“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.”
Buddha
There is only one time and place where you can be and have any control over.
The present moment.
But most of us still spend a lot of our regular days lost in memories, reliving a sunny vacation or maybe more commonly repeating an old conflict or negative situation over and over in our thoughts.
Or we get lost in scenarios about what could happen in the future. Maybe through wishful daydreams.
Or maybe by building monsters in our minds as thoughts go round and and round and create scary and dangerous mountains out of molehills or just air.
Or your thoughts may become split and unfocused between several different things and tasks.
If you spend a lot of your everyday moments and time in the future or the past or you have difficulty focusing and you feel this may have a negative effect on your life then maybe you want to learn to live more in the present moment.
Here’s what works for me to do that. Just a few simple things that I use in my normal day.
1. Single-task not only your work.
I and many others have often written and talked about the importance of single-tasking your work to get it done more effectively.
I have found that it becomes easier for me to stay present for more time throughout my day if I single-task everything as best I can.
That means to not use tabs when I browse the internet but to just be fully engaged with one thing online at a time. It means to not use my smartphone or my computer as I also try to watch the TV.
Or to use any of those internet-devices during a conversation.
Get a good start to your day and set the tone for it by doing one thing at a time as soon as you wake up.
If you have to multitask, then try to set off some specific time for it during your day. Maybe an hour or so in the afternoon.
2. Do it slowly.
When you wake up and starting doing your first thing of the day, then slow it down a bit.
Do it and the next few things at a relaxed and calm pace. It will probably not take that much longer than if you do it quickly.
And you’ll be able to stay present more easily, to focus on each thing you do and to find a simple joy or stillness in it.
Do that instead of increasing your stress right away and getting stuck in worries or though loops about what may happen today before you even have had your breakfast.
And as you move through your day, try to do it slowly when you can.
3. Tell yourself: now I am…
As I do something I simply tell myself this in my mind: Now I am X.
For example, if I am brushing my teeth, then I tell myself: Now I am brushing my teeth.
This habit is maybe most important when doing things where it is easy to drift away to the future or past. It could be when you brush your hair or teeth or when you are taking a walk to the supermarket.
I don’t tell myself this line all the time, but I pepper it in a couple of times throughout my day.
4. Minimize what you let into your head early in the day.
If I check the email, Facebook and other websites online early in the day then I have found that I will have more thoughts bouncing around in my head.
And so it becomes a lot harder to concentrate on anything, to stay present and to not be dragged away into some negative thought loop.
So the kind option towards myself has become to not check anything early in the day. And to check things as few times as I can.
If I minimize such things then my day becomes lighter and simpler and I not only stay present more easily but I also tend to get more things of importance done.
5. No, no, no + reconnect with the here and now.
The four tips above make it easier to stay in the present moment and to use it and enjoy it fully.
But each day I still drift into the past or the future. Or my thoughts become split between different things.
If you have read any of my stuff on self-esteem then you know that I often use a stop-word or phrase to quickly disrupt and stop the inner critic or a damaging train of thought. I do the same thing here.
As quickly as I notice that my thoughts have drifted away I say to myself: No, no, no.
Then I quickly follow that up with focusing on just my breathing or just on what is happening around me right now with all my senses for a minute or two to draw myself back into this present moment.
Henrik Edberg is the creator of the Positivity Blog and has written weekly articles here since 2006. He has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Gothenburg and has been featured on Lifehacker, HuffPost and Paulo Coelho’s blog.
Comments on this entry are closed.
To be present is an attitude we all must learn to practice every time. This post is truly creates that focus. There are many books written on this apart from scriptures on the same principle.
The issue is we carry both these strings of past and future all the time in the present moment in our head loosing awareness of right now.
Thanks and regards.
It was really useful. Thank you very much.
Thank you for what you do. I love all of your messages but this one in particular resonates very well with me. I appreciate all of the time and effort you put into this blog. It truly is very thought provoking and helpful.
I need this so muchd. I over task myself all the time. It is hard not too these days with all the messenger people and twitter, etc.I do what you said in the morning, I try to take it real slow. Get up , open the blinds, have my tea,just read my bible. And if I dont do those things, I tend to get off on the wrong foot.( oh and I check for your messages!! of coarse!! Thank you so much!
Loved reading it. Actually this is what i needed too.
Now days I am too busy with my work and in my work I often forget to live in the present moment and start thinking about future and all.
When I start browsing many tabs are opened once.
I think I should narrow down my approach and give appropriate time to each individual thing. I think it will going to help me to get the things done in best way and also to get the happiness and peace, which i needed most.
Instead of No No NO to thoughts try smiling with the realization that you became aware of the thoughts and without judgment let them go until they come back again and repeat. Realizing the monsters we create have no clothes. :-)
Thanks Edberg, you are a rock and I love you. This writing really touched me. You have drived positivity into my life.
it was real useful for our Daly life, thankx for lesson.
“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.”
Just stay positive in every trials that you’ve been encounter.
Hello everyone!
It was a very useful tips, however I have been trying to use it for a while and I am still stuck… Like.. when I am at the gym walking, for example, I start thinking on something else. I tried to say to my self.. hey.. you are walking now, you are walking, but my heard say to me it is only this though just try to solve this problem now that you are walking and when you are free you can solve it because we have already a answer. :( Resume: I stop walking and start typing a message or email or sometimes I try to walking and make a call or reply to message.
I really do not know what else I should try.
My mom is like this, she is always doing 2 or 3 things at the same time.
What else should I suppose to try in order to solve this?
Any help is welcome.
Thanks.
Fran.
My life’s not going so great at the moment. So, instead of moving forward I stay up all night thinking about everything. After reading this, I think I can accept a B in a course at my university and not die but I can’t take my mental health for granted and stay alive. I have been so hard on myself juggling so many things and still not being able to do enough. But this post just creates a self-awareness and focus which has been lacking in me lately. I’m definitely going to take a step back. I’ve promised myself I won’t scroll through all the social media platforms as soon as I open my eyes in the morning and ease into the day slowly. So, thank you! I’m looking forward to more positive and uplifting posts by you to reorder my life.
Awesome post.
The Positivity Blog never fails to give me fresh doses of inspiration each time I check I it out. Keep up the good job folks!
Hi henrik, I’m too busy with my life. I hardly get any time to read the se blatant thoughts like yours. thanks to this email subscription through which i got the opportunity to read these splendid thoughts.