{"id":30683,"date":"2021-04-03T21:18:01","date_gmt":"2021-04-04T01:18:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=30683"},"modified":"2021-04-12T20:11:48","modified_gmt":"2021-04-13T00:11:48","slug":"being-present-in-the-moment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/being-present-in-the-moment\/","title":{"rendered":"The Subtle Art of Being Present in the Moment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Do you have trouble <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/living-in-the-present-moment\/\">being present in the moment<\/a>? Do you often find yourself ruminating over the past or time-traveling into the future?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s easy to get stuck going over past mistakes or to spend time <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-stop-worrying-about-the-future\/\">worrying about the future<\/a>. In both instances, you\u2019re thinking about things you can\u2019t control. But when you focus on being present in the moment, time seems to move more slowly, you\u2019re more relaxed, and better able to concentrate.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are some practical tips on how to get your mind to focus on being present in the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more Read more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mindfulness and Being Present in the Moment<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Worrying about the past or future distracts you from what\u2019s essential now. The Greeks viewed time in two ways: chronological (the time we measure) and the opportune or right time (now). We only have now. Concerns about the past and future cause you to miss the now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Former Utah high school rugby coach Larry Gelwix kept his team focused on the present with the acronym WIN, which stood for \u201cwhat\u2019s important now?\u201d&nbsp;The question helped players stay focused on what they needed to be doing in the moment, rather than rehashing a previous play or worrying about losing. Because they focused on their game and nothing else, winning became almost automatic. Over Gelwix\u2019s 36 years as a coach, the team had 418 wins, ten losses, and twenty national championships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He drew a distinction between losing and being beaten \u2014&nbsp; being beaten meant the other team was better; losing meant you lost focus on what was essential in the moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are some tips for being present in the moment:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Decide what\u2019s important now: <\/strong>When you feel overwhelmed, figure out what\u2019s important right now. Make a list of things competing for your attention and cross off everything that isn\u2019t important right now.&nbsp;<\/li><li><strong>Ignore the future: <\/strong>Make a list of things that might be essential, but aren\u2019t essential right now (things you might want to do at some point, but not now). Once you get them on paper, you can set them aside to think about at another time, rather than being distracted or stressed by them.<\/li><li><strong>Prioritize: <\/strong>Rank the items on your \u201cwhat\u2019s essential now\u201d list. Cross off each one when it\u2019s complete.<\/li><li><strong>Put your brain on \u201cpause\u201d: <\/strong>When something is distracting you \u2014 when you can\u2019t stop thinking about a work conversation, for instance \u2014 stop your thoughts, take a few deep breaths, relax, and let go of the distraction.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Focusing on being present in the moment affects the way you do things \u2014 the times you can do this bring you contentment and happiness (for instance focusing on enjoying a cup of tea). Pay attention to the times throughout the day when you focus on being present in the moment\u2014 think about what triggered them and what brought you out of them. Recognizing the triggers, try to recreate them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Do you have trouble being present in the moment? Do you often find yourself ruminating over the past or time-traveling into the future? It\u2019s easy to get stuck going over past mistakes or to spend time worrying about the future. In both instances, you\u2019re thinking about things you can\u2019t control. But when you focus on being present in the moment, time seems to move more slowly, you\u2019re more relaxed, and better able to concentrate.&nbsp; Here are some practical tips on how to get your mind to focus on being present in the moment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":30709,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,6],"tags":[248],"class_list":["post-30683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-self-improvement","category-spiritual","tag-essentialism","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Subtle Art of Being Present in the Moment - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Focusing on being present in the moment affects the way you do things. 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Here are some practical tips on how to be present in the now.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/being-present-in-the-moment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-04-04T01:18:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-04-13T00:11:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/now-present-moment-awareness.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Darya Sinusoid\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/being-present-in-the-moment\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/being-present-in-the-moment\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Darya Sinusoid\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0421cce75bc249b11e2517b3a91f9c46\"},\"headline\":\"The Subtle Art of Being Present in the Moment\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-04-04T01:18:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-04-13T00:11:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/being-present-in-the-moment\/\"},\"wordCount\":502,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/being-present-in-the-moment\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/now-present-moment-awareness.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Essentialism\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Self-Improvement\",\"Spiritual\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/being-present-in-the-moment\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/being-present-in-the-moment\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/being-present-in-the-moment\/\",\"name\":\"The Subtle Art of Being Present in the Moment - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/being-present-in-the-moment\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/being-present-in-the-moment\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/now-present-moment-awareness.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-04-04T01:18:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-04-13T00:11:48+00:00\",\"description\":\"Focusing on being present in the moment affects the way you do things. 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