Slow living: a lifestyle imposed on us by COVID-19

The alarm goes off. You press the snooze button to shut it off and go to sleep for five more minutes. You try to delay the inevitable: start a new day with the same routine. Get up, drink some coffee and get ready for work. The working day goes by smoothly and you think about all the things you could be doing if you didn’t have to work.

Reading a book, watching the new Netflix series or the movie everyone is talking about; going for a walk in the park, going to the beach and enjoying a nice Sunday with family and friends. We know that we live an accelerated life, with haste and immediacy; in which we cannot afford to slow down and experience slow living, because we simply don’t have time.

All those plans, ideas, trips and moments are cut short when we are forced to stay at home. The routine changes, time gets longer, and the days and weeks seem like months. The things we have always wanted to do, but which we postponed because we gave priority to rest or leisure, await us with open arms. We’ve realized, in a very forced way, what is really important and that slowing down our accelerated life is possible.

What is slow living?

Despite the fact that we have been living it for the last 15 days (possibly without realizing it) the slow living lifestyle has already been put into practice by many people around the world for some years. It is said that all the doctrines of the slow movement started with slow food; a concept that was born in Italy in the 80’s with the arrival of the first McDonald’s in Rome. The slow food movement aims to put fast food aside and invites people to enjoy the true pleasure of food; from its ingredients and preparation, to the moment of the first bite.

Thanks to this new philosophy, new concepts such as slow fashion and slow living are gradually emerging, but all revolving around the same concept: time. Time is one of the most valuable resource we have, but it is also the most used excuse not to do something. “I don’t have time“, “It doesn’t matter, I’ll do it tomorrow, there’s plenty of time“; these are some of the phrases that we’ve ALL (I emphasize this word) used at some point in our lives, but now that we can stop and reflect, do we really have plenty of time?

Besides making us think about the time we have, the slow living lifestyle invites us to enjoy every moment; to leave aside the rush and our need to want everything at once. It is a lifestyle based on slowing down, reducing stress and enjoying life more. The idea is interesting and appealing, but in a time of global chaos how can we achieve slow living?

How can I introduce slow living into my routine?

Although it may seem a little hard to believe, the moments of confinement that we are experiencing because of the COVID-19 may be a great opportunity to begin to slow down and appreciate what we have now. To begin with, it is important to keep in mind that like with any change, you must be consistent; and that you can incorporate these recommendations into your daily routine and maintain them after confinement.

1.-Practice mindfulness.

This practice is used a lot in meditation, and consists of being present in the here and now. One way to start is not to let the mind wander while we are trying to concentrate on a task or a moment. The best example is to pay attention when we are having a conversation; to put aside our phones, not to think about the things we have to do or what we are going to eat for dinner.

Concentrate on listening to the other person and what they are saying; they might need some good advice and you can give it to them. This example is especially relevant now that many of our interactions happen through an electronic device and distractions are all around us.

2.- Avoid distractions.

This advice goes hand in hand with the practice of mindfulness, however it can be applied to certain particular actions. If you have a task to finish, a deadline at work or write a blog post (like this one), before you start, make sure the conditions you are going to work on are right. Silence your phone and turn off your social network notifications; keep a glass of water handy so you don’t have to get up in the middle of the process; eliminate any external stimuli that might be a distraction; choose the right music and limit the time you dedicate to it so you can concentrate better.

3.- Have internal dialogues.

Talking to others is good. Telling a psychologist, friend or colleague how you feel is a good way to blow off steam. But the most important conversations you will have in your life are with yourself. At a certain point in my life I heard that you can lie to everyone except yourself. Listen carefully to your thoughts, your heart, and your instincts.

What causes you anxiety or stress? How can you lessen it or make it better? These inner dialogues are not easy, but as we are more honest with ourselves, we can achieve a balance that helps us to be okay with ourselves and others.

4.- Be selective.

Stephen Covey (author of the book “The 7 habits of highly effective people”) designed a matrix to improve time management, which consists of placing the task or event to be performed in one of the four quadrants. The quadrants are 1. Urgent and Important; 2.Not urgnet but important, 3. Urgent but not important and 4. Not urgent and not important. By using Covey’s matrix, you can prioritize the things that really deserve your attention. According to the author, we should concentrate on the activities that fall in the second quadrant, since they are the ones that will give us the most well-being and happiness.

5.- Learn to say no.

Saying no is difficult, more difficult than many of us think. A friend may need our help, a colleague asks us to help them with a project or a new client needs our services. In these, and thousands of other situations, we may have the instinct to say yes at first; but if we take a moment to deliberate we may lose more than we gain. This doesn’t mean that you say no and turn around; you are simply giving priority at that moment to other things (see the matrix in point 4!) that will help you have a better life balance.

Saying no at a certain point in time doesn’t mean it is a no forever. If your new client really wants to work with you, they can wait a few days; your friend will thank you for giving her more than 5 minutes to listen to her and your colleague will understand that you can’t be part of their project because you are paying attention to yours.

6.- It’s good to rest, but don’t let it become procrastinating.

Slow living isn’t a synonym of doing nothing. As I said before, it’s about enjoying life and slowing down. However, many people can slow down so much that they end up procrastinating. It is valid to have breaks in our daily lives, take a break on the weekend or make the trip we have longed for (for now we just have to imagine it and stay at home!). It is valid to stop to eat a nice meal and enjoy the conversation; to disconnect from social networks and external noise to read some pages of a book before going to sleep; and it is also valid to take some time to come back to our center after some big or chaotic event, like our current situation.

Although all these moments are valid, it is up to you to make sure they happen in a certain space and that they do not become your new lifestyle. Learn to organize your time efficiently and you will see, almost as if by magic, that your days have a few more minutes.

7.- Enjoy.

If you have already reached this point, it is because you are really interested in having a more relaxed lifestyle. It is possible to slow down and start doing all the things that you have put aside because you think that you don’t have time or because you give priority to other things. It doesn’t matter why you want to make this change, the important thing is that you enjoy it! Enjoy slowing down and feeling your mind slow down as well as your body. Enjoy the little moments that you didn’t notice before, the conversations with friends or family that you didn’t have for a long time, or taking up again that project that excites you so much.

It is more than a simple ifestyle

So now you know, slow living will help you have a better life balance; to enjoy every moment and to think things through and pay more attention to them. Slowing down also means disconnecting a little bit, leaving the digital world behind to live in the real world. Now is a difficult time for that; but while we are at home, let’s do activities that take us away from the screens and bring us closer to our family, friends and ourselves.

Let’s take it easy, let’s reflect on the opportunity we’ve been given by staying home to come out of this pandemic as better people and better human beings.
Let us stay home for all those who can’t.

We all have the same number of hours in a day, how are you going to take advantage of them?