Savor These Practical Slow Living Tips

NAVIGATION

The slow living tips I’m about to share with you changed the way I live my life.

I don’t know about you, but when I first heard the phrase “slow living,” the image that came to my mind was a cross between a beach vacation advertisement and a farmer churning their own butter. Neither picture seemed remotely realistic in my busy life.

Fortunately, the first thing I learned about the slow living movement is that it isn’t about being a beach bum or a butter churner. It’s more practical than that — more personalized than that. Living slowly is less about a specific lifestyle and more about a choice to live intentionally.

Stepping back to evaluate what’s truly important to you, and then choosing to purposefully fill your days with the things that matter is the powerful, life-changing idea behind slow living.

How Slow Living Tips Can Change Your Life

Believe me, I know the idea of not being busy probably sounds like a pipedream no matter how many slow living tips I’m able to give you. We’re adults, right? Doesn’t being an adult mean being busy?

I’m asking you to suspend disbelief for five minutes and consider the idea that busyness is actually a choice. It’s a choice we habitually make because we haven’t considered that slowing down is an option.

Part of being an adult does mean having a lot of responsibilities. But it also means having some level of control over what we do and when we do it.

The problem is, we fill our days with an insane number of tasks and checkboxes that leave us feeling drained and frazzled.

If practically everything we do is unimportant like Greg McKeown says, slow living asks the question, “Why not do fewer unimportant things so we have time, energy, and space for the things that matter?” Asking that question changed my life, and I’m confident it can do the same for you.

What Is Slow Living?

Slow living is a mindset that chooses quality over quantity, better over faster, and intentionality over saying yes to everything. This outlook doesn’t pursue slowness for the sake of being slow but rather for the ability to enjoy every moment.

At its core, the slow living mentality redefines our modern notion of success. It encourages a life of self-awareness in which you take purposeful steps to fill your days with what matters most at the expense of the unimportant.

How Is Slow Living Different From Simple Living?

While these terms are sometimes used interchangeably, slow living is the pursuit of a less busy lifestyle, while simple living, also known as minimalism, has more to do with having less stuff. These two concepts definitely work well together, but they aren’t the same thing.

I became a minimalist because I decided to live a slower life. Having less stuff cuts down on the number of things I have to clean, care for, and worry about, enabling me to savor more moments in life.

Slow Living Tips You Can Put Into Action Right Now

Slowing down in a busy world doesn’t happen by accident. It takes conscious choices to reorient your life until you have a more sustainable, enjoyable existence.

Here are some tips for slow living you can put into practice starting today to make your daily life richer, more purposeful, and more meaningful.

Slow Down And Define What’s Important To You

The purpose of slow living is allowing your values and priorities to drive your life. That’s hard to do if you aren’t sure what your values and priorities are.

I can’t really help you with this because it’s all about you. The journey to a slower lifestyle looks different for everyone because it means tailor-fitting your daily life to your personal principles and goals.

Don’t let other people’s expectations make you think that success is all about career advancement and wealth accumulation. Are you blindly following a career path simply because you’re successful and making good money? To be clear, I’m not telling you to quit your job and live off the land, but you need to honestly evaluate what you want in life.

Take some time to write down the things that are most important to you. It might feel silly, but few people really pause to think through exactly what they want their lives to look like. This simple exercise (maybe written on a post-it and stuck to the wall above your desk) can motivate you to lead a more fulfilling life knowing clearly what you want.

Consider Downshifting Your Lifestyle To Fit Slow Living

In his book Eat That Frog!, Brian Tracy says, “It is the quality of time at work that counts and the quantity of time at home that matters.” In other words, be purposeful about how you spend your time so you have more of it to spend on what (and who) matters.

If you’ve been living in the fast lane with your life set on cruise control, it’s time to slide a few lanes to the right and give yourself some rest. You won’t accomplish more in life by burning yourself out and missing the fulfilling moments. At least, you won’t accomplish anything of real value.

Minimize Your Things By Decluttering

While slow living is different than minimalism, having fewer things adding busyness and stress to your home gives you more time to focus on what’s important.

As a long-time minimalist myself, I have lots of advice to give on the benefits of minimalism, but I’ll limit myself to saying that decluttering my belongings has helped me declutter my mind and home in on what I want in life like nothing else has.

Start Your Day Slowly And Intentionally

Monotask Instead Of Multitasking

This is one of my favorite tips.

The ability to multitask used to be a bragging right in our faced-paced culture. But there have been so many studies proving that juggling multiple projects is actually counterproductive and bad for our brains.

Think about it in terms of quality over quantity. It is better to do one thing well than to do three things passably. And, honestly, it usually ends up taking longer to do multiple things at one time instead of taking the time to focus on each task individually.

Always keep in mind that slow living means pushing for enjoyment and fulfillment over checklist success. I think we easily forget that something like replying to an email or completing a project well can be fun, personable, and fulfilling instead of stressful, unfocused, and bland.

Take Intentional Breaks

Don’t wait until you’re overwhelmed to take a break. A crazy thought, right? Plan specific break times throughout your day (at home and at work) or set a rule for when to break during a project.

Honestly, whatever works for you is the way to go. But have a plan for what to do on your break. Don’t just scroll social media or sit staring into space.

Make your breaks enjoyable and refreshing. Don’t just pause one job to work on another.

Practice Living Marginally With Extra Time Built In

This one is for all you habitually late arrivers out there. Regardless of how laid-back you are, running late usually means last-minute rushing and stressing.

