Time to slow down

Forcing ourselves to stop more often, to do fewer things, to think more calmly. All of this, in favor of a healthier and happier life. Being slow, doing less, being calmer is often understood as a synonym for laziness or low productivity. But it is not at all the same.

When you are running against the time, even without the feeling of accomplishment, you need to know how to listen to your intuition and stop. Correct the route or just start from scratch.

Time is a cultural dimension and its management varies widely from country to country, sometimes even from person to person. However, we cannot confuse the slow movement with procrastination.

Slow living is not postponing, it is not leaving things undone. It is, rather, managing our routines and priorities, and focusing on what really matters most to us. And this requires, first of all, a great reflection on these points.

We live more and more at a frenetic pace, powered by technologies, always on, always on autopilot. Having the strength to stop is an exercise in self-control and enormous courage. It almost requires physical strength to swim against the tide and know how to say “wait a minute, this is more important”.

The slow movement exists in almost all dimensions and daily activities. In food, agriculture, physical exercise, education. There are times to be faster and others when you need to be slower, the secret is to find the right speed. A simple but powerful idea.

If we look at agriculture, for example, we realize that anyone who tries to counter nature immediately loses sustainability. It is necessary to respect the cycles and times of each culture.

HOW TO LIVE MORE SLOWLY

I have been aware of all this for a long time and I am looking forward to a life change in order to realize this conviction: manage my time according to my priorities and have more time to do whatever I like, living according to my inner rhythm.

Time to do what I like, time to explore, discover, experiment, dream; time to make mistakes and go back to the beginning; time for me; time for family and friends; time to simply live - and not have that feeling of looking at the weeks running between your fingers and things piling up endlessly on the list of intentions.

In order to achieve this, it is necessary to redefine some things. Redefine objectives, goals, procedures. Redefine strategy and adjust what we are doing to the life we want to live, at the pace we want to have.

It is a difficult step, because it can often be interpreted as failing, giving up. But it is nothing like that. It is, simply, to know how to listen to ourselves, to listen to our bodies, to listen to those who are nearby and who is also guiding us.

Some tips and ideas for adopting a slower lifestyle. They are almost all very simple and depend only on us and our willingness to put them into practice and change. All with the aim of living less quickly and being happier.

- Turn off the phone more often, leave it at home when we go for a walk or leave it at the door as soon as we enter the house

- Define well what is most important to us (our priorities)

- Knowing how to say no to everything that is not a priority

- Practicing mindfulness, being present in the little things of everyday life (taking a shower, taking breakfast calmly and savoring, a coffee and a conversation with a friend or even a co-worker, a few minutes of play with the children, …)

- Create space and time in our day (for the unexpected, for something we like to do or simply to do nothing)

PERFECTIONISM IS ONLY A PRE-REQUIREMENT FOR UNHAPPINESS

This sentence makes a lot of sense: perfectionism is just a pre-requisite for unhappiness. And isn't it? Life is so much better when we relax and simply live in the present, focusing more on positive things and lowering expectations about ourselves.

There are many ways to start living life more slowly. The important thing is to reflect on this and get started.