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>> If you've been hearing a lot about slow
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living, but aren't really sure what it
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looks like, especially as a mom, I'm
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glad that you have found this video
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because for me, slow living doesn't mean
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having a perfect morning and drinking
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coffee in a beautiful kitchen and having
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absolutely nowhere to be.
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It actually [music] looks a lot more
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practical than that for me as a mom of
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two and a homeschool mom,
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but I found that it is the little things
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that I've changed in my daily routine
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that have helped me to feel less [music]
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rushed and more intentional with my
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days. So, today I'm going to be taking
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you along with me [music] through a
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practical and realistic morning by
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sharing 15 slow living practices that
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have really made a difference in life
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So, the very first one is probably also
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one of the most simplest changes that
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you can make and that is just to stop
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feeling [music] so rushed as soon as you
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wake up in the morning because I used to
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wake up and immediately start thinking
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[music] about everything that I needed
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to do. I'll be thinking about all of
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these things before I said my prayer,
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[music] before I brushed my teeth,
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before I washed my face, and before I
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got out of the bed, I was already
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starting to feel like I was behind and I
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had like a mental overwhelm before I
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have pretty much done [music] anything.
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So, now I try to give myself some time
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every single day. I love to just have a
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cup of coffee or tea or a cup of water
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and sit just [music] outside on the
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patio and just pretty much just take in
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the fresh [music] air, gather my
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thoughts for the day, say a prayer, read
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my devotion, and sometimes [music]
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just take a short walk. Just pretty much
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letting myself wake up before I begin
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tackling all of the responsibilities for
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the day. And if my children wake up
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while I'm doing this, [music] I just
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have them sit outside with me and they
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would still be in their pajamas and
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typically I would just stop what I'm
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doing and immediately jump right into
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mom mode, making [music] sure that
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everyone is dressed and fed before they
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even step foot outside. But I'm learning
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that running around the yard in pajamas
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with messy hair, [music] barefoot,
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that's some of the things that my
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children have really loved to do without
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feeling, again, just rushed in the
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morning. The second thing I stopped
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doing is reaching for my phone [music]
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as soon as I wake up. I now wear a
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Fitbit. I don't know if you guys [music]
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have heard of it, but you wear it around
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your wrist and it's just a band and it
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vibrates to wake you up and I love
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[music] that because I don't have to
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wake up to like a loud alarming sound. I
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don't have to actually [music] reach for
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or grab my phone and to snooze it or
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turn it off, you just give it a little
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double tap. Looking for [music]
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a more calming way to wake up if you
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have to have an alarm, if you want to
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[music] try waking up before the kids,
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try a Fitbit that you just wear around
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your wrist. It's [music] very comfy and
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I'll link it down below the specific one
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that I have. But, it's definitely, of
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course, a work in progress. [music]
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Sometimes I still want to get on my
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phone, check my analytics and [music]
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check what the weather is going to be
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for that day, but I've noticed that when
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I stopped, you know, [music] doing my
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morning scrolling, I feel a lot more
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within my entire day. It's all about
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starting your day with intention. I
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don't want to wake up thinking about
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what everyone else is doing on social
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media, what I need to respond to because
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it's so easy to get off track when you
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see an email that you need to respond
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[music] to or a text message or a missed
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phone call. Immediately, that can
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definitely overwhelm you, so [music]
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not reaching for my phone when I wake up
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has definitely made a difference in,
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you know, my life as well. The third
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thing is I let the house wake up
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naturally. So, this is something that I
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know a lot of people have actually
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upon me for since becoming a mom. I have
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a 7-year-old. Both [music] me and my
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husband work from home. I just do
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content creation, so I don't have like
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any [music] real deadlines. And then we
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home school as well. So, sometimes we
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just don't set an alarm unless we have
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to [music] get up to go somewhere like
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church or something. And we just wake up
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with the sunlight or whenever our body
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[music] feels well-rested enough, that
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is when we wake up. And instead of
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immediately turning on every single
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[music] light and rushing around, I just
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open up the curtains and open up the
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windows to let in some [music] fresh air
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if the weather is nice and just let the
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house wake up in a more natural way
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because I think sometimes [music]
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slow living really is just about paying
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attention to the little things that
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we're normally too busy to notice.
