Photo found via Pinterest
Does anyone else feel like they’re living in a constant sense of urgency?
I blame the times we live in. Partly because social media has fried our brains, partly because life is stressful.
Not only is there so much we want to do, see, experience and accomplish, but there’s also so much we have to do; cook, workout, socialize, get educated, make money, clean, skincare… I mean, that’s just scratching the surface.
Because there’s so much responsibility packed into everyday life, it almost feels stupid to spend more than the bare minimum amount of time on anything.
Why walk slow when you can just walk fast? Why nicely chop up a sallad when you can just split the tomato in half and throw it in there? Why fold your clothes nicely when you can just roll it up and call it a day? Why chew properly when you can just half-choke on the pasta and finish the meal in 10 minutes instead of 20?
I’ve noticed (unfortunately) that I very rarely do just one thing at a time. Multitasking or even triple-tasking is my normal.
Brushing my teeth while responding to an email? Normal.
Eating while editing a video? Normal.
Walking while listening to a podcast? Normal.
Productivity. Duh!
The irony is that I don’t even think I’m necessarily buying time by rushing so much. And even if I am buying some time, at what cost?
I’m no expert, but I feel like this kind of mindset and lifestyle is a recipe for chronic stress and a less enjoyable life, because joy is in noticing the details and taking them in.
Now, I don’t have some magic solution for this, but I have made it a goal of mine to deliberately remind myself to chill out, because my nervous system is not having it anymore.
I’d like to share with you some small ordinary things I cling to when everything feels overwhelming:
- Chew slower
- Walk like I’m in a new city I’m curious about
- Leave phone outside the bathroom and read the back of the detergent box instead like in the good ole days
- Remember that I don’t need to know everything about current events and trends
- Wait in line without using my phone as a distraction
- Do not disturb mode (I’ve started using this a lot)
- Sitting at a bench around my city and not doing anything else
- Smelling the food or drink before consuming it
- Using my senses to check the weather and having a guess at temperature, humidity etc instead of just checking the app (learning the weather through senses is quite cool and fun I’ve noticed)
- Leaving my dumbbells out at all times for easy access so I can randomly go pick them up and do some light lifts, instead of picking up my phone for dopamine
- Letting my shoulders drop and relaxing my jaw
- When possible, write in my physical notebook instead of digital
- Playing simple, classic games like Sudoku, Tetris and Chess
- Listen to the same song on repeat
- Gently massaging the palms of my hands
- Folding laundry slowly and properly
- Taking care of my plants and noticing how they’re doing
Okay, go do something delightful now! I’ll be in your inbox again on Monday.
Some links before I let you go:
My latest podcast episode exclusive on Substack
My latest YouTube video “I can’t keep making videos like this”
:)
Huggies
Lana
I am so freaking grateful for you and what you write! You have no idea how much I constantly think about this subject too: what I can do to appreciate simplicity more, yet appreciate life to the fullest. I am definitely screenshotting these tips.
I think certain types of people are more oriented towards slow living. I find it difficult to feel like I’m constantly on a hamster wheel when what I really want is slow and deliberate rather than frenzied and meaningless.
I just learned about a new sort of personality type that orients towards the world in a way that might resonate with you—people who tend to view the world through the eyes of an outside observer, always feeling a bit of an outlier with respect to any particular group and finding the strongest connections with others one on one—almost like in order to truly understand someone you need to take them out of their immediate social context. It’s been coined “otroversion” by an author and I identify with it quite strongly (I took an online test through ‘The Otherness Institute’ and got a very high otroversion score).
I think that orientation towards the world might partially explain why you also feel you need that sort of distance from the frenetic daily grind.