The simple greatest trick in tapping back into the present moment and retaining prolonged self-awareness is simple.

However, it’s first imperative that we declare the idea of being self-aware “all the time” as utterly false.

The idea that you can find nirvana and remain being “tapped into” the complete and visceral present moment is a lie.

The mind is forever going to be trying to escape and trick you into day dreaming, mind wandering, anxious thought, reminiscing of the past etc. Sometimes, these day dreams can offer a positive- they can spark and idea or offer some sort of clarity on a troubling thought.

Tapping back into the present moment and retaining awareness is paramount in living a life of intent and purpose.

If you want to create art, you need to be aware.

If you are starting a business, you need to be aware.

If you are fostering a relationship, you need to be aware.

If you are raising a family, you need to be aware.

I know personally, I have spent years on auto-pilot.

When I was younger I fell in love, left the relationship on auto-pilot and was ultimately left for someone else.

I take responsibility for that.

I got my first job out of college and thought I was going to turn that into a career. I was making great, fast money and over time, I put the job on auto-pilot. Again, ultimately I was fired.

I checked out. I was done.

Now the tool used to tap back into the present moment is incredibly simple.

It is putting an autonomous system in place so you can train your behavior to recognize when you have wandered.

Put reminders at 2.5 hour intervals on your smart phone that read “present moment check-in”

Let me draw up two different scenarios:

You wake up at 7am.

It takes you perhaps a few moments to actually get out of bed. Once you do, you brush your teeth and hop in the shower.

After that, you probably make a quick breakfast and you’re rushing out the door from fear of being late to work.

When you’re in the car you probably turn on talk radio or perhaps one of the local music stations. You get angry that you aren’t catching any green lights and that there are people driving like “assholes.”

Once at work, you are rushing to your desk. You perhaps brew up a cup of coffee and begin the days work.

You start with responding to emails. In the middle of this task, you are called into a team meeting. During the meeting, your team is discussing the various obstacles and goals that are planned in the coming weeks.

Once ended, you are back at your desk completing the remedial tasks until lunch.

Perhaps you go out to the neighborhood taco joint with a few friends.

Once back that “2:30 feeling kicks in.” You aren’t prepared for anymore meaningful work.

You struggled the rest of the day to get to 5pm.

Once there, you are again out the door and met with the sea of traffic looking to find refuge in their bungalows.

You get home and make yourself a dinner and turn on the TV. You waste your time with the mindless-self-indulgence of 24 hour news or perhaps some network TV sitcom.

You do this until you feel the fatigue of the day set in.

You head to your bed to go to sleep and do it all again.

You spent the entire day on auto-pilot.

Now for the next scenario:

You wake up at 7am.

It takes you perhaps a few moments to actually get out of bed. Once you do, you brush your teeth and hop in the shower.

After that, you probably make a quick breakfast and you’re rushing out the door from fear of being late to work.

When you’re in the car you probably turn on talk radio or perhaps one of the local music stations. You get angry that you aren’t catching any green lights and that there are people driving like “assholes.”

Once at work, you are rushing to your desk. You perhaps brew up a cup of coffee and begin the days work.

Your phone then goes off- 9:30am “present moment check-in.”

You ask yourself how the day has been going so far? Not all that good, you felt in a hurry when getting out of bed and on the commute to work. You have this moment to check back in a reassess your day.

What still do you need to get done? Well, you can work an hour or two on the proposal you need to submit to your potential client.

After a few hours, you are called into a meeting and your team discusses the obstacles and goals that are planned for the coming weeks. Once you leave, you are back at your desk to hammer out some remedial tasks.

You bang out some emails and keep working on your to-do list.

You begin to feel the pangs of hunger in your stomach. You decide you’re going to get lunch.

Before you know it, you’re phone alarms again. 12:00pm “present moment check-in”

You ask yourself again, how has the day been going? Well, not all that bad. The morning was rough but once I got into work I was able to finish the proposal I was working on and had a pretty effective meeting with my team. I fired off some important emails and now I’m going to grab some lunch. I wanted to grab some tacos. Is that the best choice, however? They may slow me down. Instead, maybe I’ll run to the food bar at Whole Foods and make my self a nutrient rich salad with grilled chicken and hard boiled eggs. Yeah, that will fuel me.

You finish lunch feeling recharged and ready to take on the last few hours of the day.

You show your boss your proposal and ask for any feedback. She loves what you’ve created and edits your work. It’s still not done but has a clear path of improvements laid out in front of you.

As the emails come in, you answer them and find time to work on the project in front of you.

You get so lost in the flow of your work that you lose track of time.

Again, your phone goes off. 2:30pm “present moment check-in.”

You think to yourself, dang. Things have been pretty alright today. I have gotten a lot done with my project. I have gotten great feedback from my boss. My team and I have made advances in our pursuits. I feel fueled and ready to attack the rest of my work day.

For a few more hours, you work on tasks and responsibilities in the office.

Some time has opened up and you head to the water cooler to engage in some office chat.

All you hear is complaints and groans fro your coworkers that there “isn’t enough time in the day” and that “the bosses require too much of them.”

You laugh it off. You are ahead in your work day.

The sun is beginning to set and you start to head for your car.

Your 5pm “present moment check-in” alarm is firing away as you head down in the elevator.

You think to yourself, well, I need to get ready for the onslaught of rush hour here, maybe there’s a podcast I haven’t listened to that will help make that idle time beneficial.

You pop it on in your car to make the commute that much more informative and enjoyable.

You get home. You’re feeling refreshed. You make an energy packed dinner once again and get ready for some relaxation.

Again, you pop on the TV to gain some distraction during your meal.

You get sucked into some drama or narrative.

Time passes and you haven’t done much of anything.

Before you know it, you’re 7:30pm “present moment check-in” alarm is going off.

Dang, I’ve wasted some time again. No worries, at least I’ve been brought back to the present moment.

I’ve always wanted to write a book. Instead of watching some more empty TV, why not write a short story.

You pull out your dusty notebook and begin writing.

You haven’t written in so long and you don’t really know what you are doing.

No worries, it feels good to write again.

You get so enveloped in writing that your 10pm “present moment check-in” alarm sounds off.

Hot damn. I can’t believe it’s already 10pm you think to yourself. I’ve gotten so much done, I should probably start to get ready to wind down for bed.

You perform your daily routine of winding down and head to your bed to fall asleep and do it all over again.

This time however, you have made yourself better going into the next day. With the tool belt you equipped earlier in the day to tap back into the present moment and reflect, you were able to work on things of importance and make yourself that much better.

This was all done by setting reminders on your phone to bring you back and benchmark your day into what is truly important and recognize what truly needs work.

When we’re on auto-pilot we let the whims of anxiety take over. We are always trapped in the future mindset of “I still need to accomplish [this]” mixed with the past sentiments of “I wish I had more time to complete [blank].” We then fill our time with remedial tasks that drain our energy and don’t get us any closer to working on the projects that fully require our attention.

When we tap into the present moment, we are able to benchmark and see what daily choices we have made and how we can pivot to a more positive intent.

If you are having trouble tapping into the present moment, use this trick to remind yourself to do so.

As time goes on, the constant benchmarking of the day over time can have profound effects in improving your life.

Ready to Unlock Your Optimal Self?

I’ve created a FREE Guide that will Grow Your Mind, Teach You How To Live A Fulfilling Life, And Help You Excel At All of Your Creative Endeavors in 10 Days. If you follow this daily, you’ll be able to succeed with all of your daily creative pursuits.

Get the FREE Guide here!