Slow December #2 (or is that #1?)

After the slightly hectic end to our November, Ben and I decided to make our final Slow Home Experiment of the year a simple one - make time for slow every day.

Granted, we probably took the theme a little too far last week when we completely forgot to record a Monday episode, but the experiment remains nonetheless!

Today we look at the different ways we’ve uncovered pockets of slow (most) days, and the impact it's been having on our December - a typically busy month. Ben talks through the successes and failures he's felt, and I work through a list of the strategies I’ve been using to find that slowness everyday.

The nice thing is there's simply no pressure at all this month, and the benefits of taking time to slow down are so obvious and so keenly felt that it doesn't feel like anything other than a reprieve. Plus, having the opportunity to take stock like this is proving a great motivator, because Ben and I can both see that despite feeling a little overwhelmed recently, we’ve got the long-term balance right.

These are the different ways we’re finding time for slow in December, and would love you to join us!

• • 2 minutes of deep, slow breathing. This can be done in bed, at our desk, sitting on the back deck or while waiting for a coffee. Just taking a moment to reconnect with our breath, calm the racing thoughts and slow right down.

• • Phones off and out of sight while we’re eating alone. We have a no phones at the table rule when others are there, but both Ben and I tend to scroll through our phones if we’re eating by ourselves. So it’s time to just sit, enjoy the food we’re eating and let our thoughts simply be.

• • Make time to sit and just listen to a favourite song or piece of music. If we’re on the train or bus, it’s a matter of pressing play, closing our eyes and immersing ourselves in something beautiful for no other reason than to experience it fully.

• Commit to more single-tasking every day. Even though this is related to being productive, the biggest benefit of single tasking is actually being productive while also being intentional. Focusing attention on just one thing and completing it is such a rewarding and rejuvenating thing to do and is perfect for this time of year where we can feel torn in too many opposing directions.

We’d love you to join us this month as we go against the grain and slow down in the holiday season. Feel free to use #slowhomeexperiment to share your play posts and your slow posts too.

Enjoy your week, my friends!

——

Head over to iTunes to subscribe to the show and play the episode.

Or you can listen to the show directly, simply by hitting the Play button above. Enjoy!

——