It has been said that depression is living too much on the past and anxiety is living in the future.  If this is the case, the sweet spot is right now.  Living in the present moment brings clarity, alertness, relaxation and ultimately happiness.

In the Meyers-Briggs/Jungian school of personality type classification, those of us who test as iNtuitive tend to be largely future oriented.  This brings with it certain advantages including the ability to see possibilities, anticipate problems, and knit together many abstract concepts.  The downside of course is the more time spent living in the future, the less time in the present.  How do we effectively reconcile this?

We all need to spend a certain amount of time planning for future events.  Whether scheduling, investing, planning and so on, we need to put ourselves in the future at least some of the time in order to live at minimum functional and ideally fulfilling lives.

The key is compartmentalization of any activity that takes you out of the present moment.  When you need to plan your week or schedule your time, allot a specific amount of time to do so and limit it to that.  Do not be plan your week as you eat dinner with your family or work on other projects.  Do your advance thinking and then come back to living here and now.  When a problem or decision is at hand, consciously devote time to thinking about it and then move back to the present.  If an answer is not found within the given time period, allow your subconscious mind to work it’s magic as you live in the here and now.