Slow Living: How I Found It (and How You Can Too)

Our brains were not designed for endless channels, constant notifications, multiple apps, text messages, emails, 40-hour work weeks, plus social events on top of it all.

No wonder so many of us feel overwhelmed, frazzled, and constantly on high alert.

Now more than ever, it’s important to take a step back, slow down, and live with intention. I know from personal experience that this shift can have incredible benefits on your mental health and well-being. Today, I want to share how slow living found me—and some first steps you can take to start your own journey.

How Slow Living Found Me

I’ve always been an anxious person. As a child, I worried about exams, presentations, the future, my family, my friends—you name it. I was an overachiever who never thought anything I did was good enough.

By university, I was so hard on myself that I literally scheduled bathroom breaks into my day. (Yes, really. Who does that? Me.)

When I entered the work world, the pattern only deepened. I wanted to be seen as a high performer, someone reliable and smart. I worked late, pushed myself constantly, and overextended in every possible way.

As a therapist in an agency, I carried an even heavier load. Not only was I working late, but I worried about my clients endlessly. My family and friends could see me deteriorating, even when I couldn’t. I was spiraling toward burnout.

Eventually, it happened. I burned out hard. The first three months of my leave were spent as a zombie on the couch. The next three months were about trying to reconnect—with myself, with others, and with the world around me.

It was scary for me and for my husband. At the time, I had also been struggling with getting pregnant. When I finally did become pregnant near the end of my burnout leave, I knew I couldn’t keep living the way I had been. I wanted to be the kind of mother who was present, who had the energy to give her child quality time. To do that, I had to stop burning myself out.

That’s when I started focusing on what truly mattered—my values, my priorities, and how I wanted my life to feel. That was the beginning of my slow living journey.

Step One: Become Aware of How You Spend Your Time

The first step I took—and the one I recommend to you—is to evaluate how you spend your time.

It might help to track it in a calendar or document. Look honestly at your days. How are you using your time?

For so long, I told myself I was “busy.” And sure, I was working overtime, but I also filled my time with busywork: reorganizing to-do lists, procrastinating with little tasks, spinning my wheels. Everything felt like an insurmountable mountain, even something as simple as making a phone call.

When you take a clear-eyed look at your time, you may notice how much of it goes to things that don’t actually matter to you—like doom scrolling or unnecessary overtime. That awareness alone is powerful. It creates space for more intentional choices and helps you realize you have more control than you think.

Step Two: Declutter Your World (and Your Schedule)

The next step for me was decluttering—and honestly, it changed everything.

I started with my physical world. I’d always been someone who loved buying things but hated owning them. My home felt cluttered, and so did my mind. Slowly, I began letting go of things I didn’t need.

Decluttering isn’t a one-time event. It’s an ongoing practice. But as I cleared out physical space, I found I also had more mental space—room to breathe, reflect, and live with more ease.

That naturally extended into my schedule. I started asking: What actually matters to me?

For example, I was invited to sit on several boards of directors. The organizations were doing great work, but saying yes would have meant saying no to time with my family—or even to basic needs like rest. So I declined. Because right now, my priority is my family.

Here’s the truth: you can’t have a million priorities. If it’s not a “hell yes,” it’s a no. And that shift—from being a “sure girl” to being intentional with my yeses—saved me from burnout.

Choosing What’s Truly Important

It’s easy to feel like work is all-consuming, but your life is made of so much more than your job.

Slow living isn’t about giving up ambition or doing nothing—it’s about aligning your time and energy with what actually matters to you. It’s about creating breathing room, saying no when you need to, and remembering that you do have control over how you live.

A Gentle Invitation

If any of this resonates with you, I’d love for you to pause and reflect:

👉 What makes a life worth living for you?
👉 What values truly matter—outside of what society says should matter?
👉 Where can you begin to make small, intentional changes today?

Your answers are where slow living begins.

Watch the full video version of this blog here: Embracing Slow Living in a Fast-Paced World