30 Days of Slowing Down – 10 Years On

There is an intense irony in reflecting on 30 days of Slowing Down when my workload is as high as it has been - not having a full weekend for a month has impacted my stress levels. But then, it's also good to reflect on it during this time to remind myself there are simple activities that can change that stress. More importantly, that I am doing things to make it worse.

This was based on a TED Talk from Carl Honoré In praise of slowness. You can read the outline of the activity here.

How this has evolved

There is a very simple answer to this - poorly. Okay, maybe that is being too harsh but I have definitely forgotten so many of the lessons from this valuable activity. Let's dig into what I see as the two main reminders to this.

Multi-tasking

Interestingly, with all the career shifts since I did My Year of TED, I have spent a lot of time training people that they cannot multi-task and so they need to be better at focusing on one thing at a time. So, the importance of this has definitely stuck for me. But then I spend a lot of time watching TV with another device, so I'm not entirely sure it's all stuck! I certainly know I feel calmer when I am focused on one thing, but then as a freelancer I have to be everything to my business. This can make focus difficult when I'm writing proposals, doing my website, producing work, doing my accounts, dealing with other enquiries, trying to promote my work etc. I am definitely not alone here, but I need to get back to scheduling some of these things in better.

Eating at my desk - well freelancing really

Working from home has been a dramatic shift in a lot of things around slowing down and having time to relax and break my day a bit. For a couple of years, this meant it allowed me to worked from 7am-6pm to deal with a ridiculous project and workload. It requires discipline to work for yourself, and an ability to set and maintain boundaries with clients. That took time and practice to acquire. Even though my workload has been busy of late, I always take time to not be at my desk for lunch. I go read, sit outside with Lily, or listen to a podcast while studying in the kitchen grazing.

This was a good reminder that one of the reasons I left paid employment to freelance was for more freedom in my schedule and the ability to slow down a little more. Hopefully, the workload is calming a bit right now and I can not only have my weekends back, but also my Fridays - which I try to keep for creating.

This is truly one of those activities I encourage everyone to try for a month. It did recharge me a lot during My Year of TED and the reminders will hopefully do the same for me this month.