Img source: nytimes.com
During these recent times, I have found myself wandering aimlessly in thoughts about the past, or the future, without paying too much attention to the present action. I tend to feel nostalgic about something good that happened in the past, or being excited about plausible future outcomes, and not focusing on the current activity that I am involved on. Knowing that I may continue this pattern of behavior in the future as well, I am making an intention of making a change.
I want to be able to focus more about the things that are present in my life, embrace the joy and be thankful about them. I want to not let the regrets of the past or the desperation for a better future to prevent me from enjoying my current life.
If you are in the same boat as me, and want to know how to deal with this, then here are some tips. I do not pretend to have all the answers, but I think that I can help you start with a few simple tips that you may find useful along the way.
Do not spend too much time in your past
Your past may be filled with awesome things, or with things that did not go that well as you expected. However, just continuing to think about it and having it as your main concern the whole will not help you. You should stop it from bothering you that much. You should learn from your past, and use it as a mentor for your future, but not let it prevent you from paying attention to the current activities and things that you possess.
If it seems difficult for you to deal with that thing that is bothering you from the past, use writing as a way of expressing your inner conflicts and thoughts about it. When you put all of them in a piece of paper, chances are that you will be able to be more calm, feel less stress and be able to focus more effectively in the present.
Do not spend too much time in your future
Another thief of your presence is always thinking about the future. You are constantly thinking about how things might go wrong, or how life was not that fair for you. You are always planning, dreaming or being worried about the future. These thoughts take most of your mental energy, and prevent you from treating the presence as one of the most important parts of your life. Thus, you might not be as effective, and not able to reach the maximal potential that you are capable of reaching.
One way that can help is being aware that you are spending so much time thinking solely about the future. This in fact represents the the first step. Then, you should make the intention to get back to focus in the present. If you see that you are constantly paying attention to the future, notice the reason. If you are being worried, o write about it in a piece of paper and make a plan about the time you intend to deal with it.
If you have so many ideas that you get during different times and are afraid that you will lose them, then you should have a trusted system of collecting them. When you know that your ideas are already being saved, you will feel less worried, more relaxed, as you are sure that you have your ideas saved down there.
Conclusion
Past things are gone. The future has not come yet. The most important part of your life is now. Let your life be a combination of these three times, but with a major concentration in the present.
Being aware of the importance of the present time, and reminding yourself about it is something that can remarkably have impact in your life. When you are capable to concentrate more in the present, you will feel more engaged and fulfilled, and you will be able to produce a higher quality of work.
