Focus on being present.
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Remember to come back to the present
Remember to focus on being present. It is advice we have all heard, and probably ignored, many times. The mind loves to travel. It replays yesterday’s conversation and rehearses tomorrow’s meeting. Meanwhile, the only moment we can actually live slips by almost unnoticed.
A well-known Harvard study by Killingsworth and Gilbert found that people’s minds wander almost half of the time. More interestingly, people reported feeling less happy while their minds wandered, even when the activity itself was pleasant. In other words, attention seems to matter as much as circumstances for how we feel.
Small cues that help you remember
Since forgetting is natural, reminders help. Some people use a daily alarm. Others link presence to a routine, such as the first sip of coffee or the moment they open a door. Each time the cue appears, they take one breath and notice where they are. It sounds trivial, yet it builds a strong habit over time.
Being present also improves work. Deep focus on one task produces better results than constant switching. For example, writing for forty minutes without email often achieves more than two distracted hours. Therefore, try single-tasking for one block each day, and see what changes.
Finally, be gentle when you drift. The goal is not perfect attention, which no human has. Instead, the practice is the return itself. Each time you notice your mind elsewhere and come back, you strengthen the skill. So the most useful instruction is simple: remember, return and begin again.
Besides, presence improves relationships too. When you listen without checking your phone, people feel it immediately. Therefore, try giving one conversation a day your full attention. It is a small gift, yet it often leaves both people feeling more connected and more understood.
Keep reading
Read more about mindfulness on Wikipedia.
