Focus on full presence.

The working world is full of things that can take you out of the present moment. Multitasking, keeping your cell phone on, constantly checking your emails and having many open windows on your computer are all things that distract people. Cognitive overload is the result of these distractions, leading people to experience an inability to focus and stay on track, bouts of agitation and increased distress, culminating in decreases in productivity and strained work relationships. No matter the skill or competence level, when a human being has too many things to keep track of, it's difficult to focus and complete tasks.

The impacts of distractions and cognitive load are not limited to productivity and relationships with others either. A Harvard study found that mind wandering is also an indicator of a person’s happiness. The more present someone was, the happier they reported themselves to be.

One of the most important things to do to be present is to remove yourself from the world of distraction. Attempt to implement some liberating constraints, such as turning your cellphone off during periods of focus, signing out of your email account and only logging in during scheduled email sessions, keeping only one or two windows open on your computer and blocking out time to focus on specific tasks or projects.

Another way to keep yourself on track and in a present state of mind is to know, understand and experience what your ultimate purpose is and define what it looks like to operate in alignment with that purpose. When you do that, you give yourself the opportunity to tune in to what is important and how to work in service of that purpose.

Embrace childlike wonder.

“Childlike wonder” means being completely immersed in the world around you. It’s about having an open and neutral perspective, getting curious, asking questions and being aware of when you are judging and evaluating.

Many people become entrenched in their perspectives, beliefs, preferences, points of view, etc. as they grow up. To be fully present with others, you must let go of your inherent or historical biases. Otherwise, it’s as if you are viewing the world with orange-tinted glasses. Everything you experience is tinted orange because that’s how you see and perceive. In this mindset, you won’t be able to accept new and different ideas or engage with others you speak to.

When it comes to childlike wonder, it’s about setting aside all biases, agendas, perceptions and beliefs about how things are going to go and being curious so you can truly connect and interact with others as an “empty vessel.” When you are empty of perceptions, preferences, judgments, biases and beliefs, you are truly able to meet people where they are—enabling them to not only feel like they are contributing, but to actually contribute.

Master sensory acuity.

Sensory acuity is using all our senses to observe the world around us to gather detailed information about the present moment. This is especially important for communication because there are other factors that contribute more to understanding someone than just their words. In fact, words make up only about 7% of communication.

Mastering sensory acuity requires using your other keen senses to expand how you see, perceive, understand and communicate with others. Things like tonality, where their eyes are looking, what color their face is (e.g. blushing), the shape of their mouth and how they are standing or sitting are all indicators of the way someone feels that is not communicated through their words.

Developing this skill requires you to focus entirely on the person with whom you are communicating with. Mastering this not only allows you to read people at a higher level but to also understand and relate to them in a deeper manner, which is directly related to the fourth category.

Develop rapport.

Developing rapport is essential to cultivating healthy and harmonious relationships with those you work with and those in your personal life. Rapport is about understanding and respecting the feelings of others and in doing so, strengthening your ability to work together.

Developing rapport requires you to establish trust. To do that you need to be able to offer support, communicate effectively and follow through with what you say. The number one way to break trust is to make promises you can’t or don’t keep. When you can’t keep a commitment, make sure to alert people affected by it as soon as you know. Life gets in the way sometimes. People will understand that a lot better when they are notified in advance of you breaking your agreement.