Presence is giving the current moment a chance to matter before searching for the next one.

The mind treats the current moment as a corridor to the next one, and a corridor is not somewhere you look around. Presence is not a special state but the ordinary act of letting what is happening register before you begin arranging what follows. Most moments never get that chance.

Notice when you are already planning the next thing while still inside this one. Finish the conversation before thinking about the drive home. Let one activity a day have your full attention from beginning to end and see what you had been missing.