Mindfulness in Everyday Life

I don’t need to convince you that life is chaotic. But, we live in a world that over-values productivity and undervalues slowing down. Even though we give mindfulness lip service, we still seem to be resistant to changing our workaholic habits. The kicker is that the more our lives speed up, the more we need to practice mindfulness as a way to manage stress, remain grateful and happy, and grow as people.

Mindfulness, essentially, is bringing your full attention to one focal point, like your breath or your food, choosing to take note of the senses without judgement. It’s so simple it almost seems trivial, but the beauty of mindfulness is that you only have to do one job to quiet your mind -- pay attention. 

Practicing mindfulness in your everyday life can help you feel grounded because you’re taking the time to pay attention to your life instead of letting is zoom past you.  It can soothe the spinning mind many of us experience when life is busy. Mindfulness can even help you feel more content because you’re taking the time to notice all that you have in life. 

With that in mind, here are a few techniques that help you incorporate mindfulness into your everyday life. 

Pause during a mundane task to focus on your breathing. 

I like to do this exercise when I’m waiting for my car to warm up. After I start the engine, I sit back, check the time, and then close my eyes and take deep breaths for about five minutes. Pausing before I make my next move allows me to compartmentalize the situation I’m leaving and focus on safe driving. The stress of work or any anxiety I was feeling before I got in the car feels farther away after five minutes of focusing on my breathing, and my drive home is more peaceful. Use this technique when you’re in a safe place, so you’re not uncomfortable keeping your eyes closed which can interrupt the flow of the exercise. 

You can use this technique with any task that you do on a daily basis, like while you’re making coffee, waiting for food to heat up, booting up your computer, or grabbing your keys right before you leave the house. The important thing is that the tasks serve as a reminder to do your mindfulness exercise and that you pause just long enough to experience calmness. This exercise is also a nice reminder to your brain that there’s really no need to rush (because you’re already waiting for something). You might pause for a minute, or three, or five, or ten; it’s up to you. Just make sure your brain has enough time to slow down with you. 

Hide social media and other “impulse apps” on your phone. 

Do you ever open your phone for a specific reason, like to Google a questions or check your banking app, only to impulsively click the Instagram app instead, not even realizing it until you’ve started to scroll through your feed? When you’re extra busy, these impulses can be frustrating and switching from one thing to the next can actually decrease your productivity (Psychology Today). 

Personally, if I notice myself using what I call “impulse apps” (all the apps I check without even thinking about it), chances are I feel fatigued and scattered because I’m not narrowing my focus. A person can’t pay attention to everything at once. Practicing mindfulness when it comes to the apps we use can be a good way to monitor our impulses. 

Social media and mobile apps can affect your mindset. They influence your perception about yourself because you tend to compare yourself with other people. For instance, you might feel envious about how well your friends and distant relatives are doing in their lives, traveling and living their dreams. The truth behind seeking affirmation and validation is within yourself and not through other people’s perception of you or your perception of their lives.

The most effective way I’ve found to prevent impulse scrolling is hiding apps in their own folder on their own page in my phone. For me, that means Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, and the mail app are all in their own folder on the fourth page of my phone’s homepage. Sometimes I delete them altogether if I feel like I’m still seeking them out too often. Keeping my impulse apps in their own section on my phone makes them a little harder to get to, just hard enough that I have enough time to consider why I actually opened my phone in the first place. Creating this small barrier for myself has allowed me to be more intentional when I’m using my phone. That’s something I really value. 

This choice stems from the fact that I simply feel better the less I scroll, and I scroll the most on social media and within my email inbox.  For you, the apps you gravitate toward more often than you’d like might be different, but you’d be surprised how something as simple as where you place them on your home screen can help you increase your mindfulness and awareness of how you’re using your phone. 

Practice giving your full attention. 

It’s easy to think we can do two things at once, but often we miss out by splitting our attention. Not only is it time consuming to switch between multiple tasks, but you’re likely to make more errors or miss information while multitasking (Psychology Today). 

Choose what to give your full attention to as a way to relax your mind. Watch a movie from start to finish without using any other technology, clean your kitchen in silence, invite a friend for coffee and leave your phone in your bag. By giving your full attention to one thing - acting mindfully - your mind is able to put its energy into a task and the other thoughts swirling in your mind settle. Your brain is a force of its own. It needs something to direct its efforts toward. Mindfulness gives your brain the job of paying attention. 

When I use this technique, I start by putting my phone on the other side of the room or under the bed. I usually find myself reaching for it early on, but then I remember I’m choosing to focus on the movie I’m watching or the book I’m reading instead. I feel squirmy at first, but after a few minutes, it’s easy to get lost in the task. I feel my mind settle. 

Instead of overthinking about the latest feeds or stories your family and friends post on social media, why not take time to call them and catch up even just over the phone? Even writing a letter is a good idea, reminiscing on your experiences and bringing back good memories when everything was simpler than ever.

Enjoy simple pleasures

Sometimes, I tend to over contemplate on things that aren’t really necessary. And I bet you also feel the same way. People tend to get stressed out with work schedules and deadlines and forget to enjoy simple pleasures. 

Imagine yourself drinking a cup of tea after a long day of work and emptying your mind from all the worries. Enjoy simple pleasure in simple things that calm and makes your happy and healthy, such as tea drinking. You can reward yourself with simple things, such as a healthy and beautiful tea kit from myteadrop.com.

Mindfulness is becoming more important as technology progresses and our world changes. If you decide to start a mindfulness practice, I encourage you to incorporate it into each day, especially if you can tie it to a daily habit or if you can leverage it to make a stressful task less daunting. Remember that it’s called a practice for a reason - you won’t be perfect at it the first time, but you might find that it helps calm your mind, make you happier, or learn something about yourself. When life feels crazy, bring yourself back to a mindful focus on something as simple as your breathing.