Independent Practice (Longer) | Employee Wellbeing

This is the longer version of Independent Practice, meant for after the Innerleaps employee wellbeing program. There is more silence between the bells. The setup is the same as the shorter one: three bells at the start, four short bells along the way and three at the end, only each stretch of silence runs longer. This recording is not part of the six weeks either. It is meant for anyone who, after the 6-week Innerleaps employee wellbeing program, stress management training organizations use to reduce workplace stress, wants to practise with longer silences because they know what to watch for. Practising on your own can work just as well: Aikens and colleagues studied a workplace program in 2014 in which participants practised largely under their own steam, and saw self-rated productivity rise by 10%. Innerleaps sees the same pattern in its own measurement at a Dutch client organization, taken a month after the program ended: participants who practised more than once a week gained 11.1% in productivity, against 8.6% across the whole group. The effects were still measurable at that point. Timing matters. Berardi and colleagues analysed almost 900,000 practice sessions from nearly 15,000 people in a daily practice app in 2023, and found that those who practised in the morning were the most likely to still be going months later. Early in the day there is less competition, so the practice happens before meetings and tiredness push it aside. If a day does not work out, that is part of it. Lally and colleagues followed people building a new daily routine in 2010 and found that a single missed day did not disturb the habit forming. On average it took them around 66 days before the behaviour started to feel automatic, so be patient with yourself. Every day gives you a fresh chance to start. This longer version replaces the shorter one. Research by Amishi Jha shows that results increase the more often and the longer you practice, so take the longer session when you can. When you cannot, do the shorter one. No time for that either? Do the 3-Step Reset, take a few conscious breaths, or walk a round in the afternoon with your attention on it. Make sure you are not interrupted while doing this exercise.