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Number four is I try to make my bed
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every single morning because it helps
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[music] me to just stay intentional with
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every single day. Helps me to feel a
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little bit more put together. It also
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helps me avoid getting back in the bed
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to relax and watch Netflix. I also
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stopped trying [music] to multitask in
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everything because I noticed I was
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starting to feel frazzled, distracted,
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pretty much just all over the place. And
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so when I slow down enough to actually
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focus on what I'm doing, I learned
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[music] that I actually enjoy it a lot
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Number six is [music] I try my best to
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actually prepare most of my meals at
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home, [music] especially
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breakfast. And it doesn't have to be
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anything crazy or elaborate. Sometimes
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it's literally just [music] eggs and
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toast. Sometimes it's just oatmeal with
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fruit cut up inside of it.
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But I don't want every meal to feel like
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something that I have to hurry on
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through. So, [music] that is why I try
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not to like make anything too crazy. But
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I also want to be able to prepare
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something [music] nice and healthy for
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my children without getting up and
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running out the house [music] and trying
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to go and, you know, find something at
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the very last minute. Number seven is
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[music] I try to clean up the home as I
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go because this helps me to [music]
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not feel completely overwhelmed in my
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cleaning throughout the day. This way,
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instead of feeling like I'm catching up
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all the time, I'm actually just
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stewarding my home and it feels like
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just gentle [music] acts of care. I also
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try to stop cleaning everything [music]
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at once. I used to feel like I was just
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constantly cleaning all the time [music]
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and it just wasn't enough. I would clean
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my whole house and it would take me an
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entire day, but I started to slow down
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and declutter and I [music] challenged
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myself to try and see if I can clean my
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entire home within 1 hour. Number nine
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is I keep [music] less stuff. I talk a
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lot about decluttering on my channel
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because it's [music] pretty obvious that
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the less stuff you own, the less you
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have to manage. [music] Every item in
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our home not only takes up physical
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space, but it also takes up mental space
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when you're waking up thinking of all
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the things that you have [music] to do
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and you're looking around and you're
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just seeing stuff everywhere. Of course,
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you're going to be thinking of the
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things that need to be organized.
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There's always [music]
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always going to be something else that
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needs to be done when you just have
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[music] a ton of stuff that needs to
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taken care of. You already have yourself
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to take care of, you have your family to
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take care [music] of. You don't need a
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ton of things to take care of as well.
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Number 10 [snorts] is I try to
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>> create some more routines instead of
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complicated systems. When I first became
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a mom, I felt like I had to have like
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this perfect little schedule for myself
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and for my kids. Everywhere, every blog,
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every YouTuber was saying that children
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need to have a schedule [music] and I
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felt like I was doing something wrong
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because I could not keep with a perfect
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[music] schedule with my children or
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with my homemaking. I would literally
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always just [music] feel like I was
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doing something wrong, feel like I was
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behind and that was causing me even more
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mental overwhelm. I decided to just have
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routines, things that I know that I want
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to do every single day, but I don't put
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it on any schedule. That way I don't
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feel like I'm off if I miss it by an
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hour, if I wake up a little bit too
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late, I go to bed a little bit too late.
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But like I can just slowly go through my
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not rushing to keep up with any
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schedule. Number 11 is I try to cook
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food for leftovers. Because there's
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definitely going to be days where I know
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I'm going to be tired [music] because
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I'm human. There's also going to be days
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with homeschooling takes a little bit
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longer than [music] I expected, or the
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kids need more of my attention. So every
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single time that I cook, I just add a
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little bit more so that the next [music]
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day we'll have leftovers. That way I
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don't actually have to cook every single
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day. Number 13 is I try to be more
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present in [music] every single moment.
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I try to choose real life over constant
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conception. Because there's always
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something that you can watch, [music] a
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video, you can listen to a podcast in
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the shower. Another thing that I enjoy
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doing, sometimes I just want to sit in
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just watch my kids, just look at the
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garden, and appreciate, you know, God's
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beauty around me, or just appreciate
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some [music] silence every once in a
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while. Number 15 is that I actually
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appreciate the life that I'm living
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because I know how easy it is to look
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online [music] and see someone else's
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home, their vacation, their morning
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routine, their family, their business,
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and just start thinking that maybe
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[music] our own life could look a little
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bit different. None of these things are
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huge or crazy, and that's pretty much
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what I like about them. So I hope that
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this gave you some ideas that you can
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use as well. Thank you for watching this
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video, [music] and I will see you guys
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in the next one. Happy homemaking.
