Zoning out too much? Here's how you can stop it
What's the story
Do you often feel lost while reading a book and can't remember what you have read just now?
Or you're attending an important lecture and suddenly in the middle of it, you find yourself lost in your own world.
If this feels relatable, that is what zoning out means.
Fixing this requires conscious efforts and here are five ways you can do that.
Self-awareness
Develop mindfulness
Mindfulness is about being aware of your surroundings. It's about noticing little things about yourself - your virtues and vices, and being accepting of yourself.
If you feel zoned out a lot, and don't understand what to do about it, start with little steps.
There are several apps dedicated to meditation that can help you develop this new habit.
Embrace silence
Sit in silence, daily
Allow yourself to take a few minutes of breaks for silence every day.
Simply sit in silence, away from any external distraction.
Don't drink your tea, or talk to anyone, or even plan the day. Practice complete silence.
One of the many reasons why many of us zone out quite often is that we have really few moments of silence in our lives.
Grounding
Ground yourself
When you catch yourself spacing out, ground yourself.
Grounding is focusing on what you can see, feel, and hear at the moment.
Practice grounding by noticing five things you can see around you.
Similarly, five things you can hear, and five things you can feel.
By activating your sense of sight, touch, and hearing, you are forcing yourself to come back into the present.
Pranayama
Control your breathing
To improve your attention skills, controlling your breathing is one of the best tried and tested techniques.
Our ancient India has much to offer in this field.
Pranayama is a part of the popular ancient practice of yoga and is all about learning to control your breathing.
When you learn this technique, you also learn to control your mind and emotions.
No beating yourself
Stop any negative self-talk
Last but not the least, don't get too conscious and beat yourself over it.
This is only going to make you feel negative about yourself and drain you of your time and energy.
Instead, just smile when you catch yourself zoning out and talk to yourself in a tone that is accepting of yourself.
After all, zoning out isn't a crime.