7 applicable tips for slowing down in everyday life
Time is short – most of us grow up with this feeling. Our lives are packed with activities.
Obligations at work, at university, at school and in our free time, in which we often also commit ourselves: to our friends, our hobbies, our family. Most of the time, we make the decision of how we spend our free time voluntarily, and yet there is often an aftertaste of 'having to', even in our free time.
But there is one word that promises a remedy: deceleration.
Slowing down everyday life does not mean giving up the usual life completely and retire to the couch. On the contrary: slowing down leads to more energy in the long run. Slowing down everyday life means concentrating on the really important things and free yourself from unnecessary appointments, commitments and stress.
Today I would like to show you seven approaches that you can use to make your everyday life easier, more conscious and less stressful; 7 deceleration tips and exercises with which you can easily integrate the new slowness into your life.
But what is actually the reason for the desire to slow down in everyday life? There is often a short, unambiguous answer: stress.
The negative consequences of stress
Science shows : Stress is not only unpleasant, it also makes us ill in the long run . The consequences of stress include:
- states of exhaustion
- Constant tiredness and/or difficulty falling asleep
- Diseases of the cardiovascular system
- Problems with the gastrointestinal tract
- concentration problems
- Mental illnesses such as anxiety disorders, depression, burnout
- Tension, irritability
The deceleration of everyday life and the reduction of stress levels are therefore not just a luxury that we afford, but essential for our mental and physical health. So what can we do?
Pick three things to do each day - no more, no less
It feels like we have to do a hundred things every day. At work, work piles up, at home the laundry is waiting and the lawn could also be mowed again. When we are under pressure, we think of more and more things to do and the burden of the tasks overwhelms us. We get stressed and we are under constant tension.
In order to slow down life and free ourselves from the daily pressure, it is advisable to do no more than three things a day. At first glance, this may seem impossible, but if you try it, you will quickly realize that if you do three things a day and also take time to relax, you create more than one person under constant stress and complete the tasks with better results.
Deceleration exercise : If you make a list before you go to sleep with only three things that need to be done and stick to it, you will drastically slow down everyday life.
Quality of life and productivity increase as we begin to consistently eliminate stress and excessive demands from our lives.
Deceleration in everyday life? Learn to say no.
Nothing can make life as peaceful and easy as that setting personal boundaries . Those who learn to say no in a friendly but firm manner to tasks, projects and wishes from others that are not absolutely necessary will master everyday life much better and find inner peace.
We often feel obliged to meet all the demands placed on us and lose ourselves in the process. We don't want to alienate others. A clear no can have exactly the opposite effect. Those who clearly state their personal limits often receive respect for them. And even if we encounter resistance, we have still done something good for ourselves.
Deceleration tip: Say no through conscious perception of our personal limits can be wonderfully combined with empathy and helpfulness, both are not contradictory. On the contrary: we free ourselves from obligations with which we felt uncomfortable from the start and thus gain the capacity to be there for ourselves and our loved ones.
Leave five alone - and reward yourself with relaxation after your performance
Focusing on goals and the work it takes to achieve our goals puts us on the path to success. However, if you are too doggedly focused on your goals and forget to relax, you will sooner or later reach a point of being burned out.
Even when we reach our goal, we often can't really enjoy it - the road there was too rocky and the only reward after a short moment of euphoria is exhaustion.
It is better to let five be straight every now and then. Say goodbye to the demand for perfection that makes your life difficult.
Relaxation is the opposite of hard work. Many believe that they can only relax after they have reached their goal, but they make a mistake.
Those who regularly take time to relax and devote themselves to what actually gives them pleasure have a better chance of actually being able to enjoy success afterwards.
You can also consciously create relaxing moments in everyday life. And with such everyday things as one relaxing shower , one facial care whose wonderful scent lets you experience the here and now, or with one relaxing room scent .
quality before quantity
Success in everyday life is often measured by how much we achieve. How much says nothing about the quality of the work done. On the contrary, there is a high probability that the end product of hustle and bustle will not meet the quality standards that we set for ourselves.
who instead one task at a time works and takes enough time for each task will achieve better results than a person who focuses on quantity and wants to get everything done as quickly as possible. Take your time.
take time for yourself
Time for ourselves is something we tend to put on the back burner. First come the wants and needs of others. However, it is important for our health that we have enough time for ourselves. Even the most outgoing of us have to occasionally breathe alone and should treat yourself to these moments regularly.
A walk alone, undisturbed listening to music, a Bath with scented oil , a Visit to the sauna , everything recharges our batteries, decelerates everyday life and lets us find inner peace.
Slow down digitally – switch off your smartphone more often
Constant availability has advantages, but also fatal consequences. Our media consumption hardly allows us to rest, it seems almost impossible to switch off. On the other hand, an occasional digital detox helps.
If you want to slow down your life, you should temporarily do without modern technology and get back to the things of substance that stimulate the mind but calm us at the same time.
Instead of picking up our smartphone every 10 minutes or checking our email many times a day, we should always take a break from it .
How about if you just turn off your smartphone this Sunday and let it disappear in the drawer?
Remove unimportant and harmful things from life
As humans, we often tend to cling to things that are difficult for us to let go of, even if they are not good for us. These can be material things that we accumulate, but also tasks and relationships that are no longer good for us - and maybe even never were good for us.
To the To decelerate everyday life and to enjoy life more, it helps to separate from things. Even if this is difficult at first, we later realize that we have carried a burden without which life feels much easier.
Designing everyday life in a minimalist way - that means slowing down life, separating ourselves from the unimportant and listening to our inner compass, without any fast-moving influences.
Give yourself the gift of deceleration - you deserve it.
What helps you slow down? Share it with us in the comments.
Subscribe to this blog's RSS feed using http://feuerstein-essentials-switzerland-gmbh.myshopify.com/blogs/feuerstein-essentials-magazin.atom
About Feuerstein Essentials Switzerland:
We want to help people to increase their well-being, to promote their inner peace, to gain new strength, to be connected to themselves and to go their way with satisfaction and self-confidence - wherever it leads.
Balanced people find their way, they find meaning. Our products support you with their discreet design and soothing fragrances - they are small suggestions to listen to yourself again.