Slow Down And Be More Successful

I have wanted to write about this for AGES. I live with it every moment of every day and I notice it happening all around me. People are getting sick from it and yet it carries on getting faster and faster.

Time is speeding life up, or maybe it is imploding on itself and will disappear eventually? People say to me ‘oh life goes by quicker as you age’ but I don’t believe that 100%, and I have asked much younger people in the last 2 years, who seem to feel the same way.

3 years ago, an internal message of ‘keep it simple’ kept on at me in response to the way I live life. I tend to cram a whole load of tasks and things into my day but not always find time for space and peace because I feel driven to keep up with the ‘to do’ list just to keep it from piling up. And compared to many, I live a simple life!

Here are just some of the things I notice about time deprivation:

• Whenever I look at the clock it’s way later than expected.

• Getting time in people’s diaries is rarely spontaneous and often with friends I have dates in to meet months away and even the promise of a text or phone-call can drift for months.

• People regularly comment on ‘OMG it felt like yesterday when we did that/we went there’ and yet years may have passed.

I think we have much more ‘stuff’ to do now in every area of lives, and our digital lifestyle can mean that any spare time is spent on our phone/tablets/laptops instead of stopping and just breathing!

It’s not time, but you, who needs to get some kinda grip on it all. We created clocks and watches, but find ourselves the victim of our own creation.

My ‘keep it simple’ message at first was met with guilt and ‘how the heck am I going to earn money then?’

Doing nothing and being peaceful can be deemed as lazy and successful people don’t sit around doing nothing, right?

But now I realise I simply cannot keep up. I am reaching that place where simple living is essential because I just don’t enjoy life when I am on the go in all my waking hours. In fact, that isn’t my idea of a good day at all now. This is a very different me to the work horse of my corporate past.

I remember Caroline Myss saying ‘this day will never come again’, which struck a real chord in me.

[Tweet “Each day is an opportunity to seek out the best possible experience – via @GinaHardy1”]

So, how will you choose to spend tomorrow?

7 Guilt Free Slow Down Tips:

1. Listen to your body.

It is in charge every damn day. It may be giving you signs it’s not happy through various minor signals of random but persistent illnesses. So many people don’t listen until it is too late. Don’t ignore those aches and pains.

2. Do Yoga.

Well, I would say that as a Yoga teacher, but I believe in Yoga being a way to foster prime health and find much more peace of mind.

3. Energy levels.

Not only listen, but let yourself be guided by, your instinct and inner energy levels. Tiredness is a great sign you are putting in too much effort. What could you do that achieves your daily goals and what could you bin?

4. Sleep longer.

You age quicker when you don’t sleep enough and empty sleep tanks will deplete your energy levels and ability to be able to really connect to your life in a meaningful way. 7 hours is the minimum for good health.

5. A day off.

If you feel you are a person caught up in the mega life ferris wheel, take a day out and just stop doing all the ‘have to’s’. My advice is to be outside and be still as much of the day as possible. What does it feel like to just stop? Notice your mind – whilst it may go into overdrive, that’s all normal. A day of stopping may just help to reorientate and ignite your creativity more. Oh, and no social media either!

6. Daily luxury moments.

A friend told me that what is important in her day are luxury moments. That is rarely to do with expensive, and can just be 10 minutes to look out at your favourite view or sit with a good book in your favourite coffee shop. I have adopted this principal and it makes sense to me that those moments give me my energy and life force back!

7. Simplify.

What can you stop doing that would help you free up some space/time? Simplify simplify simplify everything. I bet you will be surprised how much you do that you don’t need to. If you have a cluttered home or office and feel totally stuck to know where to start then get space clearing and decluttering. (You can get some support with this from decluttering coach Helen Sanderson, here.)