Focusing on the Present

I LOVE MY PLANNER.

This declaration of love is no secret. I scream it from the rooftops. Anytime I open my planner in class (which is all the time) I let people know (even if they don’t ask) that it’s the Happy Planner, I got it from Michael’s, and since I started writing down EVERYTHING sophomore year I haven’t forgotten a homework assignment.

As someone who spent a lot of time in high school trying to think up excuses for why they didn’t do their homework (honestly I just forgot because I didn’t write it down) and running late to events I thought started at 6 (but really started at 4:30) a planner is a heaven sent.

I am grateful for my planner, and I encourage everyone to get one.

But ever since I’ve started to plan, I’ve found myself more anxious.

I see my life spread out in front of me. I see that big project coming up in two weeks, and I start to worry. I see that in three weeks I’ll have three tests and a paper, and on top of that big project, I wonder if I’ll ever be able to get it done.

I try to work ahead — get all the little things out of the way to make life easier during those hard weeks.

Which just makes things harder.

Newsflash: no matter how far I work ahead, there will always be more more MORE.

My planner makes me obsessed with doing “MORE” and I find myself spending so much time in the future instead of the present.

The future will always be there, looming over you. But the present is here NOW, and this moment will be gone in the blink of an eye.

Becoming more of aware of this, I’ve been trying to live for the now. Not the tomorrow or the next week or the next month, but the now. I want to be grateful for what I have in the moment. Here are some ways I’ve been working on keeping myself in the present.

Pick 3 priorities a day

This has been the biggest change in keeping me focused on the present. Instead of writing everything down, and then starring the *important* things (guess what? I think my entire to-do list is important and that’s not helpful) I schedule 3 priorities a day.

I still get things done. And I still get things done ahead of schedule instead of scrambling last minute like I thought I would be.

So focus on 3 tasks a day. Maybe more or less, depending on what’s your jam. Don’t overwhelm yourself in the present. If you get extra work done, great.

Take it one day at a time

Whenever I’m looking at my monthly planner view it is SO easy to get overwhelmed by everything I have scheduled. All the assignments, all the papers, all the exams. Even in the summer, there’s a part time internship and job to balance.

Those are just the things that I have to do. It doesn’t include all the things I want to do, like write and blog and read.

So, yeah. It’s easy to take a look at your planner and get overwhelmed.

Whenever I feel the familiar panic start to rise in my chest, I just tell myself to take it one day at a time. That’s the only way it makes sense to live life. Focus on today. Focus on what you can do today. Tomorrow or next week or next month will come soon enough. You can’t do anything about the future until it’s HERE, so focus on the present which IS HERE.

Meditate

This is something I’m working on. In the morning after I turn off my alarm and before I do anything else (especially reach for my phone) I meditate, even if it’s just for a minute.

I know that meditating kind of has a taboo attached to it. I know that meditating isn’t super easy to do. But just focusing on the present moment, on your breathing and your body and your wellbeing, just feels really good.

If you’ve tried meditating before and didn’t think it was for you, I would encourage you to keep trying! It takes practice.

Focus on gratitude

When I become anxious about the future, it’s hard to forget everything that I have going for me. I forget about everything I already have when I’m focusing on everything I don’t.

Whenever I notice that I’m particularly stressed, I try to take a moment and name five things I’m grateful for. Focusing on all the good right in front of me keeps me from stressing about whatever is coming.

I try to trust that it will be just as good as what I already have.

Plan your days a few times in advance

Another thing that has helped me stay in the moment is planning my following Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays on the previous Thursday. And then on Tuesday, I’ll plan the following Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Okay, so that sounds confusing.

Basically, I plan 3-4 days at a time a few days before they happen.

It’s a lot easier to go day to day trusting that I have a bigger plan already set in place. I can trust that I’ve already planned a few days in advance so I don’t have to spend the entire present thinking about the future.

So these are just a few things that I think you can do. Unfortunately, I still find myself in the future. Even as I write this post, I’m thinking about what I want to do next. What I have to do next.

Hearing that anxious voice of the future and knowing when/how to quash it takes time and practice.

Most of all, it takes patience in the present.

Spend the next week just noticing when you are stressed and too focused on the feeling. Acknowledge the feeling. That’s the first step.

And then work to combat that feeling.