I'm Actively Trying to Slow My Life Down. Here's How.

I never knew how much joy this would bring

I woke up to 117 notifications on my phone.

I didn’t read any of them.

That sounds like a chaotic, exhausting way to start my day.

So instead, I left my phone in my room, made some tea, and read my favorite book while watching the sunrise.

That’s a good way to start the day.

It’s time to slow down

In case you haven’t noticed, our personal lives, businesses, and hamburger habits have reached breakneck speeds. The societal mantra seems to tell us that fast is good and slow is bad. Maybe I’m the only one, but don’t you feel like a hamster sometimes? It’s exhausting, the pace we set for ourselves.

We feel guilty for taking a day off.

We feel unproductive going for a walk without an audiobook.

We feel lazy if we relax in the morning.

It’s time to slow down. We need margin and space to think. We need quiet zones, where we aren’t being bombarded with the opinions of others.

Here are 5 ways I’m actively slowing my life down.

1. A pocket notebook

I find handwriting an incredibly rewarding experience. For a few reasons. First of all, no distractions of any kind. There’s nothing there except what you put into it. No stimulation of any kind. Pen and paper. Simple.

The other reason I love a pocket notebook is it’s quiet. It seems like everything beeps, dings, or pings nowadays, finally a piece of technology that isn’t demanding my attention.

Lastly, it’s slow. There’s no copy and paste, no voice-to-text, just plain old writing, which, if you want to read over again, has to be legible. It’s hard to rush it. Since I carry it with me, it gives me the ability to slow the tempo down anytime I want to. That’s worth something to me.

I could talk for a long time about my pocket notebook. I’ve refined mine over the years so it’s exactly what I need. Recently I started laminating the covers so they are practically indestructible and water resistant. No one likes pulling out a sweating notebook in the summer. Eww.

If carrying one of these sounds nice, you can find them online here. I basically couldn’t find them anywhere online, which is a crying shame so I decided to fix that.

2. Create a quiet space

A recent habit of mine is to create a quiet space. There are lots of ways to do this, but here are a few I personally enjoy.

Reading in a coffeeshop (without my phone)

Driving without music

Evenings with ambient lighting, calm music, and chill

My favorite of these are my evenings. I get a beverage that’s only good in small sips, which forces me to slow down. I turn off all my lights except lamps, and I don’t do anything in a hurry. Often I read, or journal, and sometimes watch a TV show or movie. If I watch any entertainment I plan it in advance and do it intentionally.

Recently I’ve started hosting study nights at my house with my friends. From 6 pm to 8:30 pm, people can show up, make a hot drink, and relax with a book, or project. Often people draw, journal, or read. The only rule is between 6 pm and 8:30 pm, it’s quiet time. NO TALKING. Afterward, we have food and chat. There’s something beautiful about sitting in silence, in a group like that. It’s magical.

3. Go for walks. Without your phone

One of my favorite memories from a few months ago was a late-night walk I took in the snow. I live in town and since we almost never get snow where I live, I had to take advantage of it. It was remarkable. Quiet. Calm. Despite getting snow blown on me by a snow plow, but you know, a price paying.

Hardly anyone knows this but I have a secret walking trail close to where I live. It’s a little oasis in the middle of town that almost no one goes to. It’s a beautiful walk with a clear stream beside it.

When I’ve had a particularly long day, or haven’t gotten out much, I go for a walk there. It slows me down almost better than anything else, especially if I leave my phone behind. As spring comes this is by far what I’m looking forward to the most.

Sometimes I sit by the creek with a book, sometimes I just sit and watch it. I always leave feeling grateful and energized.

4. Wash your dishes by hand

I mean this somewhat metaphorically (if my brother read this he would have unsubscribed immediately). I used to rush through my household tasks and chores so I could rush to more important things. Now I view them as a lovely change in pace. They have to get done anyway, so why not take the opportunity to slow down and relax while doing them?

So I wash my dishes by hand. I push mow my yard. If a particularly fierce deadline is approaching, you might find me vacuuming my floor. Because I’ve learned that good things are rarely made in a frenzy. So when I can, I slow down. I think.

I usually tell people we set the pace of our lives, which people hate hearing. They don’t like accepting responsibility for how their life feels to them. There’s some warrior, underdog vibe that makes people feel good about saying how they are surviving the insane pressure life is throwing at them. As if they didn’t go to the bank asking for it.

Life gives plenty of opportunities where we can slow down. Once you take responsibility for your pace, at least some of it, you’ll be much better equipt to take advantage of the natural breaks in pace. You’ll be able to slow down, not your whole day otherwise you’d be bored, but parts of it.

5. Tag memories as “save for later”

I’ve been doing something a bit random since January 1, this year. Each night before bed, I reflect on my day and write one memory I would like to remember on a 3x5 card. On the back side, I write in detail exactly what happened, and on the front, I date the card and write a few words summarizing the memory.

Then I review a few of the other memories from previous days to make sure I don’t forget them. After a few reviews, they are basically locked into my memory. Then at the end of each month, I go through them and pick 2-3 of the highest impact memories or lessons, copy them onto another card, and pin them in my office.

I haven’t missed a day since I started and while it’s a bit of a chore some days, it’s been critical in slowing me down. And perhaps, at the most important time when we should be slowing down. The memories that stand out are often beautiful, which makes it a wonderful way to end the day. This also keeps the days from flying by, because now each day is tagged with something memorable.

Again, the point isn’t necessarily to slow your whole life to a snail’s pace. The goal is to create pockets throughout your day where you can and do slow down. Time to let your mind wander without guilt. Time to reflect. Time to be grateful. These are all things we need.

All of these are relatively easy to do and require little setup, except the first one, which you can find here. Pick one and try it out this week. You’ll be happier.

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