Then, with five fashionable minutes to spare, you can show up unflustered without frantically wondering if you remembered to wear deodorant or if someone will notice you’re late.

Learn To Appreciate The Silence And Pace Of Slow Living

Do you know someone who has to fill every pause in a conversation? Maybe you are that person. No judgement here. This isn’t about personality as much as it is about learning the value of silence.

You can’t be fully present if you don’t listen for natural rhythms in conversation, activity, and thought. When silence is never allowed to naturally settle or even exist in a room or a conversation, we miss out on a lot.

Take time to pause. Allow silence to exist. You’ll be surprised how much you learn about yourself and the people around you, and how much more present and aware you feel.

Learn How And When To Say No

This slow living tip can truly change your life. At the very least, it will change your schedule.

I’ve written a whole article on how to say no if you need some good motivation and strategies for implementing this tip, but for now I’ll just remind you that the majority of things we say “yes” to on a daily basis aren’t important, aren’t improving the quality of our lives, and aren’t adding value.

Learn to be selective in what you say “yes” to. Make saying “no” your default. That might sound harsh, but you might find that people will respect you for valuing your own time, happiness, and quality of life.

Incorporate An Intentional Slow Living Self-Care Routine

If you struggle with the idea of slowing down, chances are setting aside time each day to take care of yourself sounds selfish and wasteful. The truth is, though, you can only live at your best when you’re mindfully caring for your own heart, mind, and body.

Your values and goals won’t get the focused attention they deserve if you’re overwhelmed, tired, or burned out. The important people in your life won’t feel your love and presence if you’re drained.

Set Aside Some Time With Yourself

Living slow doesn’t involve damage control. Instead of letting things happen as they will and recovering afterwards, take control of your own well-being in small ways by intentionally scheduling a time each day just for just yourself.

This might be a novel idea to you, but I can’t stress its importance enough. Your loved ones (and even your to-do list) wants you, not a washed out, out-of-touch-with-yourself version of you.

This doesn’t have to be a long period of time or even at the same time every day. Do what works for you.

Make A Habit Of Meditating

Meditation is a key component of self-care for those wanting to live slowly because it forces you to stop everything else and just be. If you are unsure where to begin, there are countless resources out there to guide you.

If you are hesitant to try meditating, I encourage you to give it a go for a little while before writing it off. Make what you want of it, but try it. You might find yourself in better touch with yourself, your inner thoughts and feelings, and the world around you. And if that isn’t a main goal of slow living, I don’t know what is.

Slow Down And Prioritize Your Health

Caring for yourself also means taking care of your body. Many people who practice slow living enjoy growing their own fresh vegetables, but if that isn’t you, decide how you will intentionally make your health a priority in your life, and stick with it.

Like anything else, start small and build up. Choose one thing to do differently every day. Then another.

Spend More Time In Motion

Whether you want to set up a daily exercise routine or simply schedule time to take a walk outside, find a way to get your body moving that works for you. A slow lifestyle is not a sedentary lifestyle. Exercise and fresh air revitalize you and enable you to live life to the fullest.

Take Time To Plan And Prepare Nutritious Meals

As a foodie and a gardener, I love preparing tasty, nutritious recipes. Growing your own food and loving to cook aren’t required for slow living, but they are common in the slow life movement. Slowing down long enough to realize that your health is a priority for a full and happy life (which is most likely important to you) will motivate you to change what you eat and how you prepare it.

Dedicate More Time For Sleep

Taking care of yourself and your health requires a good sleep routine. Countless studies confirm that your sleep habits effect your health and your enjoyment of the day, so make sleep a priority.

Living slow means prioritizing a life of value and meaning, neither of which happen on too little sleep.

Spend Some Time Outside Daily

I love being outside. I take a fifteen-minute walk every morning, and I hike often. Believe me when I say there’s nothing like fresh air and sunshine to revitalize the quality of your life, which makes spending time outside invaluable to a slow liver.

If you’re not a natural outdoors person, find a few specific spots and activities that you enjoy — a porch where you can read and soak up some sun or a flower garden where you can get your hands dirty for a few minutes every day.

The trick is to make your outside time as effortless and enjoyable as possible so that you can recharge in nature while your mind takes a break. If you choose gardening, have some gardening clothes and tools in a handy place where you can grab them and go so it’s easy. Don’t make this a chore.

Indulge Your Inner Desire To Create

Each of us has an inner desire to make something with our own hands or minds. Creativity is something we encourage in children, but we shouldn’t outgrow it as adults. Imagination and creation relax and stimulate our minds and our inner selves. It’s actually really healthy to be creative!

Don’t overthink this tip, just pick something that sounds fun to you and roll with it. You can always change your mind later.

Find Inspiration For Slow Living

The slow living movement is a popular lifestyle these days. Take advantage of its online presence and community to build your understanding of what it means to live slowly. The more you learn about slow living, the more motivated you’ll be to slow your own life down.

There are also some amazingly helpful slow living books out there that I highly recommend.

Put Slow Living Into Practice

Slow living is all about slowing down, so don’t rush into it. If some of these tips feel right for your life, start with them and don’t get overwhelmed trying to incorporate everything at once.

Pick one for this week. Make one intentional change at a time, and pretty soon your life will be slower, more purposeful, and more enjoyable.

Your Turn!

• What are some strategies that you might use to say “no” to things that won’t add value to your life?
• What resources have been the most helpful to you in transitioning to a slower lifestyle?

By Ryan Mitchell on May 24, 2023   /   Minimalism   /   1 Comment

Tags: Lifestyle, Minimalist