Includes bibliographical references and index.

Overworked and Overwhelmed: The Mindfulness Alternative; Contents; Introduction: Overworked and Overwhelmed?: Welcome to the Mindfulness Alternative; Part One; 1 Reality Bites (or Does It?): Why You Feel So Overworked and Overwhelmed; Does Any of This Sound Familiar?; The Situations You Find Yourself In . . .; ... And the Denominator They Have in Common; Why It Feels Crazier Lately; You Must Be Present to Win; 2 What Does Mindfulness Even Mean Anyway?: It's Simpler Than You Probably Think; Mindfulness in the Midst of Disaster; Mindfulness Begins with Awareness. Awareness Leads to Choice and Then IntentionHow Mindfulness Sets You Up for High Performance; Awareness; Intention; What Are the Barriers to Mindfulness?; Mental Chatter; Distractions; Lack of Awareness in Your Story; Get Ready for Your Moment of Truth; 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; Keep Breathing, It Just Might Save Your Life; What Was Going on Inside Henry and What Goes on Inside You; Fight or Flight; Rest and Digest; Stuck in Chronic Fight or Flight. What Chronic Fight or Flight Does to Your Brain and BodyWe're All Psychosomatic; The Promise of Rest and Digest; Easy to Do and Likely to Make a Difference; Part Two; 4 Where Do You Want to Go?: Guiding Yourself with a Life GPS; Elaine's Story; Introducing the Life GPS; How Are You When You're at Your Best?; What Are the Routines That Would Enable You to Show Up at Your Best?; What Difference Would Showing Up at Your Best Make in Your Three Big Arenas of Life?; 5 How Are You at Your Best?: Clarifying Your Version of Peak Performance; From Concert to Cellblock. Self-Knowledge Is the Beginning of Self-ImprovementOperating at Your Best; How to Determine What Your Best Looks Like; Step 1: Find a Quiet Place; Step 2: Remember When You Were in the Zone; Step 3: Remember How It Felt; Step 4: Look for Common Denominators; Step 5: Congratulate Yourself; The Impact of the At Your Best Approach; Barbara's Story; Diane's Story; "What If I'm Stuck?"; What Gets in the Way of Showing Up at Your Best; Uber Factor 1: Kinks in the Hose; Uber Factor 2: Too Much of a Good Thing; Uber Factor 3: Playing Against Your Strengths. 6 What's Their Secret?: The One Commitment You Have to Make to Yourself and How to Keep ItLearning to Clear the Decks; Ten Tips That Can Help You Keep That Commitment; Time Tip 1: Recognize and Overcome the Tyranny of the Present; Time Tip 2: Ask, "Is This Really Even Necessary?"; Time Tip 3: Push Your Calendar's Reset Button; Time Tip 4: Understand and Set Your Operating Rhythm; Time Tip 5: Schedule the Most Important Rocks First; Time Tip 6: Give Yourself Time for Unconscious Thought; Time Tip 7: Set Boundaries and Guardrails; Time Tip 8: Use Yes and No Strategically.

Leverage mindful awareness and intention to achieve better outcomes 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.