3.2.2026

You sit down to start a task that should take 30 minutes. Before you finish the first paragraph, a message comes in. Then a meeting reminder. Then a thought about something you forgot to follow up on. You return to the task, but the focus you had a moment ago is gone.

Nothing dramatic happened. Yet thinking clearly now feels harder than it should.

We recently had an Inspirit event where we talked about wellbeing, stress, and how these show up in everyday life. It sparked reflections that felt relevant beyond the room. Here, we want to dig a bit deeper into how these responses work, and the tools that can help us navigate them.

Mindfulness can be understood as a set of practices that help ground us in the present moment and experience it as it is. It means bringing attention to the here and now, rather than getting caught up in “what if?” or “I should have” thoughts. It allows us to become more present in not only our professional lives, but in our personal lives as well.

Science behind it

A big part of why this happens is simple: the brain processes a lot of information at once and assigns meaning to it. We take in what’s in front of us, but we’re also thinking about the past and anticipating what could happen next, money issues, deadlines, current events, a conversation from yesterday, something we forgot to do. It splits attention into multiple streams.

Stress responses are designed for situations where we need to detect threats and act quickly. The problem is that the body can trigger the same response during modern situations, even when there is no physical danger.

When fight-or-flight is activated, physical changes show up and the body behaves as if it needs to survive something immediate. That reaction makes sense when there is real danger. It’s far less useful when the task requires planning, communication, or collaboration.

This way of understanding stress involves the amygdala and stress hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline, which are responsible for triggering the body’s fight-or-flight response. These systems influence how attention is directed under pressure. At the same time, neuroplasticity describes the brain’s ability to adapt based on repeated experience. Patterns of thinking that are used often become easier to activate over time.

Which means that if we tend to worry a lot, our brain becomes very good at doing exactly that.

Practical tools to help us through the situation

The 4-7-8 Breathing Exercise: This is a practical tool because it’s short (around two minutes), doesn’t draw attention, and can be used almost anywhere, at a desk, before a meeting, in a meeting room, or elsewhere when you need a reset.

Note: If you feel lightheaded or uncomfortable, stop. If the 4-7-8 pattern feels strained, adjust the numbers (for example, 3-5-7) while keeping the same idea: shorter inhale, longer hold, longer exhale.

Compartmentalizing: Compartmentalizing is another practical concept: putting different types of thoughts into separate “compartments” so they don’t all compete at once. That can be helpful for focus. But over-compartmentalizing can also create blind spots, for example, when decisions are made without considering personal or emotional context. It’s a balance: sometimes narrowing focus helps; sometimes widening it is necessary.

**Journaling: Journaling is simple, but effective for a reason: it gets thoughts out of your brain and onto something external, making them easier to separate and work through. **It doesn’t matter whether it’s handwritten or typed, whichever format you’re more likely to do is the right one. Handwriting can engage motor memory, which can make things feel more concrete, but consistency matters more than the medium.

Other Tools Good to Check Out

Breathing tools

• Diaphragmatic (belly) breathing
• Box breathing

Meditative tools

• Sitting meditation
• Body scan meditation

Physical regulation tools

• Progressive muscle relaxation
• Mindful movement

Grounding tools

• 5-4-3-2-1 technique
• Mental grounding exercises

Why this can help in the moment

These practices work partly because they communicate safety to the body. If you can slow down enough to do a controlled breathing cycle, you’re essentially signalling - I’m not in physical danger right now. When the body calms down, the mind often follows.

For some, practices like these can trigger skepticism. Mindfulness is often associated with spirituality, trends, or claims that promise more than the research supports. In practice, mindfulness-based tools are used in clinical and professional contexts because they train a specific capability: the ability to direct attention and regulate reactions under pressure. They do not remove stress, eliminate negative emotions, or solve complex problems on their own.

They also do not work the same way for everyone.

Used thoughtfully, they are best understood as tools, not solutions. One option among many for creating small moments of clarity in demanding environments.

Additional resources for further exploration are shared below.

• DBT Mindfulness Overview and Exercises
• Mindfulness Toolbox
• Mindfulness Apps
• Aware: The Science and Practice of Presence
• r/Mindfulness
• Has the science of mindfulness lost its mind?
• Meta-Analysis: Mindfulness-Based Therapies

These tools are meant to support everyday regulation, not replace professional care. If you’re finding that mental health-related challenges are affecting your daily life, reaching out to a professional can make a meaningful difference.