There is absolutely NO END to it… the incessant distractions of the modern world – cell phones, social media, text messages, emails, voicemails, calendar reminders, streaming TV, Pandora music, to-do lists, Amazon deliveries, deadlines. As a result, we’ve become master multi-taskers, but we’ve also become flops at being 100% present in almost any situation. I swear some days I can talk on the phone, listen to music, load the dishwasher, jot notes, compose a blog post in my mind, brew a cup of tea, and flirt with my husband all at the exact same time.
Lately, I’ve been focusing on the opposite of multi-tasking… being singularly focused on this moment and the people in it. As a skilled and practiced multi-tasker, I’m far from perfect but I’m getting better.
I read recently about a firm whose company mantra is “Be here now.” They have it posted in their team meeting room and start each day and all their meetings with this request, allowing a moment for everyone in attendance to halt their racing thoughts, unpack the layers of multiple attentions, and focus on “being here now.” I LOVE this idea and the company value it declares. I’ve decided it is not only a worthy request but also a mantra from which I could gain a great deal.
And it really requires nothing more than a firm decision and the discipline of practice. Whether it’s dinner with my husband, a phone conversation with my son, a client call, a training session, an educational seminar I’m attending, or a meeting with my own team… being here now is the greatest gift I can give them and myself. When I do it, I notice that singular focus reduces misunderstandings and demonstrates respect and true empathy by engaging all my senses with the end result of higher quality work, better decisions, and a greater sense of service and connection.
When I adopt this approach of being present in the moment, I’m less inclined to even think about multi-tasking, but it takes some getting used to. I have to continuously remind myself to be here now when I start to wander in my mind or become distracted by emails or cell phone pings. It’s definitely a re-training of my brain.
For this week’s Music Monday (always the first Monday of the month), I chose Little Wonders by Rob Thomas. His lyric, “Our lives are made in these small hours, these little wonders, these twists and turns of fate,” beautifully reminds us that life is made in the now. This week, don’t be somewhere out there and miss the right here and the right now.
Rob Thomas: Little Wonders
“Let it go
Let it roll right off your shoulder
Don’t you know
The hardest part is over?
Let it in
Let your clarity define you
In the end
We will only just remember how it feels
Our lives are made
In these small hours
These little wonders
These twists and turns of fate
Time falls away
But these small hours
These small hours still remain
Let it slide
Let your troubles fall behind you
Let it shine
Until you feel it all around you
And I don’t mind
If it’s me you need to turn to
We’ll get by
It’s the heart that really matters in the end
Our lives are made
In these small hours
These little wonders
These twists and turns of fate
Time falls away
But these small hours
These small hours still remain
All of my regret
Will wash away some how
But I can not forget
The way I feel right now
In these small hours
These little wonders
These twists and turns of fate
These twists and turns of fate
Time falls away, but these small hours
These small hours, still remain
They still remain
These little wonders
These twists and turns of fate
Time falls away
But these small hours
These little wonders still remain”
