Life in the slow lane

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Living the slow life is sometimes a necessity rather than a choice but it can come with at least one or two silver linings. Not convinced? Discover the benefits of slow living.

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Lessons from lockdown

In many ways, life got much less busy for a lot of us in lockdown – particularly for those of us without young children at home. Fewer things available for us to do, combined with the instruction to stay home as much as possible, meant a period that was unusually quiet.

While that might have been challenging – at least to start with – and a touch of cabin fever may have started to creep in towards the end, in hindsight it was also a chance to push the reset button.

Here’s a handful of good things we learned during lockdown.

Busy isn’t necessarily better

With a to-do list that was suddenly pretty bare, including fewer social engagements and appointments, you might have been left feeling a little less frantic and over-scheduled.

And there’s a good chance you’re feeling better for it. Because, while busy isn’t all bad , research shows it can impact health, sleep and mood .

Keen to keep busy syndrome from overtaking again as life gets back to normal? Giving up multitasking, writing a to-do list and other key strategies can help to banish busy from your life.

Alone time is underrated

You’ve probably had more of it than usual lately, or at least more time on your own away from your social circle. And research proves that solitude is good for you.

As well as enhancing your own well-being, if you make the effort to continue spending time alone, your social-emotional health will improve, too, which means your relationships with others will benefit .

Why being outside is a game-changer

Heading outdoors for a walk was one of the few ways to get out of the house during lockdown, but if it was a new-to-you habit, you might want to consider sticking with it.

In fact, you could even slow the pace down further and simply head outside to sit down somewhere quietly. As long as you pick a spot where you feel like you’re in contact with nature, your stress hormone levels will fall significantly after just 20 minutes .

It’s experiences that matter

Pushed pause on the amount of material stuff you purchased while you were in isolation? And missed all the things you used to do but took for granted?

According to a US study, it’s doing things rather than having things that improves happiness, so continue to go slow on buying stuff in future: favour trying stuff instead .

Holiday planning = happiness

We might have been forced to do nothing but daydream about destinations while we were in isolation, but now that we have a little more freedom to travel, don’t be in too much of a rush to head off somewhere.

The planning phase has great benefits, too: a significant part of that “happy holidays” feeling actually occurs in the lead-up to the break, when you’re looking forward to the trip. So keep dreaming!

Farewell to FOMO

There wasn’t a whole lot to miss out on in lockdown, so any fear of missing out – or FOMO, as it’s known – that you might have felt prior to going into isolation probably plummeted.

That’s good news, because FOMO has been linked to everything from feeling distracted to stress and trouble sleeping .

How to keep FOMO at bay as life gets back to normal? Foster a sense of joy of missing out (JOMO) instead. That is, limit how much time you spend on social media and practise being more mindful every day, to help you relish life in the slow lane .