Sanctioned Mindfulness In The Workplace
| “If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath.” |
Attaining nirvana and exceeding in the world of business might not seem like they go hand in hand, but that is precisely the message your employer may be pushing.
Over the last twenty years we have seen a huge rise in the popularity of traditional eastern practices in the west. Meditation and yoga are now firmly part of the modern lexicon and inevitably businesses have been quick to capitalise on this burgeoning market. Initially, creating products to cater to adherents, and more recently applying it internally, as a way of boosting productivity amongst employees.
So, what is mindfulness? It is quite simply, the state of being ‘mindful’. Being fully aware of the moment, living in the moment, and accepting one’s feelings and emotions without judgement or resistance. Now, you may be thinking that sounds like some wishy-washy new age gobbledygook, but there are numerous studies showing the benefits of both meditation and yoga.
Meditation has been shown (even in small amounts) to improve focus, reduce anxiety, improve memory, promote creativity and feelings of compassion. These effects aren’t short lived either, persisting long after a meditation session. Yoga has similar advantages, also benefiting the immune system, improving quality of sleep and several other health benefits.
A whole host of companies have attempted to leverage these ancient practices. New Balance, Procter & Gamble, General Mills and Unilver have all encouraged employees to roll out the yoga mats and adopt the lotus position. Increasing numbers of business leaders are proponents of meditation and its numerous benefits, too.
The pertinent question here is, does practising mindfulness benefit your work? I think it’s safe to say the answer is ‘Yes.’ In fact, it’s hard to think of any downsides to either meditation or yoga. The science speaks for itself.
That is all well and good, but something seems fundamentally disingenuous, sinister even about being prescribed meditation by your employer. It just doesn’t sit right in the corporate setting. Teachings of acceptance and placidity translate to not questioning your position or surroundings, not to ask too many questions, not to think too much about the future, or the past, but to simply get on with your work in an efficient manner.
The Race For Ultra Fast Broadband
A revolution is quietly taking place in Austin, Texas. The city is the latest to be selected by Google for the launch of its new high speed internet service. Previously launched in Kansas City and Provo, Utah, it has proven popular amongst those living in areas lucky enough to have been chosen.
After much media digging through planning aplpications, it has been discovered by local media that Google has a further 34 American cities targeted for expansion of the scheme including Atlanta, Nashville, Portland, Phoenix, San Jose and Salt Lake City.
What’s all the fuss about? Quite simply, speed. Lots of it. Customers can expect to see 1 gigabit per second, that’s around 100 times faster than most conventional broadband services in the UK. A secondary appeal is the chance to escape the effective monopolies that cable companies currently have over broadband connections in much of the US. The service is awful and the speeds leave much to be desired.
The broadband infrastructure of the UK is thankfully quite different, and most would agree better than that of the US. IS it possible a similar thing could happen here though? The answer is apparently ‘yes’.
Earlier in the year it was announced by TalkTalk Telecom and BskyB that they were joining forces to plan something similar, connecting 20,000 homes and businesses in Yorkshire with a 1 gigabyte service as early as 2015.
In light of the plans, Ofcom has proposed new rules that would ensure BT promotes competition in Britain’s superfast broadband market. Specifically, BT would see regulations placed on its own retail prices as well as its wholesale prices to other operators.
This means good news for consumers who will enjoy a more competitive market, and thus cheaper prices, as well as faster broadband speeds.
End To UK Mobile Phone Blackspots
For a small island, we have a lot of blackspots when it comes to mobile signal. It’s not limited to rural areas either, you’ll find these small dead zones in and around our major cities, too. This could soon become a thing of the past though, thanks to a new plan allowing networks to be shared.
Ministers want to make it possible for users to automatically switch to other networks when they lose signal from their current provider. A kind of ‘national roaming’ if you will. If it goes ahead will be the first scheme of its kind anywhere in the world.
Operators have previously opposed the plans citing that it reduces incentive for them to put masts in areas with low population. Culture secretary, Sajid Javid has countered this by offering to charge reduced fees for a range of radio frequencies, in return helping to pay for shared networks.
David Cameron has been pushing for increased coverage in reception for rural areas for quite some time. The matter was raised again this year after the PM reportedly lost signal in Norfolk on a number of occasions.
Some networks already have mast sharing arrangements, and there is no reason to doubt the technical feasibility of expanding such operations.
Sources from within Whitehall concede, though, “Why should an operator that has invested a significant amount in providing great coverage in a particular area be forced to share that with a competitor who may come in and offer a cheaper deal? That’s the sort of question that needs to be worked through.”
One insider at a major mobile phone company warns that national roaming “would be a disaster for consumers”, and has been rejected in other countries with good reason. “Rural Britain could be pushed back into a pre-digital dark age as no mobile company would be incentivised to invest in the latest mobile broadband communications. It would take years to work through the regulatory and legal processes as well as adding a layer of red tape for councils.”
Another source said “This is bad for customers, bad for the country as a whole and bad for the industry. This may sound easy to do but it effectively builds a network that is designed to drop calls.”
The Department of Culture, Media and Sport said “The government has made it clear that it wants to ensure the UK has world class mobile phone coverage as part of our investment in an infrastructure for the long term economic plan. We are investing up to £150 million to improve mobile phone coverage in areas where there is currently no coverage from any of the mobile network operators. Of course we want to look at what can be done in areas with poor coverage.”
Despite concerns of call dropping, and causing a ‘race to exit’ situation, whereby companies would close masts that could be served by another carrier, Mr Javid remains committed to the plans.