The Slow List: 12 Strategies for Combating Hurry in Everyday Life

Is your life exceptionally busy? While we all experience seasons of unusual busyness, chronic stress from harried living takes it toll. How then do we combat hurry and look for ways to intentionally add slowness? I have found the following strategies to be helpful in my pushback against hurry.

Unplug.

Take a break from being ‘available’. Try putting your phone on silent or turn off notifications – start with just 15 minutes. Give your mind a break from anticipating the next ping and ring. Your nervous system will thank you. And, you’ll create space for other things – like hobbies and meaningful connection.

Pause. 

Practice the mid-day pause. A mid-day meal cues a moment of quiet thanks and remembrance. Set daily reminders to pause and breathe. There are so many great apps for this.   

Play. 

Choose hobbies that require focus and a gentler pace. Think slow. Do a puzzle. Create something that takes time — like diamond painting or a  knitting project. Play a board game. Write a letter. Bake bread. Go fishing. Play an instrument. Read a book.

Savour. 

Choose to be in the moment and savour. Refuse to rush. Eat slowly. Use your senses and observe the world around you. Watch a movie and take in the end credits.  Listen to a song from the first note to the very last. Sit in silence. Savour the moment.

Observe.

Notice the daily rhythms of the world around you… the lengthening and shortening of shadows and days, the way sunlight dances across the lawn, the changing of the seasons. Find ‘big sky’ and soak in the view – sunrises, sunsets, the changing of the moon.

Connect. 

Make time to meet a friend for coffee, turn off the notifications and be all there – mind, body, spirit.  There is something sacred about giving the person we are with our full attention.  In a world of distraction, be the friend that shows up fully present and engaged.  Make connection a priority.

Walk.

Move your body. Head outside for a leisurely stroll. As you walk, observe changes in your neighbourhood — a freshly painted door, the tree in full bloom, and the new puppy down the street. Soak up the sunshine, walk in the rain, and brave the cold – it’s worth it.

Think small.

Take note of the little things that give you pause – a bird’s cheerful song, a new book, your favourite t-shirt, the smell of coffee brewing, an organized drawer, worn blue jeans, or freshly mowed lawn. It all counts. Discover what brings you joy.

Create white space.

Intentionally schedule ‘white space’ in your calendar. Give yourself time between commitments to allow for recovery and preparation.  White space allows your calendar to breathe and creates a rhythmic cadence to your days. Actively pursue the long term goal of creating intentional margin in all aspects of your life.

Grow.

Plant peonies in the backyard, a raised garden bed, a container with the promise of strawberries in July, a rose bush that blooms late summer and lingers until frost. The anticipation of good things to come and our inability to rush the process is a gift. Savour slow, deep growth.

Rest.

Choose your rest. Rest comes in many forms. Consider what kind of rest is needed most — Sabbath rest, mental rest, emotional rest, physical rest. Maybe you need a change of pace, a nap, a vacation? All rest is not created equal. Give yourself permission to pursue the rest you need.

Breathe.

Take a deep breath. In the course of a day, we can forget to breath deeply. Shallow breathing becomes our default — and a poor substitute. Inhale through your nose, fill your lungs, pause and slowly release. Repeat.

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Hi, I'm Jalynne

Life is full of exceptions – moments, days and seasons that are outside the norm. I help others experiencing an ‘exception’ to see themselves and their circumstances with gentleness and  grace.  

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