Children are waiting to grow up sooner to achieve their dreams, and teenagers are impatiently waiting to blow out their 18-year-old birthday candles to get their licenses and start their independent and beautiful life. However, older people’s lives pass so quickly that they don’t have time to wait for the next year of their lives. They come to their senses and see they have passed 30 years old, reached 40, and are moving toward 50. In short, with the onset of adulthood, time flies, and people run to catch up. This article answers one of the most fascinating questions ever asked: “How to slow down life?” Stay with us.
What does slowing down life mean?
Slowing down doesn’t mean doing things slower; For example, even though you can reach your workplace in half an hour, slow down and stay on the road for 1 hour! Slowing down the pace of life means removing unimportant and non-urgent tasks from the daily schedule to have enough time to do meaningful and urgent tasks. You can prioritize your daily tasks using the Eisenhower matrix. Slowing down is to curb stress, lead your life consciously and purposefully, and achieve the plans you set.
Slowing down life gives you enough time to appreciate and enjoy its beauty.
Working has become a value in the modern world. People should have second and third jobs and create economic value for society. Employees try to complete all their tasks during the day, look lively and happy, and please their boss even if they must keep themselves awake by consuming coffee or energy drinks! It has probably happened to you that during working hours, you constantly imagine you are very busy, have little time, and need to do your work faster. Doing multiple tasks simultaneously will make things go faster, clutter your mind, and reduce productivity. So you have to learn how to slow down the passage of time to reach your tasks in peace.
How to slow down life?
Resting is as important as working to increase efficiency. Of course, if you don’t know the right way to slow down the pace of life, you probably won’t be able to prioritize tasks and dedicate time to rest. For example, spending rest time in a virtual space calms your mind, destroys your concentration, and confuses your thoughts. You may even lose your rest time and spend more time online, or when you go to work, your mind is still busy with what you saw on your phone.
In the following, we propose solutions to reduce the speed of life. By implementing these strategies daily, competitive thoughts will go out of your mind, and you will no longer need to endure much stress and anxiety every day.
1. Practice pausing
We are used to finding an answer to a question immediately. This harmful habit has been formed since the school days that if a student does not answer the question directly and needs a few minutes to think, the teacher asks that question to other classmates and does not give the students enough time to think. Of course, some teachers wait for a little, but the student is so stressed that the answer does not come to his mind during this time. While according to research, when students have enough time to think, their efficiency increases, and they can usually find the correct answer.
Pausing is essential for all questions and issues in life. When a problem arises, pause instead of trying to react. First, calm your mind, find the available solutions, and finally, choose and implement the best solution. With this, you don’t get stressed, and your brain works better.
2. Spend some time in a peaceful environment
The urban environment is one of the leading causes of your stress during the day; Crowds, noises, and being around people just in a hurry to get there stimulate the brain, create tension and rob you of peace. Being in a calm and stress-free environment increases your relaxation and slows your life.
The cozy corner of the room, the terrace of the house, or even the parents’ home can be a peaceful space that frees your mind from everyday worries and stresses.
3. meditate
Your mind always has something to do; He is either worried about the future or thinking about the past. These mental conflicts are one of the most critical obstacles to peace, even when you have slowed down the pace of life and intend to increase the quality of your life. Meditation is like a broom to cleaning up useless mental conflicts and removes anxiety and depression.
There are two crucial points about meditation that you should pay attention to:
- It may not be easy to focus the first few times you meditate. Keep repeating and practicing until your mind gets used to it.
- Meditation and mindfulness are not for everyone. If you feel like you’re not getting results after a few weeks, move on to other ways to slow down. They are just as effective as meditation.
4. Imagine the peace
When you are in a place without a peaceful environment, it becomes hard to slow down. One of the ways to relax in such situations is to imagine relaxation. Imagine sitting with your loved ones in a quiet place, drinking tea, and the weather is just how you like it. When your mind engages in relaxing images, it stops thinking about worries and competing thoughts. After your mind calms down, take a few deep breaths to control your anxiety.
