How To Stop Worrying About Future And Focus On Present
It’s one of the things that makes us human. But when you can’t stop worrying about the future, it can feel anything but normal.
Worry is a feeling whose source almost always lies in the future. It often exposes fears of not achieving or experiencing longed-for hopes and dreams.
Yet, that doesn’t mean you should try to avoid worry by cutting yourself off from hopes and dreams. Defining long-term goals and dreams is critical to motivation and a future-based focus. Without goals and dreams, you can lose a sense of purpose and drive in your life.
But when you can’t stop worrying about the future, it can dominate your thoughts and override your present. And this can be a destructive way to live.
The future, after all, is infinite and unpredictable.
It’s normal to worry from time to time. Given life’s many unknowns and challenges, worry could be considered a natural response to many situations. But chronic and all-consuming worry can be troublesome and interfere with our ability to function freely and calmly in our daily lives.
six methods how to stop worrying about future and and focus on present
1.Embrace the power of now: stop worrying, start living in the present.
Live in the now. Be present. I’m sure we’ve heard it all before or read it on a cheesy wall poster in a doc’s waiting room. And even though this sounds truly liberating, how does one start with living more in the now? It’s easier said than done. Especially within our working environment this can be challenging – where you’re faced with pressure, hard deadlines and never-ending to-do lists.
We live in a constantly busy world, where there’s almost no room for silence. We struggle with finding a balance between our personal and our work life, we strive for perfection, tend to make the easy difficult, and expect the impossible. Meanwhile, we’re missing everything that is happening right now
2.Let’s not forget our purpose in working
In principle, we work not to survive, but to create a sense of meaning and fulfilment in our lives. Because, how great is that feeling, when we use our energy and transform it into great ideas? Make an impact, a real difference? Isn’t that the best feeling in the world? But when feelings of obligation and stress take over, we’re losing sight of the purpose work has in our lives. We see dropping the ball as failure and our focus shifts to checking of boxes, instead of enjoying or celebrating wins and successes. A real shame, since this means you’re completely missing out on that feeling of satisfaction or contentment. In order to get that back, we must live in the now, instead of always focussing on the future or the present.
3.Not living in the present moment.
When you constantly worry about the future, you don't have time to live in the present. This prevents you from thinking clearly and being fully invested in what you're doing right now. This is something you need to work on ASAP. If you don't, you'll always find something to worry about (because the future never arrives), and you'll also waste a ton of energy along the way.
Instead, think about dedicating time to a meditation practice or building mindfulness habits into your routine. This will help you focus more on the present and less on what will or won't come to pass at a later date.
4.Write or Talk It out
Getting worry out of your head diminishes it. It is like the old analogy that if you shine a light on bacteria, it dies, but if you keep it in the dark, it grows.
If you do not feel comfortable talking your worry and emotions out with a friend, family member, coach, or another trusted professional, try writing about it. Get it all out on paper, and then throw the paper away.
Writing about your future-related worry takes the charge out of it and creates more clarity and awareness.
5.Focus on Solutions Instead of Problems
Some people tend to be more solution-oriented, and others more problem-oriented. Some of the factors that may determine this are gender, upbringing, and education.
People with more education tend to be problem-solvers. That is what their years of education train them to do. In addition, their jobs probably reinforce this way of thinking.
If you’re not problem-solving oriented, don’t worry. You can train yourself to worry less. We’ll discuss that soon.
6.Calm Your Mind
When you calm your mind, you are able to see more clearly.
The reason some problems seem so daunting is that our mind is racing so fast that we cannot see things as they truly are. Then, we make up a bunch of possible scenarios in our mind, most of which are unlikely to come true.
In addition to seeing more clearly, a calm mind will help us think more realistically. Unrealistic thinking is fueled by confusion and uncontrolled emotions. Calming your mind will reduce confusion and calm your emotions, allowing you to live in the present.
Final Thoughts
Worrying has nothing on you. The next time you find yourself worrying about the future:
Create awareness around what the worry is costing you.
Use one or more of the worry busting techniques.
Remember that you are not alone when it comes to worrying (we all do it).
By following the steps above, you’ll be able to have a more worry-free life so that you can reclaim your precious time and stay productive.
