Even though I spend so much of my time writing, talking and meditating on mindfulness, sometimes it simply slips my mind…to pay attention to what’s in front of me.
It happens often as I’m rushing out the door. On countless occasions, I’ve gathered my things, got out of the apartment, and into the elevator only to wonder shit, did I lock the door?
Once when I was taking care of a friend’s beach house, and again — rushing to get out the door — I worried the entire ride home shit, did I lock the door? The reasonable part of my brain said of course, you locked the door. You’d be an idiot not to. Then the idiot part of my brain said uh, I’m not sure. An entire chunk of brain space was dedicated to this agitation. What a waste!
So to help counteract this mindlessness that sometimes plagues my brain, I’ve started paying more attention to ways that help me become more aware of what I’m actually doing so I don’t have to waste time worrying what I did.
Here are 4 Ways to Snap Into The Present
1. Speak Your Actions
DH taught me this one. He’s a huge LOCK proponent meaning he always says LOCK while locking the door. It seems a little silly. But it works. Saying what you’re doing while you do it is a sure-fire way to match your brain to your action.
2. Stomp Your Feet
OK, this is definitely inspired by the amazing flamenco performance I saw the other night (Farruquito–see him!). The passion that goes into pounding the floor can literally shake you out of a haze. The benefits of this are twofold – your body will enliven by the jolt of energy, and your mind will come back to the moment with a bang.
3. Stop Multi-tasking
Now that M is in middle school, he has a phone. One of the new-phone rules is no texting while walking down the street. Put simply, he’s too young to multitask like this. And quite frankly, no one should be multitasking like this — it’s a huge distraction! How can we be attentive to what is when we’re trying to do more than one thing at a time? We can’t. Focus only on the task at hand.
4. Slow Down
You could piggy back this with the prior tip, they go together like PB&J. Did you notice how in my intro I was always rushing out the door? I feel like I am ALWAYS rushing out the door! But when I can stop multitasking, focus on the task at hand and SLOW DOWN, things will go smoother, more efficiently and with more care.
What do you do to be more mindful in your day to day?
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Elysha,
Thanks for today’s essential topic! It is universal, constant and helpful. I will relate this:
I used to make fun of people (mostly older folks) who would arrive soooooooo early for whatever it was. I used to sneer at friends who had their luggage packed a week in advance of a trip. And how about those school mates who handed in their assignments before the due date? Seriously?
BUT, I found a middle sweet spot where I can do some of the above advance planning and preparation and early departures some of the time. The result is often
a cushy cushion of arriving in the mindful present sooner and with less stress, yelling and heart racing.
Hi GGW, I am working on arriving early because I totally agree — it helps alleviate a lot of stress! While giving extra time to be more mindful.
Thank YOU!
Mindfulness is so key to every area of life! It is not so easy to slow down sometimes but makes such as difference when I become more aware. Thanks for the inspiration! Glad to get to know your blog through the Healthy Grow Your Blog Hop!
Hi Jennifer! It really is key to every area of life. I think the more we practice mindfulness, the easier it gets to do.
Thanks for stopping by! And I’m looking forward to checking out your blog as well.
These are great tips! I waste room in my brain on silly things like that all the time 🙁 I really like the one about speaking your actions. I’m going to have to give that one a try.
Hi Chaitali, It works! Although sometimes I have to repeat myself a couple times to make sure I’m really listening ?.
That’s such an informative article! Multitask – although people assume it’s the best thing to do to be the most productive, it’s actually the last thing to do to be ur most productive self! This is the first time I am reading about ‘speak you actions’ and ‘stomp your feet’ as ways to be more mindful! Definitely going to try it out sometime. Thanks!
Such a good point, we always seem to be rushing! I know for me, my ADHD doesn’t help matters. LOL!
I need to slow down myself more, it does make things seem less stressful and life seems to go easier and more smoothly.
Hi Madhuri, I love that — to be your most productive self! So True!! Thanks for stopping by.
Hi Shannon, slowing down is definitely one of my biggest challenges, but when I can do it- the rewards are also big.
Thank you!
GREAT TIPS. Thank you. Number 2 is new for me. I like that one. I will have to try it. I sometimes do number one. And I am always working on numbers 3 and 4. I am one who always used to walk back towards my car because I couldn’t remember if I pressed the “lock” button and locked it. I would walk back pressing the button as I went and I soon as I heard it, I would proceed to where I was going. I did that EVERY TIME. Now I stop and stand by my car. I was actually getting really good, by my practice has started to fade away and I have found myself walking back. I am going to try the stomp. I will stomp and press the button. That way I will be totally aware of having done so.
Thanks. (I am sending this link in an e-mail to a friend I am writing right now.)
These are such great tips! Lately I’ve been feeling like I’m taking too much on and I don’t really accomplish anything so I’m going to follow #3&4 starting today, for my sanity.
Hi Terre, I find that when I tie a movement into my activity (like stomping) it really helps bring me to the present. You could replace the stomping with whatever movement feels right to you; basically it’s like adding an exclamation point to the moment. I took a movement class recently where the instructor added verbal affirmations to the movement, and we had to repeat after her. It’s this of absorbing ideas through the body. That’s where the stomping bit came from.
Hi Elizabeth! #3 + #4 are great ways to begin being more present with your day. You could also add in some breath awareness… I find that helps with everything. Thank you!
I’ll have to remember to say Lock when I lock things! I’m always checking I’ve locked my car, sometimes walking back across the car park just in case. There has never been a time when I’ve gone back and found that I hadn’t really locked it but it still hangs in your mind!
I know! I always second guess myself because my mind was wandering…but like you — it’s usually locked the first time!