You’re not present

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For 46.9 percent of your time, you’re not present in the now.

A landmark Harvard study quantified, for the first time at scale, how often the human mind drifts away (almost half the time!) and showed that those mental wanderings are tied to lower happiness.

Consider this: in a meeting with twelve people, likely, at least half of the attendees are not fully engaged at some point. This isn’t just a statistical observation, because we’re discussing time, not persons, but a reflection of how our minds often wander, even in meaningful discussions.

Sometimes it’s blatantly obvious. You can see people on their laptops doing work while you are presenting to them.

Let’s be honest. What’s more rewarding than cleaning your inbox while somebody is presenting to you? I know the feeling. I’ve been there. And I still occasionally fall into the trap of wanting to know which messages are entering my space while trying to focus on the actual conversation.

But over time, I’ve found it rewarding to be aware of my own mental wanderings. I’ve caught myself checking emails during a presentation, but I’ve also learned to redirect my focus back to the present moment.