How To Slow Down In a Hectic World

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Did you blink and miss Labor Day Weekend?  Where did it go? No seriously, where did it go?  Summer was great this year, a bit hectic for me, but it was still a good one. I do have to admit I felt a little out of sorts all summer though.  I’m not sure if it truly was my move or if it was the fact that I tried to slow down a bit and still felt a little off.  Slowing down meant getting off schedule and getting rid of the constant routine I am always in.  Looking back, I don’t know if this was the best idea as not a lot got done. Everyone including me has a lot on her plate on any given day.  From work to family to everything else that pops up in life, keeping it all straight can become difficult.

Sometimes life can start to feel overwhelming and it can seem to be a bit out of control.  I know I’m a control freak and can proudly admit it, but that also leads to stress when things don’t go my way.  Over the years I’ve been trying to tone it down and keep control in other ways when I technically have no control.  It involves slowing down a bit and keeping to a consistent schedule that I can alter as long as I take time for me.  Here are my tips for how to slow down in a hectic world. 

Prioritize Your To Do List

Create an old fashioned to-do list and stick to it.  I enjoy a paper to-do list, as crossing off each item makes me feels fulfilled. But you can create an electronic list as well.   Physically seeing everything you need to accomplish in the day will allow you to prioritize that list and focus on the big tasks first.  I write down everything I need to each day, no task is to small for the list. Sometimes the small simple things slip my mind, so writing them down helps.  Don’t be upset if you don’t get to everything on the list in one day, it takes time to get in a groove. What you don’t accomplish one day can be put on the next day’s list. And don’t forget to schedule time for you, even if it’s just 5 minutes! This can really help you slow down in a hectic world.

Be Present

Don’t only slow down, be present in what you are doing everyday.  Schedules are crazy and you are  moving from task to task always trying stay a step ahead. It can be chaos sometimes.  Slow down, though, and be present in your current task. Stay focused on what you are working on at the moment.  I hear people say they are great multi-taskers. Well guess what? You probably aren’t. When you multitask you lose focus on what you are doing.  Take work for example, I’m emailing, talking to my co-worker and picking up the phone, all at the same time. Out of those three tasks none of them are getting my full attention and the outcome is half-ass work.  

Put Down the Mobile Devices

I love to Instagram as much as the next person, but I can get lost in it for hours.  While I’m Instagraming I’m not productive.  The only way to get things done is to put away the mobile devices and focus on your tasks.  Some of us have an addiction to our phones and can’t stop from looking at it.  Did you know the average person looks at their cell phone 80 times a day, 80 TIMES!  That comes out to checking your phone every 12 minutes.  What a waste of time.  If you set aside mobile device time and dedicate 30 minutes, or however long you want to it, then you will get it out of your system and have time for more productive things.  

Make Time for You Every Day

Making time for you every day is hard.  We only have 24 hours in the day and getting it all done can be next to impossible.  How do I take time for myself when the house is a mess or when dinner needs to be made?  How do I slow down in a hectic world? 

You don’t have to take hours for yourself, 10 minutes will work just fine too. I choose to take time for myself doing what I enjoy the most, drinking tea!  Whether I am at work or at home that is the time I take for me.  I’ve always loved drinking tea and recently got into loose leaf teas.  This almondine green tea is delicious!  I love using it with my Teabloom glass and infuser lid.  It allows me to steep my loose leaf tea and drink it directly from the same cup. It’s convenient and the tea cup has a simple, sophisticated design.

Taking 5 minutes to enjoy the tea is all I need each day to get “me” time.  I’ll admit on the weekends I may curl up with a book and take up to an hour enjoying my tea.  The most important thing is that having the tea I like in the Teabloom glass and infuser makes the “me” time each day very special no matter how short it is.

Looking for more ways to slow down in a hectic world and enjoy life?  Check out how you can stop the busy shaming that is sweeping our generation.