Soft Visuals Blog

Slow Living Principles for a Better Work-Life Balance

Slow-living ideas were always close to me. Slow living aims to find the right speed for every task, enjoy every minute, and find peace and harmony in everyday life, without rushing, or constant running. Living in a hurry takes up our time. In return, we get physical and psychological problems. Slowing down, however, helps make life more prosperous and oddly productive.

This slow-living philosophy aims to stop rushing and live every day consciously, paying attention to quality, not quantity, in any area of life - from food to work.

WHAT IS A SLOW LIVING?

Slow living is a lifestyle that focuses on slowing down, simplifying life, and enjoying the time you have. It's about taking quality time for yourself and for the people you love and for everything that's important to you.

Because of the slow-living movement, more and more people are realizing that more is not better. That a conscious, attentive, and deep life is more important than a fast one.

Slow living is all about embracing simplicity — not just in your lifestyle and home but also in your mindset. It means saying no to things that don't matter so that you can say yes to the things that do: yourself, your health, and your relationships with loved ones.

Slow living is about listening to yourself and living in your own pace. And not just going through the motions of what other people want or expect of you.

Slow living is about making conscious decisions about how you want to spend your time and energy, instead of wasting them on things that don't matter or don't make you happy. It is always your choice of how to live your life.

It's about finding work and hobbies, that you love and spending less time with people who bring you down or don't treat you well. It's about being kinder to yourself and others.

Images from Pexels

FOMO FEELING

Slowing down, into a modern society obsessed with speed and productivity - makes a lot of sense. Modern people used to experience the FOMO feeling. FOMO is an obsessive fear of missing some event or a good opportunity, provoked, among other things, by viewing social networks. That feeling hurts people's mental health, provoking a bad mood and, in some cases, depression.

We are constantly bombarded with information and new things that we want to try, but there are not enough hours in the day to do all of them. So what do we do? We try to cram everything into our schedules because we're afraid that if we don't do it now then we'll lose out on something great forever.

But what if instead of feeling like you're missing out on life because you're not doing enough things at once (or even just one thing), you could feel like you're actually living? What if instead of trying to be everywhere at once and rushing from place to place, you could find peace in slowing down?

HOW SLOW LIVING CAN IMPROVE YOUR LIFE?

Enjoy life more

It will help you enjoy your life more by keeping things simple and focusing on what matters most to you.

Better self-care

It will help you take better care of yourself by encouraging self-care practices that can improve your physical and mental health (like sleep).

Stronger relationship

It will help make your relationships stronger by fostering communication between people who care about each other because they're prioritizing spending time together over everything else.

Images by Arina Voy

HOW TO SLOW DOWN?

Prioritize tasks

If you're feeling overwhelmed, it's possible that you are trying to do too much at once. Prioritize your daily tasks, starting with the most important ones, and consider if you can give up any responsibilities altogether. That applies not only to the to-do list but also to relationships and your own emotions.

Limit information

To slow down in everyday life we need to limit incoming information. We constantly consume it from different sources, and it does not always contain what we need. Most often, this is information is just noise. Television, the internet, social media, advertising, music — all of these things can become difficult to calm down when they are consuming your mind instead of helping you focus on what matters most.

Be present

Be present in whatever you are doing at the moment. Focus on one thing at a time without multitasking or switching between tasks too often because it increases stress levels which in turn affects physical health as well."

Create an inspiring home

It is a great start to a slower life - to create an inspiring environment at home. Start with the general cleaning and remove all visual clutter. Then collect only things that inspire you: books, candles… whatever makes you happy! If you want to get rid of some stress - it is always a great idea to declutter your home and make sure that everything is clean and organized.

Create slow living rituals

Create everyday rituals for slowing down. Once you have created an inspiring space at home, it's time to create some rituals around using it. For example:

Have a cup of relaxing chamomile or mint tea every morning;
Prepare nutritious meals ideas;
Every night before bed, spend 10-15 minutes reading a book;
Every morning spend 5 minutes meditating;
Every day, take 20 minutes in the evening to walk in your neighborhood;
Every week change fresh bed linen;
Often say to your lover oned about your feelings;
Every evening make a 20 minutes face massage with Gua Sha and face oils;
Every summer take a bike ride to your nearest city;
Meditate every evening before bed;
Every evening make incense aromatherapy;
Every month go to SPA or a massage;
Practice yoga;
Get a notebook to journal every day and write down all your ideas.

Slow living is about enjoying small little things in everyday life like taking a walk in the park on your lunch break or making your own candles.

Books about slow living

These books are a great start if you're looking for an introduction to slow living. They provide great examples of how to achieve a more relaxed and slow approach to your life. These books also explore the different ways that you can incorporate slow living principles into your home, from choosing eco-friendly furniture and lighting options to using natural materials in your decorating choices.