ready to slow down?

5 small habits to help you slow down, be present, and live in joy

Read Time: 6.24 minutes

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Hi everyone! Welcome back for another edition of A Joyful Life!!!

I have an *exciting* announcement coming—I can’t wait to share it with you! Right now, we’re in the middle of finalizing everything but I’ll be able to reveal it soon~ Hopefully, by next Sunday. 

But here’s a small hint: I landed my *dream* job! 😭😭😭

Now, without further ado, let’s dive into today’s edition.

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5 Small Habits to Help You Slow Down, Be Present, and Live in Joy

In the summer of 2022, I went to Balaton Lake for the first time. 

It was a week of ‘firsts’ for me. It was the first time I went to a cottage. The first time I went on a trip with my partner. And the first time (in a long time) I had planned to do nothing. 

Except relax. 

Sounds great, right? 

I thought so, too. 

But here was the problem: I couldn’t relax. I kept thinking about work. I kept worrying I was falling behind. I kept checking my Slack messages. And I felt guilty for missing my meetings. 

It was like that the whole trip until we left. 

Then, a few days later, while working at home, I wished I was back at Balaton Lake. And I started to regret I didn’t enjoy and appreciate my time there. 

Since then, I’ve developed five habits that have helped me slow down, be present, and live in joy:

Wake up before the rest of the world

I know, I know—This is cliché advice in the personal development world. 

But I had to include it because this habit is a game-changer for your life for three reasons. 

One, it gives you a psychological advantage. When you wake up before anyone else, you feel great about yourself. Because while everyone is still asleep, you’re already up and tackling the day. 

Two, you get to start your day with intention. No one is awake. You won’t have any meetings. You won’t have any appointments or obligations. You don’t have to start responding to the demands of the world. 

You can use this sacred time to help you slow down, reset, and re-centre. I use this time to journal to tune into how I’m feeling. To set my intention for the day. And to visualize how I want the day to go. 

And three, this is *your* time to fill up your cup first. Use it to work on yourself. You can exercise, work on your side project, learn a new skill—Do something that brings you closer to your ideal life. 

You won’t regret it. 

Less is more

When I was growing up, I always wanted *more*. 

More exciting plans. More clothes. And more friends. I never had enough. 

But now? 

I’ve begun to embrace the idea of less. 

Instead of more plans, I look forward to quiet nights with a slow evening routine. (Of course, I still enjoy exploring, travelling, and going out, but in much smaller doses now.) 

Instead of more clothes, I have a few pieces I love and wear all the time. 

And instead of more friends, I have a few deep and meaningful friendships. 

And you know what? I feel content. 

Because when you don’t fill your life with so many activities, things, and people, you slow down, appreciate, and engage in everything with more intention. 

Inject silence into your day

I used to be afraid of silence. 

Interestingly, I’m not alone as most people would rather shock themselves than sit alone with their thoughts. 

I needed to fill my mind with something all the time—With music, podcasts, Netflix, manga, social media, anything. 

The problem? I felt anxious and distracted 24/7. 

So I started to inject more silence into my day. 

For example, instead of starting my day by replying to emails and messages, I began to journal and read. 

Instead of listening to a podcast during my walk, I began to focus on my five senses with the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding technique. 

And instead of listening to music while I cooked or cleaned, I began to pay attention and immerse myself in what I was doing—washing, cutting, stirring. 

So, why does this habit help you slow down? 

Because giving yourself silence, space, stillness, and solitude, protects you from society’s fast-paced life and expectations. It steers you away from the white noise of people and media. 

And the silence gives you a chance to build self-awareness—To slow down, tune in, listen to your feelings and thoughts, uncover your beliefs and values, and understand who you are and who you want to be.

Change your relationship with your phone

My phone dictated my life. 

What do I mean? 

I used to grab my phone right away to check my messages and notifications when I woke up. 

I used to respond immediately to any notifications as soon as I felt the vibration or heard the ringtone regardless of what I was doing. 

I used to capture all the simple moments of my day like walking to work. 

And I used to spend a ton of the small pockets of time during my day scrolling through Instagram, reading answers on Quora, and re-reading old conversations on Messenger. 

Now, they may seem like just five minutes here and there, but… the time adds up. 

Looking back, it’s scary how much time I spent on my phone. 

And I realized three key points. 

One, my phone was controlling my life. 

Two, I was wasting so much time. 

And three, my phone habits were destroying my mental health. 

So I knew I needed to change my relationship with my phone. Here’s how I did it: 

1. I deleted all social media apps from my phone (I only use them on my desktop now). 

Within days, I felt better. More present. More peaceful. Why? Three reasons. 

One, I stopped comparing myself to other people. 

Two, I was exposed to less negativity. 

And three, instead of living my life through others, I began to focus on myself, build my own life, and focus on what *actually* matters.

Like my health, relationships, nature, fulfilling work, and simple moments in life.

2. I turned off ALL my phone notifications for every app. 

No banners. No sounds. No badges. Nothing. Why? 

Because I used to respond to everything right away. 

This meant I was always interrupted, distracted, and reactive. And I felt I didn’t own my time, rather, other people controlled it. 

So I turned everything off. 

This has helped me slow down, and focus on whatever I’m doing with more presence, depth, and intention. 

And now, I respond on my own time and terms after I’ve completed my work. 

If you don’t want to turn off all your notifications, you can put your phone on Do Not Disturb mode.

Do activities that help you stay present

I used to have trouble staying in the present. 

I’d *constantly* think about the past or the future to the point where I couldn’t remember simple things like whether I locked my apartment door or not. 

So I started to practice staying in the present. How? 

By doing activities that required me to be in the present. 

Like walking, yoga, cooking, painting, and playing the piano. And most importantly, by doing these activities with intention. 

This meant that, as I walked, I’d pay attention to my five senses. As I did yoga, I’d pay attention to my breath. As I cooked, I’d pay attention to cutting the vegetables. As I painted, I’d pay attention to each stroke. And as I played the piano, I’d pay attention to pressing each key. 

This is how I started to build my ‘presence muscle.’ And it helped me slow down, be present, and appreciate each moment.

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In a world telling you to do more, have more, and be more, the most outrageous thing to do is to slow down, be present and content, and live in joy. 

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This Week’s Recommendations

1. Try This When You Aren't Sure What to Do by @CHRISGUILLEBEAU — Great list of things to do when you’re feeling stuck! I’d also add, sing and play the piano (or any other instrument). 😊

2. "No Opinion"...#40 by @BETHEBESTU — Loved this. Great message about normalizing not having an opinion and saying, “I don’t know (yet)” on things you don’t understand. 

3. How I’m going back to my *feminine* roots by @KELLYKINGSTON — Absolutely loved reading this. And I was happy to find out I was doing most of the tips that Kelly recommended. 

4. The law of attraction decoded: An easy and intuitive guide to manifestation by @KATHARINASC — I’m a huge advocate of The Law of Attraction and the power of positive affirmations. This is a fantastic read to help you imagine and manifest your ideal life.

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Before You Go

I hope you enjoyed reading today’s newsletter!

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Thank you so much for being here! 😊

I’ll see you next Sunday,

Irene