is repair.”
- “Doing less doesn’t mean I am less.”
- “I’m allowed to be a person, not a productivity bot.”
- “Taking care of myself is success.”
Write them on sticky notes. Set them as reminders. Whisper them when you feel like disappearing.
Your nervous system will thank you.
Want to Go Deeper?
Mindfulness is a practice. Not a fix-all. If you’re struggling with burnout, eating issues, or trauma in a system that rewards self-abandonment, therapy can help.
Especially therapy that doesn’t pathologize you for being human in a broken world.
Especially therapy that gets how hard it is to be a woman in STEM, academia, or any high-functioning role.
I work with people just like you: brilliant, tired, and ready for something different.
No shame. No judgment. Just real talk, real tools, and a soft place to land.
Resources & Links
Trusted sources for science-backed mindfulness and mental health:
- The Science of Mindfulness – APA
- Stop. Breathe. Be – Self-Compassion.org
- NIMH: Managing Stress
- Verywell Mind – Microbreaks at Work
- Mindful.org – Mindfulness at Work
And some further reading (from the blog):
