10 Steps to Slow Down a Speeded-Up Life
In a culture that glorifies speed and efficiency, slow living offers a refreshing alternative. It's a chance to ease off the gas, reduce the hurry and anxiety, and savor life's simple pleasures.
Slow living isn't reserved for people who live on a homestead in the woods or in a remote mountain village. It's a mindset accessible to all, whether you live in the city, the suburbs, or on a farm.
What is slow living?
Slow living is a quiet rebellion against the hustle and bustle of modern life. It's a reminder that we don't have to run like hamsters on a wheel. When you decide to slow down, you can do more careful, high-quality work with more time and energy to enjoy what makes you happy, whether that's reading a good book, walking along the beach, or noticing the changing colors of a sunset.
Slow living doesn't mean withdrawing from life, abandoning your responsibilities, or giving up every goal. It's about finding balance and creating mindfulness in everything you do. Whether you live in a bustling town or hold down a demanding job, you can incorporate some of the principles of slow living into your day-to-day life.
If you want to stop rushing through life and missing the small moments, use these tips to craft a more thoughtful and intentional life.
How to embrace a slower pace
1. Become aware.
Take a few moments to think about your current lifestyle, and identify times or activities that make you feel rushed, overwhelmed, or disconnected. Decide that you want to change.
2. Define priorities.
Make two lists:
- List each of your obligations and commitments and the approximate amount of time each requires.
- Describe the things you want to accomplish each week and the approximate amount of time each task takes.
Do you have enough time and energy to do all of these things? If your schedule is too tight, acknowledge that it's time for a change.
3. Simplify your commitments.
Recognize that there are only so many hours in a day and you have only so much energy. Like every other human, you can't do it all! And that's okay.
Look at your list of obligations and commitments and decide where you could cut back. By doing less, you'll enjoy each activity more and be able to do it better.
4. Choose a regular wake-up time and bedtime.
Too many of us are guilty of sacrificing sleep so we can get "just one more thing" done. Then we're groggy in the morning and have to rush preparations for the day.
Establishing a morning ritual, which could include prayer, journaling, stretching, and/or a mindful breakfast, lets you feel centered and thoughtful about the day ahead. Allowing time to wind down in the evening lets you truly relax so you'll be more refreshed the next day. With this extra time, you could tend to self-care or read in bed before turning out the lights.
5. Eat mindfully.
Our society has normalized speed eating, whether we're scarfing a banana as we leave the house for work or feeding the kids yet another Happy Meal on the way to soccer practice. Instead of working or scrolling on your phone while you eat, slow down and savor the experience.
When we incorporate slow living ideas into something as vital as eating, we make regular practice easy. It's the best way to establish a new mindset, extending awareness and intentionality into other areas of life.
Want more reasons to eat slowly? Studies show that slow eaters have lower stress levels, better digestion, and fewer diseases like high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes. They may even stay thinner.
6. Turn down the noise.
Do you regularly talk on the phone while you're cooking, watch TV while you eat, listen to a podcast while washing the dishes, and scroll through social media all the rest of the time? We think that multi-tasking is efficient time management, but it's really a habit that fractures our attention.
Our brains are not designed to multitask; they just frantically switch between one job and another, which makes us feel rushed and anxious. We feel like we're missing important details, and we are. Even background noise from a TV or music can pull our attention from the task at hand.
To practice slow living, remove distractions and focus on one thing at a time. By reducing noise and learning to monotask, you'll be able to engage more deeply in all your activities.
7. Create white space.
In art, white space is essential for balance, clarity, and perspective. It highlights the important elements in a design. In printed material, white space improves readability.
Our lives are poorer without white space. Without time to be alone, quiet, and thoughtful, it's harder to make sense of everything. What are we hurrying and striving for? White space helps us find out.
Don't just decide that white space is a good idea. Schedule it.
8. Remember self-care.
Self-care isn't frivolous or self-indulgent, but it doesn't have to look like an elegant spa day to be effective. An at-home facial, quiet cup of tea, time with a hobby, a good laugh, or a nap can nourish your body, mind, or soul. You're worth it!
9. Disconnect.
Social media and other apps and websites that use addictive algorithms have a way of hijacking our time and attention without us realizing it. What begins as checking a notification or update can often turn into hours of mindless scrolling, leaving us unaware of the present moment and scrambling to make up for lost time.
By silencing notifications, limiting screen time, or even physically distancing ourselves from our phones, we can reclaim our awareness and our own agenda.
10. Simplify your space.
Our external environments have a great impact on our mindset. When our living spaces are cluttered, we're stressed, distracted, and fatigued. By streamlining our homes, we create a physical environment that supports a slower, calmer, more focused way of life.
Interested in decluttering? Check out one or more of these articles:
Win by going slower.
Instead of racing through each day, gain a more satisfying way of life by going slower. Enjoy more mindfulness and meaning with these 10 tips, starting today.
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