How to be more present
Why live in your head when you can be present?
So what?
ICYMI – Do you frequently find your mind wandering? Being present is becoming more difficult in our busy world. Our schedule is getting fuller and endless amount of notifications are always waiting for us on our phones. It’s even more important now that we make a conscious effort to be present and practice mindfulness. Benefits of being present include:
* Focusing your energy on the task you’re performing;
* Enjoying the activity being undertaken;
* Having a greater sense of purpose;
* Connecting close with your loved ones; and
* Finding joy in your mundane life.
Single tasking
Multitasking seems inevitable in our busy lives. We get bombarded with multiple requests from work and notifications from our phones as well as get pressured to juggle multiple things at once. Not focusing on one thing at a time is definitely a way to not be present. It makes it impossible to live in the present moment when we are tackling multiple tasks. There is more research being done with how to be more productive which indicates that focusing on one thing allows you to better remember details, get things done quicker and have better use of your mental and physical energy. A simple example I like to give is lifting weights. Imagine how hard it would be to do one repetition of a bicep curl whilst trying to make dinner, look after your infant child and take a call.
Surroundings
Simply noticing your surroundings is a great way to practice mindfulness and be present. Do you ever take a moment out of your busy day to sit down, look around and soak in the moment? How often do you pause, close your eyes whilst taking a deep breath and open them up to see everything that is around you? When you simply stop what you’re doing, notice what is happening around you taking in everything around you, it becomes much easier to be present.
My experience
When we were getting married, one of our colleagues told us to make sure to take a few minutes to sit back and soak in the moment during the wedding ceremony. She emphasised that we should do this no matter how little time we had during the wedding and how crazy everything gets. So of course, we did just that between our first course and mains. Whilst we were getting pulled in multiple directions (i.e. photos, forks on the glass, people coming up to us), we took five minutes to sit back, hold hands and look around to soak in the moment. It was the best wedding tip that we got which we share with anyone planning on getting married. Despite all other wedding memories fading away, that moment is still vivid whenever we talk and think about our wedding day. How we felt, what we saw and the roller coaster of emotions that we experienced are engrained in our minds.
What now?
- Do you ever make a conscious effort to focus on one single task instead of multitasking? Do you find yourself more productive doing one task at a time or multitasking?
- Are you having difficulty being present? How often do you sit down and notice your surroundings?