How to slow down your pace of life when everything is moving too fast

There are days when we almost never stop.

We get up already late.

We look at our phone while having breakfast.

We think about work while driving.

We answer one message while writing another.

Then we come home feeling as if something else is still waiting for us.

And when we finally have a few free minutes, our reflex is sometimes to fill them immediately.

A video.

A social network.

A new task.

The problem is not necessarily that our life contains too many things.

It is sometimes that it contains almost no space between things anymore.

Slowing down your pace of life does not mean stopping everything

When we think about slowing down, we sometimes imagine that we would have to work less, cancel half of our commitments, move away, or completely rebuild our daily lives.

That is obviously not possible for everyone.

And that is not necessarily where we should start.

A more realistic approach consists of identifying the moments when we go fast without there being any real need to go fast.

Finishing a meal quickly when there is no rush.

Walking to the car while already looking at your phone.

Immediately answering a message that could wait.

Starting the next task when the previous one has barely ended.

It is in these tiny spaces that we can begin to change our pace.

Slow living and slowing down your daily life: they are not exactly the same pursuit

Slow living is a broader philosophy: consuming with more intention, rediscovering the value of time, simplifying certain habits, and choosing what truly deserves our attention.

Slowing down your pace of life addresses a much more immediate question:

"What can I do today to stop feeling like I am constantly running?"

If you wish to delve deeper into the philosophy behind this approach, discover our article Slow living: what is it and how to start without leaving everything behind .

Here, we will instead work on your actual daily life.

Start by identifying where your day unnecessarily accelerates

During one day, do not change anything.

Simply observe.

At what moment do you start doing two things at once?

When do you pick up your phone without a real intention?

Which moments do you go through while already thinking about what comes next?

Where do you feel that a minute of waiting must absolutely be filled?

1. Keep the first ten minutes of the morning for your own day

The phone allows the outside world to enter our day before we have even left the bed.

Messages.

Work.

News.

Social networks.

Simply try to delay this first entry by ten minutes.

Get up.

Open the curtains.

Drink something.

Get dressed.

Look outside.

Ten minutes does not change your schedule.

Instead, they change who receives your attention first.

2. Finish a small action before starting another

We layer an enormous amount of actions.

We prepare food while answering a message.

We talk to someone while looking at a notification.

We tidy up a room and suddenly start another task.

Try sometimes to voluntarily finish a small action before opening another.

Make the coffee.

Then drink it.

Tidy something up.

Only then start the next task.

This seems mundane.

But it is a very concrete way of giving certain actions back their beginning and their end.

3. Create a transition between work and home

Many people end their work without actually leaving the rhythm of work.

We close the computer, but we continue mentally.

Create a small transition.

Five or ten minutes can be enough.

Change your clothes.

Walk around the neighborhood.

Physically put away what belongs to work.

Leave your phone in the entryway for a few minutes.

This gesture obviously does not remove responsibilities.

It simply indicates: one part of the day has just ended.

4. Choose a meal that you do not do at the same time as something else

Not every meal.

Just one is enough to start.

No work.

No scrolling.

Not necessarily television.

Just eat.

Talk if you are with someone.

Look outside.

Or let the moment be a little quieter.

The goal is not perfection.

It is to rediscover that a moment can exist without needing a second piece of content on top of it.

The real problem: we forget to slow down the moment we need to

Knowing that you should slow down is rarely the most difficult part.

We already know it.

The problem is remembering it precisely when the rhythm starts to accelerate again.

That is where a physical landmark can become interesting.

Unlike a new notification on your phone, an object worn on you can be found without adding more digital stimulation.

You see it.

You touch it.

And over time, you can voluntarily associate it with a question:

"Do I really need to go this fast right now?"

5. Go out for ten minutes without turning the walk into a goal

We can even turn a walk into an activity to optimize.

Number of steps.

Distance.

Speed.

Time.

Try sometimes to go out without measuring anything at all.

Walk slowly enough to notice the temperature, the sounds, the state of the sky, the trees, or simply the neighborhood.

This attention to the territory and the living world is also at the heart of several of our reflections on the forest.

You can notably discover Boreal forest and Indigenous wisdom: spirit of the territory .

6. Voluntarily leave ten minutes empty

Ten free minutes appear.

Our reflex often consists of using them.

Answering something.

Checking something.

Watching something.

Try once not to fill them.

Sit down.

Look out the window.

Go out.

Do not necessarily try to meditate.

Ten minutes can simply remain ten minutes.

7. Put on paper what is continuously spinning in your head

Part of our feeling of speed sometimes comes from the number of things we are mentally trying to remember.

Tonight.

Tomorrow.

This week.

Later.

Take a sheet of paper.

Write down what actually needs to be remembered.

Then choose what belongs to today.

The rest can wait on the paper rather than in your head.

8. Learn to buy more slowly

The pace of life is not only visible in our agenda.

It also appears in the way we consume.

See.

Want.

Click.

Receive.

Try to put a little distance between the desire and the purchase.

For a non-essential purchase, wait a day.

Ask yourself:

"Do I really want this object, or do I just like the idea of buying it now?"

When we buy less quickly, we can also take more time to understand who made the object, with what materials, and what story it carries.

This is particularly important when it comes to Indigenous art. Our guide How to recognize authentic Indigenous crafts explains how to look beyond the appearance of a creation.

9. Choose one thing that you no longer want to do in a hurry

Rather than trying to slow down your whole day, choose one activity.

Your morning coffee.

Your evening meal.

Walking the dog.

Your shower.

The moment you arrive home.

Simply decide:

"This moment, I will no longer go through it while running."

It is much more realistic than trying to suddenly become a person who lives slowly all day long.

10. End a day instead of just collapsing at the end of it

Some days seem to never really end.

They stop only because we have to go to sleep.

Create a small full stop.

Put away your work.

Dim the lights.

Put down the phone.

Take a few minutes that have nothing left to accomplish.

If it is precisely this transition that is difficult for you, our guide Evening ritual to sleep well: creating a gentle transition between day and night develops this step in depth.

Three ways to slow down according to the time you have

Slowing down is not transforming rest into a new performance

There is a paradox.

We can try so hard to slow down that it becomes another thing to succeed at.

Meditation.

Journaling.

Walking.

Routine.

Reading.

Breathing.

And suddenly, our new, slower life has an even longer to-do list than the old one.

Remove before adding.

A calmer evening can start simply because you decided not to do one more thing.

The territory has a rhythm that we do not control

Spending time outside reminds us of something our schedules easily make us forget.

Not everything responds immediately.

A forest does not grow faster because we are in a hurry.

The seasons arrive at their own pace.

The light changes gradually.

The rivers follow their own cycles.

Observing these rhythms can become a very simple way to put our own into perspective.

If you wish to go further in this direction, discover also Reconnecting to nature: 15 simple ways to rediscover the essentials .

What if the problem is not your schedule, but the way you go through it?

Some responsibilities will not disappear.

Work will remain.

Family too.

Appointments, tasks, and the unexpected will continue to exist.

But between these obligations, there remain tiny spots where we can choose not to accelerate anymore.

A minute before leaving again.

Ten minutes outside.

A meal truly experienced.

An object you touch to remember why you wanted to slow down.

An evening that finally has an end.

Slowing down your pace of life therefore does not necessarily start with a revolution.

It can start much more discreetly:

by stopping running during moments when no one was actually asking us to run.