To say that I live my life in distraction would be an understatement. Adult ADHD is the number one obstacle to me accomplishing what I want to in the time I have allotted myself. There’s always something new to do, somewhere I have to be, and let’s not act like I am spacing my work out. No, instead I load my schedule up so I am moving at a breakneck pace, and wondering why I always feel so frustrated. This is a never-ending cycle. I need something that I can use every day to help me manage my stress and keep my focus. Enter mindfulness, right? Well, not exactly.

stop procrastinating on your mindfulness

I kept telling myself I had no time for mindfulness, that it was something I would get to when I crossed the next item off of my to-do list or organized a space in my home where I could concentrate and breathe! Ok, that’s one of the fairy tales I tell myself. The fact of the matter is, I’m stressed, busy and overwhelmed. That to-do list is never going to get crossed off, the space in my home is getting there, but it isn’t where I want it to be. If I know that mindfulness is going to help me, then it would behoove me to find a way to incorporate that into my life as it is NOW, instead of waiting for the “right time.” There is never a right time to start mindfulness. So you may as well start right now.

Look at it this way: if you can spend a whole afternoon on an internet search to find out the name of the little dog in Johnny Quest (Bandit, by the way – ask me how I know), or sort through a pile of clutter to find an item you lost but you’re certain that you need, then you know that you already have the time to do something mindful. While losing yourself in the rabbit holes we go down won’t help you get any closer to achieving your goals, mindfulness will. Mindfulness will help to soothe your racing mind and give you a way to bring your mind back into focus when you are all over the place. You owe it to yourself to begin practicing mindfulness, not now, but RIGHT NOW.

five more minutes

Seriously, what are you doing for the next five minutes? Wherever you are, stop what you’re doing, sit in one place, and try one of the practices on this site. What you’re going to notice is that they are geared specifically to the ADHD brain. I know because I have tried other mindfulness practices. . . and they haven’t worked for me. As I have sat through some of them, with my mind going all over the place, what I felt wasn’t a sense of calm, but a feeling of failure. You see, what makes MindfullyADD unique is that none of these exercises tell you that you have to clear your mind, that you aren’t allowed to wander. They are built for the wandering mind, for the person who leaves their imaginary beach to think about something they regret saying or forgets about paying attention to their breath to wonder what they’re going to make for dinner. You can do this because your brain has been taken into consideration.

If you have been waiting for the perfect time to try mindfulness, stop. The perfect time you have been waiting for doesn’t exist. Mindfulness teaches us to live in the present. The only time is now. Turn on a practice, and tune out the world. What are another five minutes when you can start moving towards a slightly less distracted life?

For more from René Brooks, visit her site.