How To Gain More Slow Time

Increase Your Productivity with Gentle Encouragement

Welcome to Generosity of Spirit, a space to share my slow and gentle living philosophy. Please do subscribe to join me on this gentle journey of discovery and receive my Slow Sunday Letter straight into your inbox.

I just wanted to say a big thank you for reading and subscribing to Generosity of Spirit. I appreciate you so much.

I have loved my first four months on Substack, and I am so happy to have surpassed 135 subscribers this week. I have gained so much since I tentatively pressed that publish button on my first piece of writing a few months a go. Thank you for joining me, and I am so excited to see where our little slow and gentle community goes next year!

How To Gain More Slow Time

‘The great benefit of slowing down is reclaiming the time and tranquillity to make meaningful connections’ Carl Honoré

A common misconception of slow living is that it is devoid of ambition, productivity, and drive. I have found the opposite to be true. I've never felt more focused or been more productive in my life. I achieve this with a sense of peace and calm, that I didn't think was possible. Slowing down is an invitation to be swept up in gentle arms, guided by nature, your inner voice, instincts, deep grounding, and gratitude.

In today’s Slow Sunday Letter, I want to show you how I re-framed my days to gain more slow time, and how you can too!

Slowing down asks us to truly trust ourselves. When you take a step back, and stop rushing through life, you become more open and your attention is more focussed on the present. You start receiving messages and guidance from nature, from relationships and from yourself.

From this state, we can explore, ponder, manifest, dream and start doing.

I think learning to harness slow living is a superpower.

I wake up gently, I pay attention to the the cycles of the moon and the changing seasons. I try and single-task over multi-tasking. I listen, I read, I write and explore. I consider my present and the options open to me. I am learning to listen to my inner voice and allowing it to guide me. I pay attention to the lessons of the past, learning not to just carry around it’s weight. I regularly self-reflect, and I practice gratitude, kindness, and generosity. I prioritise my calm and peace above all else. I am taking up space, and with gentle encouragement I am dreaming big dreams and working hard to achieve them.

---

New Beginnings – Reframing Your Day

‘Remember that all you’re committing to is slowing down and asking yourself what you really want, rather than acting on impulse’ Cait Flanders

There are so many productivity hacks, time management systems, motivation guides and rules out there. The obsession with being productive, ticking things off a monster ‘to do’ list, cramming as much into our days as possible with a focus on achieving above all else is hustle culture in a nutshell.

Slow living teaches us to appreciate life’s simple joys, live in the present and listen to our inner voice. Approaching your own productivity from a gentler perspective, allows you to open a kinder dialogue with yourself and your values.

Slow living guides us on the days where we need a gentle hand, when our spirit needs to slow down and just curl up and read that book. Or when we need a gentle nudge towards picking up that creative project, we’ve been too scared to start.

---

Start By Simplifying What You Do & Prioritising What Is Important To You…

‘Slow Living is about embracing the fact that you’re not doing it all – it’s about doing less, but better’ Kayte Ferris

Journal Prompts:

What is important to me?

What are my priorities?

What makes my life meaningful?

I recently looked at how I spend my time to see if I could inject some more productive routines and rituals. For a few weeks, I time blocked my days. In this practice I recorded how I used my time- hour by hour and noted down my routines, tasks, and how much time I spent on each.

I considered what I wanted to achieve, what I wanted to protect, and how I could gain more intentional time throughout my day.

•         Focus on the present.

•         Plan my days to maximise productivity.

•         Protect my calm and my peace.

•         Nourish my mind, body, and spirit.

•         Encourage confidence.

•         Create a safe place to pursue my goals and dreams.

After recording this information - I opened my journal and titled the page, ‘to gain more slow time’ and listed some obvious time-stealers:

-        Social media

-        Evening screen time/TV

-        Getting up late

-        Work commute

-        Lack of daily practice/planning

I returned to my time blocked average day, and considered how much space these time-stealers took up. I needed to find a way to switch my focus, recognise when I fell into mindless tasks out of habit and re-claim this time for my own slow purpose.

