5 Simple Ways to Embrace Slow Living in a Busy World
How to Start Slow Living: What It Really Means
If you’ve been googling how to start slow living but feel your calendar laughing in response, you’re not alone. Slow living isn’t about dragging your feet or moving to a cottage in the woods (though that does sound dreamy). It’s a mindset - a gentle permission slip to pause, breathe, and choose what matters on purpose.
Think of it as shifting from “How much can I fit into today?” to “What would make today feel spacious?” Even in the fullest seasons - school runs, deadlines, the whirl of everyday life - you can weave in moments of stillness and create pockets of breathing room. It starts with getting curious:
What does feeling unhurried look like for me today?
Where could I exchange rushing for rhythm?
Throughout this post, I’ll share five practical slow living ideas to help you bring more calm and clarity into your everyday routine. Whether you're just starting out with slow living or looking to return to your rhythm, these gentle tips offer a grounded way to begin especially if you’re navigating a full or fast-paced season.
1. Start with Micro Moments of Stillness
One of the simplest ways to begin slow living especially in a fast-paced world, is to make space for small, intentional pauses. These micro moments don’t require a dramatic lifestyle shift. Instead, they gently invite you back to the present, helping you reconnect with yourself before diving into the next thing.
Try this:
Take three deep breaths before unlocking your phone
Look out the window and notice five things you can see
Light a candle before your morning coffee and sit with it for a moment
Feel the warmth of the shower instead of planning your to-do list
These are small acts of presence are quiet reminders that you get to set the pace. Even 30 seconds of stillness can serve as an anchor, especially on days when your energy feels scattered. If you’re new to slow living, this is a powerful first step. You don’t have to overhaul your schedule. You simply begin noticing:
Where can I soften the rush, even slightly?
Building in these micro pauses helps you feel the spaciousness slow living creates. It’s not about perfection or rigidity, it’s about permission, to pause, to breathe, to come home to yourself, again and again.
2. Create Buffer Time (Even Just 5 Minutes)
When life feels full, carving out big pockets of time can seem impossible. But even a small buffer, just five minutes between tasks can make a noticeable difference. Buffer time acts like a little exhale between the "doing" parts of your day. It's where presence sneaks back in.
You might:
Finish a task and take a few breaths before jumping to the next
Pause in the car before heading into the house
Add 10 minutes between meetings instead of back-to-back calls
Step outside after the school run before diving into work or chores
These mini spaces protect your energy. They help you move more intentionally, reducing that rushed, scattered feeling that builds up when we treat our day like one endless to-do list. Think of them like punctuation marks, commas and full stops that give shape to your day. Without them, life starts to feel like one long run-on sentence. And the best part? You don’t need to do anything with these moments. Just have them. Let them be space to simply be.
3. Choose a Gentle Daily Ritual
Rituals are a beautiful way to anchor your day in intention, not as another item on the to-do list, but as a moment to reconnect with yourself. In the context of slow living, rituals aren’t about being productive or efficient. They’re about creating rhythm and meaning, even in the smallest of acts.
Your ritual might be:
A few quiet minutes journaling before the day begins
Stretching slowly before bed instead of scrolling
Brewing a morning cup of tea with full attention
A midday walk around the block - no podcast, just presence
There’s no right way to do it. What matters is that it feels gentle, nourishing, and yours. This is where slow living becomes deeply personal, when you notice what brings you back to yourself and start building it into your days in simple, sustainable ways.
And if your rituals need to shift with your season, energy, or schedule? That’s okay. Flexibility is part of intentional living. You can always dial the ritual up or down - maybe it’s ten minutes one day and just a mindful breath the next. Even adjusting the level of intentionality by bringing presence to a regular task like washing your face can transform it into a moment of ritual. The point isn’t to be perfect. The point is to come back, again and again to what feels grounding.
4. Let Go of One Thing That’s Not Serving You
Slow living isn’t always about doing more slowly, it’s often about doing less. When life feels overwhelming, it’s tempting to add things to feel more in control: more habits, more structure, more effort. But sometimes the most intentional thing you can do is pause and ask:
What’s one thing I can let go of right now?
It doesn’t have to be dramatic. It might be:
Saying no to an optional commitment
Skipping a task on your to-do list that truly isn’t urgent
Letting go of the pressure to respond immediately
Releasing a self-imposed expectation that’s weighing you down
This kind of release is a powerful act of self-trust. It creates space not just in your schedule, but in your mind and body too. A bit more breathing room. A bit more quiet.
Try checking in with yourself once a week:
What feels heavy right now? What might I soften, postpone, or simply not do?
Letting go isn’t failure. It’s wisdom. It’s choosing to move through life at your own pace, guided by what truly matters not what shouts the loudest.
5. Redefine “Enough” on Your Own Terms
Slow living invites you to step away from hustle culture and come back to your own values. But that’s easier said than done especially when we’ve been taught to measure success by how much we do, how busy we are, or how productive our days look.
This is where the real magic of intentional living begins:
When you give yourself permission to define “enough” in a way that feels true for you.
Enough might be:
A day with more rest than tasks
A slow breakfast without your phone
Letting something be imperfect and still calling it done
Meeting your own needs before meeting expectations
Try asking yourself:
What does “enough” feel like for me today, this week, or this season?
The answer might shift and that’s okay. This question isn’t a test. It’s a tool to gently bring you back to yourself.
If you’d like some support uncovering what your “enough” looks like beyond all the noise, my 30 Day Guided Journal - Get to Know Yourself Better is a beautiful place to begin. It’s a simple self-discovery guide designed to help you tune into your values, energy, and rhythms, so you can create a life that supports you from the inside out.
A Slower Life Begins with a Single Breath
Slow living isn’t about escaping the modern world, it’s about softening your pace within it. Even if your schedule is full or your season feels busy, there’s always a way to come back to yourself. A breath. A pause. A small shift that creates space where there was once pressure.
You don’t need to wait for the perfect conditions to begin. Start with what you have. Let one of these small, gentle changes guide you this week - just one. That’s enough.
Because when you give yourself permission to slow down, even slightly, you begin to live more intentionally. And over time, those moments of presence add up to something quietly powerful: a life that feels more like yours.
Ready to create more space for what truly matters?
Sign up to get your free Intentional Living Starter Kit - a gentle, Notion-based guide to help you slow down, reflect, and take the first steps towards a more intentional life. It’s simple, calming, and designed for real life.
