The Throes Of Autopilot

I can’t count how many times I used to get in my car, drive to work and 30 minutes later show up in the parking lot with no memory of the commute. Luckily, that doesn’t happen much anymore, but I can still get trapped in autopilot once in awhile.

Not proud of it, but my doppelgänger shows up on occasion. That vacant shell of flesh wandering around while my mind retreats to different countries, reminisces about last night’s dinner party, and rehearses tomorrow’s presentation.

It’s not uncommon for us to catch a ride away from the present moment with all the many small tasks and daily distractions that fill our days with busyness. Our train of thought runs completely off the rails before we know it.

Today, there’s so much we feel compelled to do—so much we can do—that the only free time we leave for ourselves is when we’re waiting for our food order or driving to and from work. But even that time is spent glued to the screen of our mobile devices.

I know, scary. A good chunk of our day, we are walking, talking robots.

One second, you’re in a conversation with your colleague, the next you’re daydreaming about what to do after work. Your mind has already clocked out.

Even if we don’t mean to drift away, we do. The distractions come and, slowly, one thought consumes us right after the other.

What’s that about?

Running On Autopilot

How often do you have to shake yourself back to reality? Snap yourself back into your body like a rubber band? Your eyes open wide, and for a moment you have to orient yourself to where you are, as if waking up from a dream.

Yea, running on autopilot is a lot like dozing off.

Autopilot (or automatic pilot) means just what the name suggests: operating without manual intervention. It is subbing your body double into the game of life so you can attend to other things.

It is a trance state that has us drifting in a fog of thought, lost in its haze.

We’re not actively participating in life as it is unfolding. We’re not taking in our surroundings. And we’re not embracing the here and now.

Instead we’re missing what’s happening right in front of our eyes.

We’re letting it pass us by.

Getting Carried Away

We’re bound to do it, get lost in the clouds every so often. It seems almost helpful to do so, because, on autopilot, the mind can focus on one thing while the body does another. Killing two birds, so to speak.

It would appear that there are benefits to mindlessly tackling the mundane and monotonous, relegating little brainpower to the rote and routine. That with repetition comes the ability to get more done, because vacuuming while thinking up the cure for cancer is akin to multi-tasking. And who doesn’t like maximizing their time?

If we let our minds roam free while we’re mowing the lawn, who’s it hurting?

If it is easy enough to do without thinking, it doesn’t need our full attention. If you do the activity often enough, you can “check out” mentally and save brain cells because habit breeds muscle memory. One less thing to think about, right?

But repetitious, habitual activity has a way of deceiving us. It has us believing that if we stockpile enough mechanical habits, we’ll be more efficient because we’re not mentally exerting ourselves 24/7.

Newsflash: we’re constantly exerting mental energy. It’s what we do. Thought is constant. And that motor functioning you think is habit is still stimulated by brainpower.

Not only is the mind doing that “mindless” thing, but it’s also sending you off to fantasyland. Conscious or unconscious, the mind is at work.

When you get carried away, what’s doing the heavy lifting?

Is There An Off Switch?

Running on autopilot is running from the present moment. You are focused on everything but the present moment—evaluating the last task, planning the next. You are absorbed in everything else but your current sensory experience.

When flipping our autopilot switch on, be it because of busyness or boredom, we have to wonder what we’re compromising. What in this moment are we sacrificing?

A strong work ethic? Safety on the road? Or, what about the simple pleasures of our everyday experience?

Washing dishes is a chance to feel the water caress your hands, and watch the suds blanket your skin. Starting your day early is a chance to let the morning birds wake you, and inhale the fresh, dewy air.

Always drifting to the past or future is how we disconnect from those simple pleasures, lose touch with those around us, and grow insensitive to our relationship with the environment.

The challenge is to no longer numb yourself to what’s here and now. To stay awake to it.

Thoughts will run amok, on autopilot or not, until we manage them. Until we bring attention and order to what’s floating through.

It starts with mindful awareness.

Practicing mindfulness slows those pesky distractions from putting us to sleep. Keeping us alert.

Noticing those one-on-one encounters with the present moment switches autopilot off…and turns the light back on.

Next time you wake up from the dream of autopilot, notice where your mind went. Then, immediately, behold the present moment, breathe it in and tell it hello.