How I Slow Down in a World That Never Stops

Our world moves at hyperspeed now. We’re all about instant gratification and optimization.

Faster dinners.
Faster coffee.
Faster workouts.
Faster shopping.

And I love efficiency as much as the next Type A girl, but running in overdrive 24/7 cannot be good for our nervous systems.

I share lots of systems and routines focused on making household tasks more efficient.

But I don’t create those systems so I can squeeze more and more into my day.

I strive to make my daily systems more efficient to give myself extra time to slow down where it matters.

There are definitely things I want to rush: work, cleaning, weeknight dinners, and most adult responsibilities honestly.

But then there are other things I want to savor.

I rush through the boring things to get to the good stuff.

These are the things I’ve intentionally decided to give more time to.

I am not a morning person. I am the person that doesn’t want to speak for the first hour of my day.

I don’t wake up early to get ahead.

I wake up early so I can wake up slowly.

Before I decided to slow down my mornings, I would wake up at the last possible minute, rush around the house getting everything together, and start my day with a panicky, half asleep brain.

Now, my mornings look like:

• coffee + reading outside

• light movement (long walks/yoga/pilates)

• walking around my garden

• peace and quiet

What it’s given me

When I start the day slowly, my way, I’m pouring into myself before I log onto work and think about anyone else. This is easily the most life-changing one on the list. Peaceful mornings don’t have to be reserved for the weekends.

Some of my favorite memories from growing up were Sunday dinners at my grandparents’ house.

After a busy work week, and sometimes even busier weekends, it’s so nice to end Sundays slowly with an elaborate meal.

During the work week, I simply don’t have time to make big dinners like I would like to. And I found I was missing real cooking and trying out new recipes and skills.

So, I decided to bring back Sunday dinners at my house.

Each Sunday I make a more complex meal — something I would never have energy for on a weeknight. Things like lasagna, chicken and dumplings, spaghetti and meatballs, roast chicken. I usually make a dessert too, because life is too short.

Sometimes I’ll invite family and friends over, sometimes it’s just me and my partner.

What it’s given me

I genuinely look forward to Sunday dinners all week long. I love cooking, and sometimes Sunday is really the only chance I get to truly cook something exciting instead of just getting something on the table. I know that I get to spend Sunday evenings making things from scratch, spending time with myself, and eating a good meal.

We’ve lost the art of a good Sunday dinner.

Gardening is the opposite of instant gratification.

From seed starting to harvest, it’s a months long process.

I don’t think I’ve been this in tune with the seasons since I was a little kid. Spending so much time outside and being so aware of the seasons and wildlife has done wonders for my mental health and nervous system.

In the spring and summer, gardening takes up a lot of my time. A lot of people would just rather buy their food at the store and save all that time and hard work.

Why I still choose the slow way

Gardening may take a lot longer, but the quality you get is way beyond anything you could buy at the store. Plus, there’s pride and power in growing your own food. It’s a skill that has supported us for all of human history. That’s something I don’t mind spending time on.

I come from a family of tea drinkers. Hot tea. Iced tea. All. Day. Long.

I don’t drink much iced tea anymore but I’ve developed quite the ritual around hot tea.

For a long time I simply microwaved a mug of water (so American, I know) and threw a tea bag in.

Now, I’ve made it a huge part of my nightly routine.

I use a proper tea kettle (my first Le Creuset piece), use my own herbal blends that I grew myself, and steep the tea for 20 minutes to get the full benefits of the herbs.

I turned a 5 minute tea into a 30 minute ordeal — not to mention the work of growing, drying, and storing the herbs.

Why I still choose the slow way

I realize I could save myself a lot of time and just buy tea bags at the store.

But there’s something special about making things on my own, just because I can, because it’s important to me.

It’s also become a daily ritual for me. Rituals are grounding. This tea ritual signals the end of my day and makes everything feel intentional. I put time into growing the tea and it pays me back each night.

I’m a HUGE reader. I’ve had a passion for reading since I was a kid. And I want to one day have a “library” of my own (most people define that as 1,000 books).

I’m currently sitting at around 300 books.

And as a big home cook, I aim to have a good Le Creuset collection some day.

Social media makes it seem like everyone just buys everything they want, as soon as they want it.

But I’m choosing to intentionally build my collections over time.

I build them slowly by asking for them for birthdays and Christmas. I buy a book on every trip I take. I treat myself to a new Le Creuset piece to mark significant achievements. That’s how you build a collection over time.

It may take a while to build my own library and to have a full Le Creuset collection, but that will make it all the more satisfying when it happens.

I think this actively works against that social media instant gratification.

It’s been declared — the end of reading is here.

Now that social media and technology have taken over, it’s considered rare to be a “reader”. Only 16% of Americans read for pleasure.

One of the biggest ways I’ve slowed down is by returning to books.

Not because reading is the “better” hobby, but because it’s one of the few things that asks for my complete attention.

When I sit down with a book, there’s no scrolling, no multitasking, and no constant stream of notifications competing for my focus. For a little while, I get to be exactly where I am.

I’ve also stopped feeling like I need to race through my reading list. There will always be another book waiting for me, so I’d rather linger over one I genuinely enjoy than rush through three just to say I finished them.

That’s also why I’ve become intentional about building my personal library over time. I borrow most books from the library first, and only buy the ones I know I’ll return to again and again. Slowly collecting books I truly love feels much more meaningful than filling shelves as quickly as possible.

I talked about making big Sunday dinners, but that’s only one day of the week. Beyond that, I love making things from scratch as much as possible.

During busy weeks I may not be able to do elaborate dinners but I usually like to throw in a few from-scratch items when I can. Not only do they taste better, they’re better for you, and usually much cheaper.

It’s also nice knowing exactly what’s in your food.

Here are things I make from scratch nearly every week:

• sourdough

• dressings/sauces (Caesar, Italian, all sorts of vinaigrettes, Teriyaki, alfredo, marinara)

• homemade croutons (SO MUCH BETTER!)

You’d be surprised how easy these actually are and how much they elevate your everyday food. A little extra time for big payoff. That’s worth it to me.

As someone who loves learning new things and taking up new hobbies, I’ve had to get used to not mastering things right away.

I think most people avoid hobbies because they’re scared to “fail”, or they don’t think they have time to learn new skills.

But that mindset is holding you back.

Learning new things is very beneficial for your brain, improving neuroplasticity, memory, and even lowering stress.

I regularly challenge myself to learn new skills and pick up new hobbies.

Earlier this year I started my own sourdough starter and learned how to make loaves, and this summer I’ll be canning my garden produce for the first time. This winter I want to learn how to knit.

In the eyes of our capitalist culture, these may seem like frivolous pursuits, but I see it as giving back time to myself.

What it’s given me

When you’re learning a new skill it can feel like you’re wasting time and you’ll never pick it up.

But the more skills you learn and the more hobbies you pick up, the more sure you will become of yourself and your abilities.

It’s helped me lower my stress, find new passions, and made me realize I can do anything if I give myself enough time.

Sometimes it seems impossible to slow down life. But I don’t think slowing down means we have to automatically stop doing less.

Dishes have to be done, laundry will always need washing, and work will always be there.

Doing less isn’t really an option.

But deciding what’s worth more of our time is.

I choose to optimize the boring stuff so I can spend more time on me, myself, and I.

Until next time x