I have this certain mindset that I get at various times throughout my life. I call it “vacation mode” even though I fall into it even when I am not on vacation. I call it vacation mode because it is how I get when I go on vacations. You probably have been in vacation mode too. You are stuck in that moment where nothing else matters. You aren’t thinking about anything else. You lose all track of time. Nothing else matters except whatever you are doing.

Maybe that is laying on a beach chair on a tropical island. No worries about bosses, tomorrows, or anything else. You are in a moment of time that you soon will snap out of and get back to reality. Maybe you have even reached this mode at work. I know I do sometimes. I get involved in a project that I get so deep into, time disappears, worries disappears, and I am in a zone like no other. Next thing I know I snap out of it an hours have passed. Others call this phenomenon living in the moment.

Live In The Moment

I know saying “living in the moment” is pretty cliche. But when you think about what living in the moment truly is, you know it shouldn’t be cliche, but should be a way of life. Too many people just go through the motions in many aspects of their life. They truly never to try to live in the moment.

Before I rant any further, I again want to stress what living in the moment really is. It isn’t some life coach pushing some motivational speech down your throat. Living in the moment simply means getting involved in whatever you are doing 100%. Whether you are working, relaxing, cheering for your favorite football team, making love to your wife, playing air drums on your car dashboard, hitting the gym, taking a vacation, I don’t care what you are doing, living in the moment means whatever you are engaged in right then and there, give it your undivided attention. No more half-ass efforts (half-ass efforts lead to half-ass results).

People go through life and don’t have an freaking idea what they are doing. Think about your life for a moment. Do you honestly live in the moment of whatever you are doing every single second of every single day? I highly doubt it. And I know that is a tall order to take, but try it. I can nearly guarantee that you will start to see changes happen in your life.

Take your job for example. The next time your boss gives you a project, don’t moan and groan like you normally do. Rip it out of his hands with a huge smile on his face and get to work. Bury yourself in it. Set a timer on your phone for 60 minutes and for the next 60 minutes all you do is that project. Don’t check facebook. Don’t check your email. Turn your cell phone off (yes, newer phones can actually be turned off!). close your office door and work on nothing else but that project. Watch your productivity go through the room. Once your timer hits your 60 minutes, take a break. Go do something else (at 100% – even conversations around the water cooler should be done with everything you have). After you recoup for a minute, set another time and hit the project again with no distractions.

Or take your gym routine for example. I see it time and time again. People go into the gym and there are grunting guys, and makeup covered females. Loud music and even louder conversations. You water around till you find a TV with something remotely interesting playing and jump on the treadmill. You watch the TV for a few more minutes ensuring that it is the right thing you want to watch. Then you slowly turn on the treadmill and start walking slowly, while you are watching TV, and the other people. Soon you get bored and you stop the treadmill and go find a bike and do the same routine. After about an hour, you have had enough and you are done. If you have gone into the gym and immediately jumped on a treadmill – no tv, no distractions – and just got your workout done at a little higher intensity, you could have been in and out in 30 minutes with the same results.

People have misconstrued what the term “living in the moment” really means. I say it means getting into the moment, that single moment whatever you are doing, you are in that moment. Live it. Breathe it. Do it with everything you have.

Homework assignment: In the next 5 days, I want you to find something you can do with everything you have. Whether it is at work, home, gym, relationship, whatever. Think of something that you know you don’t put the effort in. And put that effort it. Remove all the distractions (STOP WATCHING F-ING LOST!) and give everything you have at the task at hand. Come back here and leave a comment to tell me how it went.

To Your Health and Productivity!

~Z