How to Practise Slow Living as a Busy Woman (Without Changing Your Entire Life)
Slow living isn't about escaping a busy life. It's about bringing more intention into the life you already have.
Before COVID-19 hit in 2020, the idea of slow living felt impossible to me. I’d heard people talk about it in YouTube videos and books and I always felt drawn to this lifestyle, yet I felt like without radically changing my entire life to become a woman who stays home, wearing flowy dresses and baking from scratch, that it wasn’t realistic for me.
When COVID came around and we were all spending most of our time at home, I started to feel what it was like to take life at a slower pace and by the time lockdown was lifted and things started to return to normal, I knew I couldn’t go back to the hectic lifestyle I’d had before.
So in today’s post, I want to share with you a few of the little things I’ve continued to build into my days to make slow living a part of my life, whilst still working full time, running a business and a home, caring for my fur baby and at the time of writing, planning a wedding!
Because the reality is, slow living isn’t about the aesthetics or having all the time in the world, it’s about creating little moments of space within your real life by being more intentional with your time and energy. And some of the most powerful steps you can take need barely any time at all!
How you start the day
First of all, I want to touch on mornings because there is soooo much content out there about morning routines that often involve 5am starts, hitting the gym and ticking through a 10 step productivity checklist.
Whilst this works for some women, this is definitely not my idea of a great morning.
There is no “perfect” slow living morning routine, it’s entirely up to you to curate what feels like a calmer, easeful start to your day.
The benefit of a slow morning routine isn’t the specific steps, rather it’s that it creates a buffer between you waking up and rushing head first into the stress of your day.
Everyone is different so perhaps you only have 10 minutes for yourself in the morning - that’s perfect, it’s what you do with those 10 minutes that counts.
For instance, my mornings start at 7:30am when I take my dog for his walk (because of course, his comfort comes first!) At 8am, I get cosy under my blanket with a lemon and ginger tea and spend 5-10 minutes listening to meditation music and doing some deep breathing which really helps calm my mind. Then I make a quick breakfast and get myself ready for the day.
I also try to stick to a rule of no phone before 9am so my morning routine is scroll-free time.
If you’re looking for somewhere to start with slow living, I’d highly recommend you take a look at how you spend the first hour or two of your day and see if there’s micro changes you can make to introduce a little more slow.
Making conscious choices
Another way of living more slowly as a busy woman is to become more intentional about your choices throughout the day.
What I mean by this is say for instance on your lunch break at work you normally sit in your office kitchen and scroll on social media whilst you eat. Ask yourself: is this what I really want/need right now or is this just a default habit?
Maybe you’ll realise that actually your body is craving a short walk or some fresh air. Maybe your brain could actually do with 10 minutes of silence instead of consuming more information. Maybe you’re actually in the mood for a wander around the vintage shops down the road.
Before automatically reaching for your phone, ask yourself:
What do I need right now?
What would feel nourishing?
What would leave me feeling better afterwards?
The more that I do this, the more intentional my life feels and the less I find myself saying “I don’t have time for anything”.
Slow living isn’t about carving out an entire day to cook from scratch and clean your whole house, it’s about the tiny moments in every day where you allow yourself to slow down a little and refill your creative, spiritual and emotional cups.
Curating your content
Another really powerful slow living step you can take today is to become intentional about what you’re consuming. Whether it’s social media posts, who you follow, the films and tv you watch, music you listen to or even people you surround yourself with.
We are so easily influenced by the type of information we are constantly taking in and if that information is telling us we need to do, be and have more or better or newer, then it can create so much pressure and mental clutter we just don’t need.
For instance, if you follow a lot of home decor accounts on Instagram, you might find that you’re never satisfied with your own home because you’re constantly being shown what else you could do to refresh or change your rooms.
The content we consume can easily create a sense of feeling like our to do list (and our to buy list!) never ends because there’s always something else we aspire to have. In turn, this can make it feel like there’s never enough time for all the things we “need” to do.
Whereas if you were exposed to content that encourages buying less and appreciating more, you might find your mind feels lighter without the constant pressure to keep up, upgrade or do more.
Asking for help
Something that I’ve really had to work on over the last few years (and know so many women struggle with as well) is being able to ask for help.
I used to be someone who saw asking for help as a failure, who didn’t feel satisfied with anything unless I’d done it all myself. Whether it was housework, in my job, trying to build a business, cooking etc. I would rather run myself into the ground to prove I could do it all, than let someone share the load.
What I’ve learned though is that there is a power in knowing what you can reasonably manage and what you can offload to someone else. Allowing other people to help you means that you can get the job done without completely exhausting yourself in the process. I have to say, I now love letting my partner give me a hand with the household tasks and knowing I don’t have to push through it all alone.
It also feels like life just flows easier when I accept help because tasks feel lighter, quicker and less of a drain. Asking for help creates space. It frees up time, energy and mental bandwidth that would otherwise be spent trying to carry everything alone.
How you end the day
Finally, I want to circle back to daily routines and talk about night time routines. Again, I see so many people sharing super aesthetic, 3 hour long routines and whilst I’m sure it works for some women, it just doesn’t for me.
I want my evening routine to feel simple, manageable and enjoyable, even on days where my energy is lower or I’m on my period for instance. It’s one of my favourite times of day because it’s when I’m intentionally winding down and resetting before bed.
Pre-slow living, my routine used to consist of taking my makeup off with a wipe, getting into bed with the tv on or my phone (or both at the same time!) and watching something till I fell asleep in front of it.
Now, I stop screen time around 9:30pm, take 20 minutes to do my skincare and a slow stretching routine. Then I get into bed with a glass of water, some magnesium glycinate and a book. I usually read for about 30 minutes or so and aim to be asleep by 10:30pm.
I truly feel like this has made a big difference to my sleep quality and my mental health because I have a consistent, calming system that I follow every night.
This pocket of screen-free time at night allows me to spend time on micro habits that I actually enjoy (and are good for me) rather than mindless scrolling and overstimulating my brain.
Similarly to introducing a morning routine, if you’re new to slow living and looking for a practical starting point, I’d really recommend making 1-2 tiny changes to the time you spend before bed to focus on disconnecting from the fast paced nature of everyday life.
Final Thoughts
These are a few of the little things I do daily to help me bring slow living into my life. These steps are all tiny but powerful and practical and have made a huge difference for me.
Slow living isn't about creating a perfect routine or removing every source of stress from your life. It's about choosing to move through your days with a little more intention, presence and ease. The smallest changes often make the biggest difference.
C.