In the chronic pain school, I taught Veterans a strategy for scheduling pleasant activities: \u201cWork and chores can expand like helium,\u201d I\u2019d say, and they will \u201ctake up all the space in your calendar if you don\u2019t block time out for something else.\u201d <\/p>\n
Veterans agreed with that idea, sharing their stories of always needing to do one more thing and only feeling productive when they were checking off their to-do lists. The idea and practice of scheduling fun activities was challenging, even when the class saw why doing so was helpful.<\/p>\n
I now see a problem with this approach. When you schedule something you enjoy, you\u2019re then pressured to do that activity and enjoy it. It doesn\u2019t matter whether you still want to go for a walk or read a book, if the weather\u2019s hot or the book is boring you feel like you wasted your time. You then think, \u201cI knew I should have cleaned those gutters instead,\u201d and your reason for scheduling a pleasant activity is gone.<\/p>\n
This relates to our fear of \u201cwasting time\u201d and trying to make all our time useful. Mindful awareness addresses this by teaching us how to live fully in the present moment by paying attention to where we are and what we\u2019re doing. However, we can become so focused on trying to be present that we lose the meaningful experience we wanted to have. It\u2019s like working hard to fall asleep, which usually leads to being wide-awake and thinking you\u2019re failing at sleeping.<\/p>\n
A better approach might be realizing that you\u2019re in the present moment whether you want to be or not. It doesn\u2019t take effort to be where you are because there\u2019s no option. Perhaps when we stop trying so hard to make time meaningful and productive, we can start truly appreciating that time.<\/p>\n
This 8-minute, paced-breathing practice led by Dr. Tracy Gaudet is a good opportunity to practice slowing down your breathing and noticing its effects on your thoughts and body.<\/p>\n