[Transcript] … Today we are talking about staying focused in the present moment.
Have you ever had a meditation practice? And I say a meditation practice because it is an ongoing thing, right? It’s not a one and done thing. It’s an ongoing commitment to the process.
When you are meditating, you are supposed to be … the way I’ve been taught to meditate anyway … you need to be centered in the present moment. You focus on your breath and you try to clear your mind so that you are just in the present moment.
You aren’t worrying about what you’re going to do next week. You’re not worrying about what’s coming up, you know, in the next hour. You are just present. You’re not worried. You’re not thinking these other thoughts that come into your mind.
And what I’ve been taught … and, you know, so many people have used this technique I don’t know who to attribute it to … but what you do is you simply acknowledge the thought that has popped into your head. And then you say, “Thank you for visiting. I’ll see you later.”
The “Thank you for visiting. I’ll see you later” Tactic
So you’re acknowledging that you’re having this thought, but then you’re just dismissing it. You are allowing it to be acknowledged. And then you are also letting it know that you’ll get back to it later.
There’s something freeing about this idea. This notion of acknowledging it, saying thank you for visiting, and then saying that you’ll see the thought later … that you’ll attend to the thought later.
It gives your brain permission to let it go for right now. Right?
So if, right now, you are meditating and you’re being in the present moment, focusing on your breath, focusing on how your body feels, focusing, you know, on all that. And then these stray thoughts come into your mind — because, let me tell you, if you’re anything like me, they do — there’s this power in saying, “Thank you for visiting. I’ll get to you later.”
But this thought — that “thank you for visiting, I’ll see you later” — that technique, it goes beyond meditation. I learned it through meditation, but I have found that it works so great throughout the rest of the day as well.
Not Just for Meditation …
So if you are like me, you have these random thoughts come up while you are focused on something else. Right?
I’m a writer. And we writers, we welcome those ideas, right? Because we can use them. But what I have found is if I pursue all the random thoughts that come into my head, I am going down all these different rabbit holes. And I have lost my productivity for the day.
What I do instead is I have always a pen and paper near me so that if something comes up, I write it down. So it is my way of saying, “Thank you for visiting. I will see you later.” And I’m writing it down so that I don’t forget.
And that lets me focus on what I’m doing in the present.
It is so critical, especially when we are working from home … when we are so busy, when we have so many demands on our time. We must stay focused on what we’re doing at any one given time.
If we are going to be productive and efficient, and not working all the time trying to get things done …
If we can focus on what we’re doing, and we put all of our attention, all of our effort into the one thing that we are doing at a time …
Then that one thing ends up taking us less time.
Do you see where I’m going with this?
No More Multitasking!
We are not meant to be multitaskers. I know it’s become like this badge of honor, if you can multitask and do all these things at once. But we are not meant to do that.
When we try to do that, we either do a lot of things but none of them very well, or we get burnt out because we’re trying to do too much and/or things slipped through the crack.
We’ll have better sustained success if we train ourselves, instead, to have the pride in focus, the pride of focusing on one thing at a time, the pride of focusing, staying in that present moment with whatever it is that we’re doing.
So, if in this present moment, you’re listening to me, thank you so much. I appreciate you. But stay focused on this …
If in your one thing, you are reading a story to your child, focus on that moment of reading that story to your child. If you are focused on writing an email, keep your focus on writing that email.
I encourage you to try this. Try this idea of staying focused. Try this technique of recognizing your other random thoughts and then setting them aside and letting those thoughts know … letting your brain know (because it’s really the brain that you’re letting know, right?) that you will attend to them later.
Try it and see if you don’t get your tasks done faster.
Try it and see if you don’t enjoy what you’re doing more.
Try it and see if you don’t just have more peace and more enjoyment of your life.
Personally, I have found this to be a game changer in my ability to get everything done … my ability to bring my best to the things that I do.
And I think you’ll find it will do the same for you, too. I really do. If you would just give it a try.
So, I encourage you to pick up this mantra for staying focused. When those thoughts come into your head, say, “Thank you for visiting. And I’ll see you later.”
Write the Thoughts Down
Write the thought down if you need to so that you’ll remember it. I have this running sheet of paper on a clipboard. And it’s just this list of random thoughts that come up. And then I’ll go back and I’ll say, “Okay, check, I attended to that. Check, check, check …” And then I can recycle the paper once I have everything done from that page.
So I hope that technique will also help you, however it is that you write it down. You know, physically, or if you put it in a note in your phone, whatever it is that you do. The key, really, is staying focused on the one thing at a time in the present moment. The act of writing the thought down just kind of triggers me and brings my focus back to where it needs to be.
I hope that helps you, too. I encourage you to think about it a little bit.
Thank you for spending time with me .Enjoy the rest of your coffee break, and I will see you again next time.
But before we go, spread your arms out wide, wrap them around yourself. And now repeat after me:
I am so proud of you, and I love you.
All right. You probably needed to hear that from yourself today. And remember it. It is true. Please be proud of yourself. Please love yourself, because the more you love yourself, the more love you can give to everybody else.
All right, have a wonderful rest of your day, and I will see you again soon. Bye for now.
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