What does it mean to shift your focus, or your mind, to the present? It means you:
- avoid dwelling on the past, or things you cannot change
- avoid living in the future or the what-ifs and
- reel in your wandering mind filled with distractions
When you find your mind starting to wander, make a deliberate and conscious effort to shift your focus to the present.
Benefits of Staying in the Present
It is really easy to say, “Stay in the present!” It isn’t so easy to actually live this idea. Minds wander; there are distractions. But there are benefits to staying focused on the present.
Perhaps the most important reason to stay in the present is for your mental health. When you are living in the past, you risk experiencing depression. When you are living in the future, you risk experiencing anxiety.
A close second when it comes to the importance of staying in the present is time: the time wasted in being distracted and the time it takes to refocus on your original subject. Time is one of the few things you can never get back. For example, it takes an average of 26 minutes to return to a topic after being distracted.
Tips for Staying in the Present
An ability to stay in the present doesn’t just happen. It is not necessarily a skill you are born with. The book How to Tame Your Inner Squirrel: 8 Strategies for Managing Your Distractions identifies 25 tips for staying in the present. For this blog, this list has been pared down to 10 tips. They are a great place to start!
- Triggers. You can avoid or plan for the people, places, and activities that you already know are triggers. When you are blindsided, focus on the here and now. Avoid thoughts of past failure (depression) or making a mistake in the future (anxiety).
- Pomodoro strategy. Set a timer for 25-minute work periods followed by 5-minute breaks. It tricks your mind into focusing on the subject at hand, knowing that there will be a break in just a short time. The length of work time and break time can vary for each person.
- Spatial awareness. Once you recognize your mind is starting to wander, stop. Where are you? What are you doing? Who are you with? Answering these questions at the moment will potentially let you know what triggers your inner squirrel.
- Manageable steps. Stop thinking you have to do everything at once. Break down tasks into smaller, more manageable steps. It will help you stay focused on the one task in front of you and will bring a feeling of accomplishment when the small task is completed.
- One-minute rule. If a task can be done in one minute or less, do it now. It will take you less time to just do it than it would to put it on a to-do list to be accomplished later. Before you get distracted, just do it. It will give you a sense of accomplishment!
- Bulletin board. When a thought comes into your mind, write it down immediately. It could be on a bulletin board, a whiteboard, a notepad, or on your phone. The idea is to write it down, so it does not distract your thinking, trying to remember what your idea was!
- Timeboxing. Identify one thing you will accomplish each day. It doesn’t matter how big or small. It could be as simple as brushing your teeth. Once the task is part of your routine, work toward accomplishing more complex tasks such as being on time for work.
- One thing at a time. It is easy to get distracted and not finish tasks. ALWAYS complete one task before starting another. This is especially true when you walk into another room and start another new project before the next one begins.
- Plan for downtime. If you don’t schedule or plan each day for downtime or “me-time”, there won’t be any. This downtime can help you refocus and change the trajectory of constant distraction. It doesn’t have to be more than 5 or 10 minutes per day.
- Body double. Some people find they can stay more focused on a task if there is someone else in the room with them. This is your body double. It doesn’t matter if they are working on the same task; it is just the idea that you both keep working even if there are distractions.
If you want to control your distractions, it will be important for you to stay in the present and find strategies and tips that can support you in doing so. Now that you have finished reviewing the tips, you have probably found at least one or two that would be helpful for you to stay in the present. Great job!
Summary
If you are looking to reduce symptoms of depression or anxiety and feel more in control of your life, it may be helpful for you to focus on staying in the present. For more ideas on how you can focus on the present, please refer to my book, How to Tame Your Inner Squirrel: 8 Strategies for Managing Your Distractions.
With warmest regards,
Thank you so much for reading this blog. If you enjoyed the content, please check out other blogs at:
RelationshipsRelearned.com
RVingNomads.com
In addition to blogs and articles, I have written a series of self-help books called The Personal Empowerment Series and a fictional series named The Charlotte Novella Series. To view my books and novellas I have written, please go to my Amazon Authors Page.
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If you live in the State of Maine or Texas and seeking individual therapy, please go to my Therapy website: KathrynMaietta.com
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