It’s December 3rd 2018. I have no idea where 2018 went. I remember snippets of this past year, but everything is a slight blur.

Each year in December, I make time to reflect on the year that has passed, while I begin to set goals for the year to come. During this time each year, I choose a “theme” for the upcoming year. It’s normally a single word that reminds me of what I want to feel, do or create, in the upcoming year. It doesn’t normally relate to just one aspect of my life ie. business, family, etc. This word is an emotion, a feeling, a vibe, that I want to be inspired by in all aspects of my life.

I write these goals and words down in my planner sheets that I’ve created like these. I put them in my journal and look to them when I need to “check-in” with my self.

My theme word for 2019 is actually 2 words. slow living.

Slow living plan and tips

With many hectic days of keeping up with my business, two busy teens, university tours, hubby traveling etc., minutes are precious and face-time even more so. My goal for 2019 is to consciously slow down the pace. I was going to end that sentence with “when possible” but that’s not intentional enough for my new goal.

My goal for 2019 is to consciously slow down the pace. Period.

I know, you’re thinking to yourself, “Nicki. You’re crazy. You can’t slow the passing of time.”.

But I have. I did. And I’m figuring out ways to do it more as I go.

A few weekends ago, I consciously decided to not work (yes, us creative entrepreneurs work 7 days a week), I decided not to clean my house, do laundry, run around for groceries and errands. Instead, I decided to enjoy a date day with my husband where we sat and enjoyed our coffee in a porcelain cup not a paper to go cup for the road. I decided cook a yummy, slow dinner, for the family, with a cherry gin cocktail in hand, with music playing and candles lit. We spent Sunday going for a walk, we napped and we read. Totally luxuriously selfish, and hugely satisfying not to mention rejuvenating, weekend.

So what did I notice after our slow, intentional, pace?!

1. We felt like we had a weekend! Time seriously went by at a much slower pace.

2. We had face time with each other as well as the kids.

3. I don’t know about you, but I have 6 books on the go and haven’t had time to finish any of them. I finished one of my books!

4. I put my phone away for long periods of time and guess what?!! I didn’t miss it and didn’t once feel like I had to reply instantly to a text message!

5. I felt rested.

6. I felt refreshed to tackle my week ahead.

7. I didn’t feel like I was behind. At all.

8. I felt a creative surge towards my business.

9. I felt connected.

10. I knew I wanted to feel like this more often.

I know what you’re thinking - again - you’re thinking, “there’s no way I can possibly make time like that for me, and for an entire weekend.” I have to tell you, I don’t think I have it all figure out. In fact, my plan and goal is to share a regular blog post about the different ways I am trying to incorporate slow living into my life. It may mean a few minutes one day, or a few hours another day. I’m hoping to share ideas and see how others are slowing down the pace a bit.

I hope that in doing so, we can all learn to live more in the moment, consciously make more time for people face-to-face, for experiences, and to rejuvenate ourselves so that we don’t end up burnt out and feeling stressed out all the time.

So here’s my plan!

1. I will make time, on one day each weekend for a few of my favourite activities; a slow walk, a slow coffee date or a yummy, home cooked meal, where we enjoy the act of cooking as much as we do eating a yummy meal.

2. I have scheduling apps for my social media posts etc. I will make sure that I have enough posts already photographed, edited and captioned so they can be posted without me lifting a finger.

3. I will take time through the week to tidy, shop and do things that may interfere with my weekend time, if I don’t get them done.

4. I will ask for help. I will ask my hubs and kids to help me around the house so it helps to free up time for me.

5. I will try my best (this one will take some discipline) to not watch multiple episodes of a show on Netflix. Anyone else have a hard time with this one?!?!? It’s so easy to press play on just one more episode, but time suddenly flies and I wake up exhausted the next morning!

So there are my first 5 steps to hopefully help to slow the pace down a bit so that I can spend more time resting, recovering and filling myself up! We are no good to anyone, if we are empty, spent and exhausted. And besides, why do we need to be so busy to feel validated?! We seem to walk around these days wearing “busy” as a badge. Time to change that. Are you with me?!!

How you can join me with slow living!

ok! Here’s my plan. I will post regularly here on the blog about how I am incorporating the idea of “slow living” into my everyday life and share what I have found to work and what doesn’t work for me. If you are a subscriber to the blog, you will get updates automatically so you won’t miss a thing! So be sure to subscribe at the bottom of this post!

I will post a quick update on Instagram to help inspire and remind you to slow down and reflect on what you are “busy with” and will use hashtag #slowlivinginspiration so that we can all follow along with ideas and actions.

Are you in?!!

Let me know by leaving a comment, send me an email, subscribe to the blog or find me on Instagram!

I’m excited to share my slow living plan and tips with you during this next year!

Nicki