Reduce time on social media

I was spending on average 1 – 2 hours on social media daily. It did vary – but between Instagram, Substack, Facebook and even YouTube it was building up.

Reduce evening screen time/TV

Like a lot of us, I switch the TV on after dinner and on average watch between 2-3 hours of TV every night.

Wake up earlier

I have never been an early riser. When I recorded what time I went to bed and what time I got up in the mornings, I realised how much it varied. I had absolutely no routine with my sleep.

Maximise the commute to work

I walk to and from work, which is about 1 hour (round trip) 5 days a week. I really enjoy this walk, and mostly just use it as a time for a bit of self-reflection. But I started to wonder if this time had more potential.

Plan more

I had already proved that time blocking had helped me gain a bit more perspective on how I was spending my days and weeks. It got me thinking about creating some gentle daily practices and routines.

In all – I realised during an average day – social media accounted for 1-2 hours a day, screen time 2-3 hours, I lost up to 1 hour by staying in bed in the mornings, and I spent 1 hour walking to and from work each day. Each day I had potentially 5-7 hours that I could re-purpose, re-design and use more wisely.

---

Refresh and Reframe

I have drastically reduced my time on social media, and it honestly feels great. I don’t reach for it first thing in the morning, and I stop myself from mindless scrolling. In breaking my habitual use of social media, I have allowed space for other more nourishing habits and given myself more peace in the process. No auto-play videos, fear inducing news, judgmental gossip, and no temptation to keeping up with the Joneses.

Sometimes I like to walk to work and just walk – but now I often think about listening to a podcast or an audio book. Or setting myself a mindful goal as I walk. Just thinking more about how I want to use this time has given it purpose and value in my day. I don’t just rush as fast as I can from my front door, to my desk and back again. I am seeing it as ‘my time’ and it has fast become one of my favourite parts of the day.

I’ve been getting up earlier, which has also led me to go to bed earlier. I am getting more sleep than ever. I have more time in the morning, not to ‘achieve’ but to take my time. To mediate, read or have a slower breakfast or spend more time getting myself ready for the day. I don’t just rush through my mornings and out of the door.

In the evenings I have tried to break the habit of just switching on the TV. Instead, I have been reading more – writing more, and have more time to explore my creative hobbies like art or knitting.

My Husband and I have also broken out of the loop of dinner then TV every night. We have gone out for dinner more often, met after work to have a drink and catch up on our days before getting home. We often cook together, and instead of rushing to clean the kitchen afterwards, we sit at the table and talk. We still enjoy watching TV together, but it isn’t our only option in the evening. This has made our evenings feel longer and more relaxing, whilst building on our connection to each other.

---

Injecting Slowness

I found this exercise really useful, I hadn’t considered how much of my day was just being used up by mindless routines and habits. I also realised how much power a gentle approach can have on encouraging productivity whilst enjoying slow living.

In freeing up some time in my average day, I have had more opportunities to insert more mindful, intentional practices that reflected slow and gentle living. The more I did this, the more I felt both productive and motivated but more at peace and content.

I didn’t feel as intimidated by seemingly bigger tasks, I listened to myself and trusted my instincts. I realised there is equal importance to the days when you need to slow down and be more still, and the days you need more of a gentle nudge or push into moving and getting some important tasks done or started. The most important thing is being kind and creating a safe place for yourself to explore and achieve your goals.

---

Slow Down & Get Moving

‘Slow living is all about creating time and space and energy for the things that matter most to us in life’ Brooke McAlary

Slowing down will help you make better decisions, connect on a deeper level with yourself and have more meaningful experiences, all while improving your mental well-being and confidence. You may go slower, but you will go further.

There are many areas of our lives which could benefit from slowing down, some more obvious than others. I really encourage you to guide yourself with a gentle hand, try the time blocking exercise and see if you can inject more slow intention in to your days. Please do let me know how you get on.

I am planning to have a couple of weeks off over Christmas and New Year, so next week’s Slow Sunday Letter, will be my last until the New Year!

Next week we investigate how to reclaim your energy and power, while also doing some self reflection work as we come to the end of 2023. See you there!

With Light & Love

Emily xxx

---