Living in the moment requires deliberate planning

Prevent lingering planning by setting time aside for it

A long time ago, our ancestors developed the ability to plan ahead. No longer did they throw away the spears they’d crafted for hours the moment they caught their prey. By realizing that at some point in the near future they’d be hungry again, they understood that it made sense to keep the spear, even if they didn’t need it right now. This ability is one of the key things that set our species apart from others and allowed us to become what we are now.

Planning is essential for us, and we cannot get rid of it even if we wanted to. What we can do, however, is to get rid of the lingering planning our brain keeps doing that distracts us from living in the moment by giving planning our full attention regularly. Then, once we clearly process our tasks for tomorrow, what’s needed for the party we need to host next month, or the job interview we dread, we can better set them aside and just deal with them when the time comes.

If we don’t go through this deliberate planning process, our brains will do it anyway, whenever it pleases.