Hi, Ramin. We use “survival mode” to talk about a situation in which we have to work very hard simply to stay alive, or to find the things we need to stay alive. Sonetimes, we use this phrase figuratively, so you have to know the context to know exactly what someone means when they say they are in “survival mode.” “To take every hour (or minute, or moment, etc.) as it comes” means to think only about what’s happening right now, because the future is uncertain and things are changing in every moment. I would paraphrase this as “We are struggling simply to stay alive right now and we can’t think about the future.” I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions. -Danielle

Hi Ramin! I'm Narges. It means, the situation is dangerous and we must use every minute of our time.

I’ve seen this used to say that things are so busy that we don’t have any extra time for non-necessary things. “Work is so busy we are all in survival mode” “Both my kids are on traveling soccer teams so our family is in survival mode. We grab supper at a different drive-through fast food restaurant every night on the way to practice.”

Hello Ramin. I’m Doug. Survival mode means the speaker [in the sentence] is only focused on staying alive because they are not sure what is going to happen from one minute to the next. Perhaps they have just survived a natural disaster, such as an earthquake or something. Is my answer helpful?

We need to enjoy every moment because we don't know what the future brings.