How slow living changed my life

Photo by Jack Ward on Unsplash

Not too long ago, if you'd asked me about slow living, I would have said I had no idea what it was. For a long time, I even implemented slow living elements into my life without realising it.

Being someone who (like a lot of you I'm sure) suffers from social anxiety and chronic depression, a lot of things in my life were 'too much'. I went through periods of extreme social and professional pressure to the point where I would burn, and then be compelled to stop.

Appointments, schedules, plannings, deadlines... all these things were stress-inducing to me (and to you, I expect). Now I'm not saying these things are inherently bad and you should erase them from your life. That would be both stupid and completely unrealistic. Slow living isn't about transforming your current life into something entirely different. And it will look different for everyone. You might not be in a position to quit your office job and go live in a cabin in the woods. But there are ways to turn your current life into something more conscious, bringing you more happiness overall.

In my case, I realised that schedules and deadlines were a no go, and that I should avoid them as much as possible. Of course I can't avoid all of them, and some are even good (writing deadlines push me forward), but I found that I could drastically reduce them, mainly by saying no when I felt like I was getting myself into something too big for me.

Knowing when to stop, knowing your limits. I believe that's an important part of slow living. When I had this realisation I quit a project I was working on, and said goodbye to most of my English and French students, to focus almost entirely on my writing and my M.A.. What a relief it was...

In a few days I went from stressing out about deadlines and commitments and not enjoying life anymore, to having a more intuitive lifestyle where I worked whenever I felt like it and rested whenever I needed it.

It may sound like a utopia, and maybe it is for some of you. I'm aware I'm very lucky to be able to afford doing that kind of thing. But it doesn't have to be drastic; it can be little things, as I'm going to explain later in this article.

Photo by Art Lasovsky on Unsplash

To come back to my personal experience; even though I know I'm a hard-working person, somehow I always thought if I didn't push myself to work I wouldn't work at all.

Turns out I couldn't have been further from the truth. Humans aren't lazy, and a study even showed they'd rather give themselves electrical shocks than be left alone in a room with no distractions.

So what happened when I stopped setting myself productivity goals and timing myself? I still got work done, probably even more than I used to, but only when I felt happy to (right now I'm happy to be writing this article :)). In the end I didn't work that much; no more than 3 or 4 hours a day, but I did more efficient work than if I'd forced myself to work for 8 strenuous hours. Why? Because I took time to rest, physically and mentally, and to have fun; which in this society is sometimes seen as something bad, or useless.

I did that for a couple of weeks, and ended up feeling less stressed, and happier. I went for walks in the middle of the day when I needed fresh air, I watched movies and played games and spent time with my boyfriend whenever I felt like it, and I worked whenever I felt like it too. And guess what? I got a lot of stuff done! Probably as much as I did before, except I felt much better :)

What I have learnt is that we should trust ourselves more; our bodies and our minds tell us what to do. They tell us when they need rest, and they tell us when they're ready to work. We just have to listen.

So how can you incorporate slow living elements into your life right now? Can you maybe have a less busy schedule? Dedicate some time each day to an activity that brings you joy, like baking, talking to a loved one, painting, or taking a bath? Can you spend a little more time in nature, or making your own food from scratch? These may seem like small things, but they can truly make a difference.

Slow living is about much more than that; this is just my personal experience with it. So if you're interested I invite you to check out all the great articles and youtube videos out there, and have a great (slow) day! :)