Being Present in a Busy World

By: Kimberly Harkey

I went to pour my coffee today and found myself stuck in my head, not being present. I poured my cup half full of creamer before realizing what I was doing. My mind was distracted and busy thinking about my to-do list and what was going to happen on the TV show I had been watching, while my body was moving forward with coffee. 

This experience of our body going on autopilot while our brain is thinking about other things feels increasingly common these days.We’ve all seen the person distracted by their phone on the sidewalk that is oblivious to the joggers around them. We catch ourselves parking our car at home and realizing we don’t remember any of the drive. We read a blog and find ourselves halfway through and realize we don’t know what we just read.

Our to-do lists and demands on us are endless these days, leaving us moving fast and having a hard time being present. It could be that anxiety leaves your mind worried about that thing you said last week. Maybe you have a busy mind (maybe you have been told you have ADHD) and find your mind racing without being able to settle. Anxiety and ADHD can often lead to feeling distracted and struggles with being present.

Being present:

I write this because being able to slow down to be present has taken a lot of work for me. It has never come easy. Being a therapist hasn’t created an immunity to the distracting and never ending to-do list, the mindless scrolling of social media, or the dysregulation that comes from living in Capitalism.

Honestly, finding ways to be present has looked different across my lifetime. The time, energy, or emotional bandwidth we have available can impact which strategies we use to ground ourselves in the present moment.

Exercise for being present:

One of the exercises I have found myself talking about (and practicing) a lot recently in session is an ACE Exercise by Russ Harris. This exercise is something you can add as a daily practice or try spontaneously when you find yourself struggling.

ACE is an acronym for a 3 step way to connect to the present moment experience of your feelings, your body sensations, and what’s going on around you. 

A -Acknowledge your thoughts and feelings

C- Come back into your body

E- Engage in what you’re doing 

A: Take a few moments to notice what you are experiencing in the present moment. What emotions can you feel? What thoughts keep racing through your head? 

C: Shift your focus to your body. Wiggle your toes. Stretch your arms. Notice how straight or bent your back is. 

E: Engage with the world around you. You can finish  pouring your cup of coffee or take a moment resting where you are. While you do so, use your 5 senses to observe your environment. What can you smell in the present moment? What are 5 things you can see? 

If you want a guided version to help keep your brain focused, you can find varying lengths of the exercise here.

The beauty of this exercise is that you can find a way to incorporate this in a way that matches the time and energy you have in the moment. You can do this in 10 seconds or 10 minutes. You can slow each letter down or speed it up, as long as you don’t skip over the feelings in your body (even when it’s tempting to do so!). The more you use this exercise, the more you may accidentally find yourself bring present instead of distracted.

This exercise can be useful to focus a busy ADHD brain, to help you wade through overwhelming feelings (anxiety or any others), or to help all of us humans living in a busy world to pay attention to the present. This can be one more tool for you to help build a more present and intentional life.