Tip Tuesday: The Practice of Slowing Down

Summer is winding down, back-to-school time is here, and it feels like time is just slipping away. Today, I want to talk about the importance of taking a step back and slowing down. Sometimes our day to day life gets a little hectic and before we know it weeks or even months have gone by. Let’s take a look at 3 ways we can slow down and make sure we are not letting our days, weeks, months, and years slip away.

What does your day look like?

The first step to understanding how to slow down is first taking a look at what your days look like right now. We absolutely cannot make changes if we have no idea what to change. So take 1-2 days and write down EVERY thing you do. We want to take a good hard look at how you spend your day. Are you on the go all day? Do you spend a lot of time scrolling? Do you have any down time? Do you enjoy how you spend your time?

How would you like to spend your days?

Now that you know what your days look like, sit down and take some time to write what you want your days to actually look like. What are your priorities? Make sure they make an appearance. What are your major responsibilities and obligations? Make sure they have their time. And most importantly, where is your down time?

the magic of downtime

I know you are thinking, well if I had any down time, then I would do this or this or this. In that case, I want you to go back to steps 1 and 2 and find your down time. It is there, I promise you. It may be disguised as something else like browsing the internet, commuting, or taking care of kids or parents, but IT IS THERE! Then I want you to sit down once again and write down 5 things you want or desire to do in your down time. It could be fun, it could be relaxing, or it could be a new hobby or skill to learn. Now, this is the key to it all. Put these things ON YOUR CALENDAR. That’s right, your down time and fun need to become a priority.

In today’s world, we actually need to plan our down time. We plan every other waking moment. In order to slow down, we need to make time to turn off our auto-pilot. Look at the things you are doing every single day. Are those the things you want and need to be doing, or have you just been doing them? Never any judgement, but take a good honest look. What are you doing now? What do you want/need to be doing? What needs to change to get you there? Need some help with any of this, please reach out!

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