Many of you are well into the holiday season and facing its particular demands and stressors. There are people rushing about, last minute tasks at work to close off and our family likely to push our buttons. Here is a simple three step process to keeping your cool.

How we think about and process people and tasks is just as important as what we are focusing on and with whom we are working. Being in the moment is a re-emerging skill that affords tangible business and personal benefits to leaders, and organizations.

Leaders lose the capacity for authentic, creative and measured responses by allowing their buttons to be pushed. By learning how to be in the moment, leaders and others take control and remain calm and centered in challenging situations and with difficult people.

Leaders and others who make small and consistent efforts in the direction of working mindfulness enjoy more personal power and self control. They are centred during challenging situations and with other people. If we want to be in the moment and have more time and energy, we must be rigorous in observing how we process people and events.

We have more time and energy when we are in the moment. The secret to managing time is managing the way we process people and events. We don’t need to add anything to our calendar, we simply subtract some unhelpful thinking.

Being in the moment is a mode where instead of reacting to events and people, we choose how we direct our attention and awareness of them, and respond. This saves time and energy and brings other business benefits.