I love the idea of slow living.
Romanticizing the mundane, taking my time with every day tasks, appreciating the little things, basically living a leisurely life, prioritizing things that matter to me.
And I try to do these things the best I can.
And while my social media feeds are full of women living in the country, baking their own bread and growing their own veg and I adore following their accounts…I have a full time job, two unruly dogs and a requirement for ten hours of sleep a night (I know) so my life simply does not and will not ever look like that (and, I’m a realist, nobody’s life is really like it looks on social media).
There are some things I do in attempt to ‘live slow’ however and I thought I’d share them with you incase you are struggling with the every day average Joe life like myself.
Getting outside every single day
Even if it’s just sitting in the garden on my lunch hour with my book, now that spring has finally arrived I’m making sure to spend plenty of time outdoors. I’m also doing Couch to 5k at the moment and I LOVE spotting all of the spring flowers blooming. We have some great wisteria displays nearby that have recently come to life.
Leaving my phone upstairs on an evening
I am terrible for scrolling mindlessly on my phone on an evening so once I’ve cooked tea or exercised, it goes upstairs for the night so I can focus fully on the tv, my husband or a book.
Meal planning, reducing waste and taking my time with cooking
As head chef of our residence, it’s up to me to make sure we are eating a varied, balanced diet and not ordering too many takeaways. I like to try a couple of new recipes every week, along with a few tried and tested favourites, really taking my time to get them right. I’m working really hard to reduce our waste and everything that doesn’t get eaten is given to the dogs, or composted.
Setting clear boundaries
Since entering my thirties, I’ve become really sure of who I am, what I like and what I don’t like. If I don’t want to do something, I just won’t do it, or will offer up an alternative. I don’t let anyone take me for a fool anymore and I stand up for myself in a clear and assertive way. Clear boundaries means you are that little bit closer to living a life you love.
Unsubscribing from sales emails
Every single day I get emails telling me to buy this, buy that, this is on sale but only for today!!!!…And I’m sick of it so I’ve unsubscribed from the lot. I’m over it and I’m over spending money on things I don’t really need.
Not overloading my weekends
When I was younger I wanted every weekend to be jam-packed and I’d feel lost if it wasn’t. These days I embrace slower weekends, weekends spent pottering around the house, eating a roast at a country pub then going home for a post-roast snooze. I’m just at my happiest at home!
Unsubscribing from sales emails is so weirdly liberating.
"If I don’t want to do something, I just won’t do it, or will offer up an alternative." - I LOVE THIS ONE BECAUSE YES. Is it time?, is it experience?, don't know but I just have no qualms with saying "NOPE!", and that's that. I also really like leaving my phone in my bag when I get home from work so I can just BE for a little while