Overworked and Overwhelmed The Mindfulness Alternative

Overworked and Overwhelmed: The Mindfulness Alternative offers practical insights for the executive, manager or professional who feels like their RPM is maxed out in the red zone. By making the concepts and practices of mindfulness simple, practical and applicable, this book offers actionable hope for today's overworked and overwhelmed professional.

New research shows that the smartphone equipped professional is connected to work 72 hours a week. Forty eight percent of Americans report that their stress level is up and that the number one source of stress is the job pressure of a 24/7 world.

What's the alternative? Top leadership coach and educator Scott Eblin offers one in Overworked and Overwhelmed: The Mindfulness Alternative. While mindfulness is one of the "Top Ten Trends for 2014 and Beyond," many professionals think it's just too hard to give it a try. In this book, Eblin shows that mindfulness that makes a difference doesn't require meditating like a Buddhist monk.

Overworked and Overwhelmed is a handbook for more mindful work and living that offers:

• "Must know" mindfulness basics that today's professional needs to thrive in a 24/7 world.
• Inspiring examples of mindfulness in action from dozens of leaders ranging from a U.S. Coast Guard Commandant to the CEO of Hilton Worldwide.
• A self assessment for readers to understand how they perform at their best.
• Simple routines to reduce stress and sustain peak performance.
• A personal planning framework for creating the outcomes that matter most at home, at work and in the community.

Even small increases in mindfulness can lead to big changes in productivity and quality of life for the overworked and overwhelmed professional. Overworked and Overwhelmed: The Mindfulness Alternative is a guide for doing just that.

Introduction Overworked and Overwhelmed?: Welcome to the Mindfulness Alternative xv

Part One

1 Reality Bites (or Does It?): Why You Feel So Overworked and Overwhelmed 3

2 What Does Mindfulness Even Mean Anyway?: It’s Simpler Than You Probably Think 15

3 What’s Going on in There, and What Can You Do About It?: What You Need to Know About Your Mind-Body Operating System 31

Part Two

4 Where Do You Want to Go?: Guiding Yourself with a Life GPS 47

5 How Are You at Your Best?: Clarifying Your Version of Peak Performance 59

6 What’s Their Secret?: The One Commitment You Have to Make to Yourself and How to Keep It 77

Part Three

7 You Are What You Repeatedly Do: How the Right Routines (for You) Help You Show Up at Your Best 103

8 It Starts with the Body: The Physical Routines That Make You More Mindful 115

9 A Beautiful Mind: The Mental Routines That Reduce Clutter and Increase Focus 131

10 In Right Relationship: The Relational Routines That Connect You with the Bigger Picture 151

11 What’s Your Purpose Here, Anyway?: The Spiritual Routines That Build Perspective 173

12 Making It Work: Tips for Following Through (And for Rapid Recovery When You Don’t) 193

Part Four

13 What Are You in It For?: Clarifying Your Outcomes at Home, at Work, and in the Community 207

14 Continuing with Your Mindfulness Alternative: Some Lessons Learned for Your Journey 223

Appendix: Coach’s Corner Compendium 237

Notes 243

Acknowledgments 249

About the Author 253

Index 255

SCOTT EBLIN is the cofounder and president of the Eblin Group, a professional development firm that supports executives and managers in exhibiting leadership presence by being fully present. As an executive coach, speaker, and author, Eblin works with senior and rising leaders in some of the world's best known and regarded organizations. He is the author of The Next Level: What Insiders Know About Executive Success (2010).

Eblin is a graduate of Davidson College, holds a master's degree from Harvard University and a certificate in leadership coaching from Georgetown University where he is on the program faculty. He is also a Registered Yoga Teacher.