Being in the Moment
Grab a cup of coffee- let’s chat.
You’ve seen the cute quotes on Pinterest and coffee mugs, about “being in the moment” right? Every time I see one of those I think “Yeah, I totally need to work on that” and then I open 9 more internet tabs and go about my daily multi-tasking. Sure, there are all those studies about how multitasking doesn’t work and your brain can’t actually process more than one thing at a time. Yeah, we all know we’re too connected to our phones and we consume more information now than we ever have before. And if we’re being totally honest, I don’t hate it.
I like that feeling of doing a million things all at once. I like the chaos of Christmas and the constant notifications that pop up on my phone. (Well, I like it for awhile until I get totally overwhelmed and then all I want to do is hide under the covers for a week.) Maybe I need to work on that whole balance idea?
I really do want to make more of an effort to “be in the moment” and pay attention to the people I’m with or the simple task at hand. While my day job literally requires me to bounce around from social media channels, my personal life doesn’t. And while I love checking Instagram while I’m brushing my teeth, maybe I don’t need to. Maybe it would be ok to blow dry my hair without doing calf raises while wearing Crest Whitestrips and reading NPR on my phone.
Are you with me here? But the question is how. How do I break the cycle of constant multitasking and stimulation?
Here are my baby step goals:
1. Put the phone down. Innovative, right? But seriously, I need to get out of the habit of carrying it around with me all over the house. I want to stop sitting on the couch across from Alex while we both stare into our phones. At the very least, I’ll attempt to keep it off the dinner table.
2. Choose focused activities. Things like working out or playing the piano are such a good chance to focus because it’s sort of hard to multitask while you’re sight reading your way through sheet music or running intervals on the treadmill. Now that we have a piano, I plan on taking advantage of it.
3. Make decisions and move on. Oh man this is one I struggle with and I know it drives Alex crazy. I’m embarrassed to admit how long I spent picking out a dining room table. I need to accept that I’ll never “finish” researching all the farmhouse style tables on the internet. It’s a black hole. I’ll never get to the end. That should free up a little more time for other things.
I’m sure this will be an uphill battle and I’ve got a long road ahead, so share your tips and tricks with me! Do you struggle with this, too?
Great post! I really love your tips, especially “put the phone down” because that’s the number 1 stresser for me! I get like 5,000 text messages and emails and it’s just all too much sometimes. Simply putting the phone down feels GOOD!
I sooo love this, Liz! Can I just say that I had a friend from out of town visit me last week…. and I was soo shocked and hurt by him CONSTANTLY looking at his phone! Of course, we’re all guilty of it sometimes…. and we’re close enough that I could call him out and bust him about it (haha).., but you are so right. Being in each others’ presence and being on our phones is such a shame. Proud of you for recognizing and wanting to change it!
It’s good you called him out on it! I know we all do it without even realizing it!
I think about this on occasion as well. That’s great you’re actually taking action steps to do it. Meditation helps 🙂
I need to work in living more in the moment, too. In fact, just last night my boyfriend and I had a long discussion about working on spending time together without those outside distractions! All too often we’ll eat dinner while browsing our cell phones
I’ve been working on this lately too and the main thing is letting go of the fear that I’m missing out on things. Instead of worrying about what has to be done at work, or what’s going on in social media, I’m enjoying my moments. It’s nice!
Yes! I totally hear you. I love blogging and social media but it definitely makes it even harder to unplug!
Hi Liz,
I have struggled with the idea of being in the moment for a long time as well but I have become a lot better with it now as compared to 4 years ago. One thing that helps me a lot is to have absolutely no notifications on my mobile device at all. I turned them off completely for all apps in the Settings. My rule is that if I don’t have the time to go to the app and check out what’s happening, I don’t need to be notified about it. I usually don’t let myself respond to comments throughout the day even if I open the app and view that they are there. I pick a time in evening when I will go online just to do that. It allows me to focus on that one task and it feels much more fulfilling. Sometimes it helps to delete the apps completely so that you wouldn’t be tempted to look at what’s going on until you get the time to be on a computer (whenever that might happen). Sometimes though when i see myself reaching for my device every few minutes, I would either turn it off or put it in airplane mode. Turning it off is more effective. I use the air plane mode at night so I wouldn’t reach for it while trying to sleep.
I also like to indulge in movies or crafts coz then I won’t try to do anything else. Checking out one movie at time from library helps coz it prevents you from watching tons of them one after the other online.
I find that having a routine helps too. For example, first thing in the morning, I like to read quotes. Then when I go to work, I do not allow myself to look at my device until my coffee or lunch break (it works most of the time). Sometimes I leave my device behind at my desk when I go to eat lunch. Then in the evening, after I am done everything I want to do, that’s when I look at the computer and my website and respond to ppl. It works well so I would advise to pick a time for everything. When you are responding continuously, you think you are being “proactive” but really, you are giving yourself more and more sugar to eat lol.
And I struggle with making decisions too. Until I have checked out a number of stores carrying the same item and compared their prices, I just won’t feel satisfied. But awhile ago, I started getting really tired of myself. I was adding stress to my head for no reason at all. I wouldn’t say I stopped completely but my new rule is that if I have gone out more than twice to find the same thing and did not buy it, I am not going to bother anymore. So I order things as soon as at least I can get free shipping. I know it’s going to go on sale and I can always get it cheaper but I don’t want to keep this task as “incomplete” on my list for months and months. If saving a few bucks is going to give me a month of headache, it’s just not worth it.
Anyways, hope that helps. Have been your reader for a while now. Your website is lovely.
-IshKishMish :))
Thank you so much for the comment! And you’ve got such great advice, I think the routine idea is a great one! And yes, a month of headache is not worth it to save a few bucks!
Such a wonderful post to reflect on our daily actions! I’ve been trying to disconnect more, key word is trying. 🙂