“Time, time is what turns kittens into cats!”
Time is fleeting.
If we’re lucky, we get about 80 years on this Earth. Most of us spend this precious time busy – working to survive, completing endless chores, and worrying about what comes next. We spend our paltry free time zoning out in front of screens, wasting away the precious seconds until it’s time to go to sleep.
We need to stop wasting this time and start relishing it.
To get the most out of life, we need to savor every precious moment.
What Does it Mean to Savor the Moment?
When you savor something, you fully enjoy it.
Think about savoring your favorite dessert. You don’t just jam it in your mouth and swallow it – you experience the full breadth of its joy. First, you smell it, letting the tantalizing aroma tickle your tastebuds, building anticipation for the treat you’re about to indulge in.
When you finally let yourself take a bite, you hold it in your mouth, rolling it around your tongue to explore its taste and texture. You’re also fully engaged; you stopped watching television and put your phone down to completely focus on every molecule of flavor.
Savoring the moment is like that but with time.
It means you’re fully engaging in the activity you’re doing in the present moment. You focus all your senses on it, appreciate every aspect of it, and turn away from all distractions.
How to Savor the Moment
It’s easy to turn our brains off for five minutes while enjoying a tasty treat. It’s much harder to embrace the same attitude in every aspect of our lives. We have worries and responsibilities, work and chores, and a constant barrage of things that need our attention.
As a certified happiness life coach, I can attest to how crucial it is to be present in the moment, especially if you want to be happier.
Here’s how to shut out the noise and savor more of life.
Practice Mindfulness
Mindfulness is the act of being present in the moment. When you practice mindfulness, you make savoring each moment a habit. It’s no longer something you strive to achieve, but a state of being.
Mindfulness helps you actively engage with each activity as you complete it.
Brain Dump
Mindfulness is difficult when our brains are constantly thinking about all the things we need to do and accomplish.
A brain dump can help you clear your mind and free up space to focus on the present.
To do it, grab a pen and start writing. Put all the busyness in your mind to paper, and commit to addressing it later.
Schedule Time for “Worrying”
Savoring the moment doesn’t mean you ignore all your fears, worries, and concerns, or stop planning for the future.
But instead of letting these things impact your present, schedule time to address them. Be mindful in those moments too, and focus only on future planning, how to mitigate your concerns, and planning your next steps.
Take this time to address all the items you wrote out during your brain dump, so you can build trust in yourself that you’re not ignoring them, you’re simply putting them aside for later.
Have Some Fun
Doing something fun almost forces us to savor the moment. When we’re enjoying ourselves, it’s like all the worries melt away for a minute, and we can fully commit to what we’re doing.
Make time for fun. Play in the park. Run through a sprinkler. Chase your cat. Play your favorite games. Let yourself get lost in the fun of the activity. That’s what savoring a moment is truly about.
Practice Gratitude
Practicing gratitude helps us savor all the things we have. Start a daily gratitude practice where you spend five minutes thinking about all the good things in your life. Show appreciation for these bounties.
The gratitude you feel in those few daily minutes will leak into your mind, helping you savor the time you spend with the things you appreciate.
Look on the Bright Side
Negativity breeds anxiety, which inhibits our ability to practice mindfulness. When things are bad, we can’t stop our brains from overloading with the worst-case scenarios.
Most things have a silver lining. Try to find it. Focus on the positive things happening in the world and your life, to give your brain a break from the anxious spiraling.
Even if there’s not a lot to be positive about, that’s even more of a reason to savor the precious moment you have right in front of you. It could be gone in an instant.
Use All Your Senses
We’re gifted with five glorious senses to help us experience the world around us. How many do you use regularly?
Get out of your mind and start letting your senses run free. Smell the air. Listen to the birds and insects buzz. Feel the cool breeze on your skin. Pay attention to everything the world is telling you. When you focus on all these different sensations, it’s nearly impossible for your mind to wander.
Examine the Small Details
How often do you ignore the things right in front of your face? We’re so busy thinking about stuff that we look past the things in front of us, barely even registering them.
Stop and examine them. Look at the small details, like the veins in a leaf, the cracks in the sidewalk, and the bark patterns on a tree. You’ll savor more when you stop to appreciate the intricate details of the world around you.
Meditate
Meditation helps us learn to savor each moment. It builds a mindfulness habit into our brains that we can embrace throughout our lives.
Start small. Set aside ten minutes a day to just be. If your mind starts to wander, bring it back to the present by focusing on your breathing. Soon, mindfulness will be second nature!
Stop Multi-Tasking
You can’t savor a moment when you’re doing multiple things in it. Stop trying to do it all at once, and focus entirely on the task at hand, even the most mundane chores.
When you’re washing the dishes, focus on the scent of the dish soap, the way the water feels on your skin and the sound of running water. Be present in what you’re doing, even if it’s boring.
Put Your Phone Down
We miss so much of life because our heads are buried in our phones. We’re so busy interacting with the online world that we forget to engage with the things in front of us.
Put your phone down. Be in the real world around you. Nothing online is more important than anything around you.
Active Listening
Active listening can help us be present in a moment. Though it’s a business skill, it’s also useful for building relationships outside work as well.
When engaging with someone, make them your entire focus. Don’t think about your response, listen to their words. Ask insightful follow-up questions while showing you understand their point.
Making active listening your normal listening mode will help you savor the precious moments when you’re engaged in conversations with loved ones.
Work Out
PeopleImages.com – Yuri A via Shutterstock.com
Everyone hates seeing exercise on self-improvement lists – but believe me, it works!
Working out helps you savor each moment in multiple ways. First, it forces you to be present while you’re actively exercising. It’s hard to focus on anything else when you’re pushing your body to the limit.
But it also helps you appreciate your body and its capabilities while ensuring your future health, so you have even more moments to savor.
Do Something You Love
It’s easy to be present in the moment when you’re doing something you enjoy. How many times have you started a beloved hobby and lost track of time because you were so entranced by what you were doing?
You didn’t really lose time – you were completely present in what you were doing, savoring every second. The more you practice that type of mindfulness on things you enjoy, the easier it will be to be present the rest of the time.
Journal
If you struggle to savor the present because your brain is constantly spiraling, try journaling.
Writing in a journal can help you work through complex feelings and emotions that limit your ability to fully engage. It can help reduce anxiety, decrease stress, and give you the boost you need to enjoy more of life.
Take a Mental “Snapshot”
“Take a photo – it lasts longer,” they yell, with derision.
But it’s true.
I’m not talking about pulling out your phone to record every second. You know you won’t look back at it, and it will only prevent you from fully engaging in the moment (Looking at you – concert goers!).
Instead, take a mental snapshot. Tell yourself you want to remember everything about the current moment. Take it all in, memorizing the colors and shapes, the people and objects, and everything in between. Scour it into your memory.
You’ll be able to savor it more because you’re making a conscious effort to remember it.
Learn to Let Go
Our emotions often prevent us from savoring the moment. We can’t focus on what’s in front of us because we’re angry, scared, sad, or unsure.
Let it go.
The anger, hatred, and fear aren’t doing anything to the thing you’re upset about; they’re only holding you back. Forgive people, not for them, but for you.
Learn to put your fear and anxiety on hold for a time so you can enjoy life in the moment. Promise yourself that you’ll revisit the cause of stress later to resolve it, but let it go right now so you can savor the moment you’re in.
Savor Your Precious Moments for a Happier Life
You’ll be shocked at how much happier you feel when you learn to savor more of your time. You’ll be present in each moment, engaging with the world around you rather than focused on things outside of your control.
Learn to savor more, and find more joy every day.