5. Hold your cell phone less
This is the same mistake we talked about a little earlier. It would be best to have a break after a busy day at work. Still, surfing the internet, reading the news, and going up and down online stores is the worst way to relax because your mind receives and processes a large amount of information in a few minutes. As a result, more It will be already crowded and restless.
6. Go hiking
When you go to nature, the passage of time doesn’t matter to you anymore. In essence, there is no news of the hustle and bustle of the city and the worries of everyday life, and everything goes smoothly. It’s like when you’re out of town; you realize what’s meaningful and how beautiful life can be. Dedicate the vacation to nature travel so your mind can recover lost peace.
7. Connect with the Earth
To connect with the Earth, walk on dirt, plant a tree or flower, or even lie on the grass and look up at the sky. According to research, establishing a physical connection with the Earth stimulates the release of serotonin. Serotonin is a happy hormone that plays a vital role in dealing with depression.
8. Listen to relaxing music
According to research, listening to soft music reduces cortisol ( stress hormone ). Binaural beats are the best choice to slow down the pace of life. These types of music play at a different frequency to each ear, so you should listen to them with headphones. This music helps improve concentration and brain function and suits people with ADHD.
9. Taste life
When you do something, understand it deeply. For example, when you drink tea, think about the good taste of tea and the excellent feeling it gives you. When you sink deep into the moments, you understand life and time no longer pass like lightning and wind.
10. Make time for enjoyable activities
Your boss doesn’t mind you working 24/7, but it’s up to you to decide how much time you want to devote to work. So balance work and life and save some time doing things you love. Some enjoyable things can be done now and then, like traveling. Some activities can also be done daily, such as attending a music class and playing an instrument daily.
11. Manage your thoughts
Have you ever been stressed about something that hasn’t happened yet? For example, when you have made a mistake and haven’t met your boss yet, your mind creates a scenario of dismissal for itself and causes you a lot of stress, while your boss might forgive you and give you a chance to make amends?! If you find yourself overthinking, try running, cycling, taking a shower, or writing down your thoughts on paper.
12. do yoga
Yoga is a sport where slow and deep breathing is essential, and all its movements are done slowly and precisely. Practicing yoga daily calms your mind and slows down the pace of life. If your training is continuous, the body’s cortisol will also decrease.
13. Check what you are thinking about in every moment
One of the reasons slowing down isn’t successful is that you’re thinking about a thousand different things simultaneously. When you’re at work, you’re thinking about your kids at home; when you’ve taken your kids to the park, you’re thinking about tomorrow’s unfinished business. Therefore, you will not understand anything about your work, nor will you enjoy having fun with your child. To solve this problem, consciously manage your mind and choose what you will think about.
It is better to focus your attention and focus on what you are doing at that moment.
14. Pay attention to your loved ones
Daily worries and the fast pace of life keep people apart. Remember that your relationships are one of your most valuable assets, and you should work hard to maintain them. Spend time with your loved ones and ensure you all have a good time. These connections help you live a few minutes slower and understand life’s deeper meaning.
15. Accept your limitations
You won’t save the world, say yes to every request, and do everything you’re assigned. Try ” saying no ” once and accept your limitations to see that the world continues to work and nothing wrong happens because of your negative answer.
Last word; Don’t forget to breathe!
When you are always in a hurry, you are alive but not living. Living means sometimes slowing down and taking a look around you. You don’t always have to drive in the expressway, try to beat your previous day’s record, and get home a few minutes earlier! Sometimes driving in the right lane and watching the trees on the side of the road is another pleasure and relieves the tiredness of a working day. In this article, we presented 15 simple but practical suggestions to reduce the speed of life. Doing these things will make life sweeter for you, and you will no longer feel like everything is going fast.
Warning! This article is only for educational purposes; to use it, it is necessary to consult a doctor or specialist.
