Set an alarm to be more present

How to fully focus until it's time to stop

Let’s say you’re having coffee with an old friend at 2 p.m. You need to leave for school pick-up at 2:55 p.m. How will you make sure that happens?

I know that for many people, the answer is glancing at a watch or at their phone multiple times during the hour. Even if you don’t do that, in the back of your mind you might be wondering if you’re going to be late — and it can distract from the conversation.

So here’s another approach: Set an alarm on your phone to go off at 2:50 p.m. That way you won’t have to keep sneaking glances. You’ll know that when you hear the alarm, it’s time to wind things down. You can be fully present until that point.

This works for business meetings too. Many of us have struggled to focus on a client and the problem at hand while knowing that we need to be punctual for something else after. An alarm takes some of that worry away.

Now granted, it might feel a little strange to have an alarm go off in an intense meeting. But I’ve found that many people expect a certain amount of electronic noise in modern life. If you’d like to continue with what you’re doing you can always apologize, turn the alarm off, and not tell anyone that the point of the alarm was to end the meeting.

But the alarm will cause a pause in whatever is going on, so everyone can evaluate what’s going on. This might be a good thing — it’s not you telling the other person to get to the point. The alarm is telling them! If things wind down more efficiently and you feel more present, that’s a win on both fronts.