r/SlowLiving

I wake up every day and hit the ground running. I have a hard time getting up before I have to be somewhere. I often don’t wake up more than 30 minutes before I need to leave and often it’s 30 minutes before I need to be somewhere! I’m chronically late as well! Like 5-10 minutes late everywhere I go! It’s so so frustrating.

I really want to learn to enjoy a slow morning. Waking up AND getting up an hour or 2 before I need to be anywhere, so that I can prioritize eating breakfast, actually getting ready for the day, and not living in a constant state of fight or flight. I feel like I wake up stressed and I have no time to settle before going to work or other commitments and it’s exhausting! I think the slow morning would help a lot with my time management and punctuality but I don’t know where to start!

Any advice on rewiring your brain to do this? I’m fighting for my life out here 😭

Every Sunday afternoon I make one meal from scratch with absolutely no input. No background music, no audiobook, no calls, phone in another room. Just me, the chopping, the smells, and whatever sounds the food makes on the stove.

The first time I tried it I lasted about ten minutes before reaching for my phone out of pure habit. Now it's something I look forward to all week. By the time the meal is on the table I feel weirdly settled, like a part of my brain that's usually buzzing has finally been allowed to rest.

Nothing about the food is impressive. The point isn't the dish, it's the hour and a half of being completely present with my own hands. I'd been calling myself bad at relaxing for years. Turns out I just hadn't actually tried it without distractions.

If you've been feeling like life is moving in fast-forward, one slow meal a week is a surprisingly low bar with an outsized payoff.

Walking has helped me mentally more than I expected.

Not because it solves problems,
but because seeing quiet streets, trees, flowers,
or small everyday moments
sometimes makes breathing feel easier.

I think a lot of people carry stress quietly.
Walking doesn't solve everything, but it can help people slow down and notice small things again.

That feeling is one of the reasons I started building a small walking project called Sloami.

I started reading again and life feels peaceful and slower.

I stopped doomscrolling after making my phone look like a dumb phone and I could now focus on things that takes time like reading or coloring.

I feel like the time when I was a kid and loved books.