How to Slow Down When Life Speeds Up
Do you ever feel like life’s moving faster than you can keep up with? Midlife can be a whirlwind of mental load, responsibilities, planning, and preparing. There’s still so much to do but not time or energy to do it, why does the to do list seem to get longer, as quick as you get things ticked off another 3 things are in its place. Yet deep down, there’s that quiet, niggling voice whispering, “I just want to slow down.”
But slowing down feels impossible, doesn’t it? On top of the never ending to do list, the days feel like they just blur together, and before you know it, you’re stuck on autopilot, living the same day on repeat.
Woman standing in garden breathing deeply, symbolising calm and reflection
The Midlife Rush
At this point, we’ve spent years juggling work, family, and expectation and when we moved to our little bungalow, things admittedly looked great from the outside. I had a thriving business, my husband was nearly at the top of his career, and we’d worked hard to buy our first home.
Of course we knew it would be a juggle in the beginning, I mean a 1960’s bungalow with renovations to be done was always going to be work, but I thought I could manage my end. I was working from home, I figured I’d just fit it all in somehow.
But the truth hit hard. Around the same time, I rather unknowingly, entered perimenopause, and it was all of a sudden that I couldn’t cope with stress the way I used to. The anxiety, the mood changes—it all came crashing in. I still had a full diary of work, a cabin to build, a house to run and renovate, and a husband who was away a lot. I was all alone, and eventually, I broke.
I broke hard.
It ended with a hospital visit for extreme palpitations. After endless tests, they told me I was fine—it was just stress-related anxiety. But I knew I wasn’t fine. I’d been juggling too much with zero self-care. It was all go and no slow.
Eventually I recovered, mostly not fully, it had changed me, and this wouldn’t be my last hospital visit. That experience forced me to rethink everything. If I wanted to function like a normal human being again, I had to start prioritising differently.
The truth is, slowing down isn’t about doing less—it’s about being more present with what matters most. I had to reconnect with what truly mattered, because living with that level of anxiety was unbearable. It was a gut wrenching process too, none of it was easy, it was uncomfortable but I figured I felt so rubbish anything has to better than this.
The Gentle Reframe: Slowing Down as Strength
We live in a world that glorifies busyness. Everywhere you look, there’s influence and noise. Even in the midlife space, there’s so much “slow down” talk, but the underlying message often still says, “do more.” If you are anything like me you will have fallen for it more than a time or two.
We’re bombarded with images of women doing it all and most annoyingly they are thriving whilst doing it, they seem to have found the magic potion to doing, being and having it all. And while that might be true for some, for many of us me included, slowing down is actually the brave choice. It’s saying, “My peace matters.” Which feels weirdly selfish.
When you start to slow down, you reconnect with your body, your breath, and your intuition. You start to notice the small joys again—the morning light, the roses blooming, the greeting from the animals, the sound of laughter, the quiet moments that nourish your soul. This is a simple shift yes but it does take some effort not a lot, but some.
Journal and pen on a soft blanket, inviting reflection and mindfulness
Your Flow Forward Shift: Create Micro-Moments of Calm
You don’t need a full day off to reset (though that would be lovely). Instead, try these tiny shifts:
Take three deep breaths before the stress of the thing sets in. There’s some science stuff I won’t bore you with but it actually helps, if you do it properly, deep breaths are supposed to go into your belly, a lot of people take the air into the top of their chest and this just makes the stress response worse. Again there’s science if you care enough google it lol.
Step outside for two minutes and feel the air on your skin. Breathe in the fresh oxygen and, if you can, turn your face to the sun. I feel like this one is magic, getting outside and having the fresh air on your face, close your eyes and just listen for a minute or two.
Pause between tasks and ask, “What do I need right now?” You don’t have to power through everything. Just take a beat. I know it seems so trivial, for years you have been rushing about doing 20 things at once with seemingly no repercussions so why can you not just power through now. Well you’re reading this so id imagine powering through isn’t working, you feel broken, like your brain is just unresponsive. Well you’ll find things easier to get through if you just take a minute, pause, listen to yourself. Try it!
Literally today, I was buzzing about doing all the housework—you know, standard housewife activities—and I started to feel the anxiety creep in. That’s my most prominent and flipping annoying peri symptom. So, after taking the compost out, I stood in the garden soaking up the end-of-autumn sun. The air was fresh on my skin (and honestly, the chill was quite nice on my extra-hot skin). I took a few deep breaths, and something shifted.
The anxiety didn’t vanish—it still comes and goes, even with HRT—but I stepped forward through the day with a little more intention. I slowed down just enough to find some calm, enough to not feel so overwhelmed.
Reflection Prompt
Maybe you can try writing these down and reflecting. If journaling feels too much, use your favourite AI tool to help you gather your thoughts—it can spark inspiration. Don’t overthink it there is no need.
What’s one small way you can slow down today? Maybe it’s sipping your tea without multitasking, or saying no to something that doesn’t serve you. There are a million ways to slow down, even in the middle of a busy day. Take a moment, jot it down, or voice note it. Just three minutes—you’ll thank yourself later.
Closing Thoughts
Slowing down isn’t falling behind or being broken. It isn’t being lazy or unproductive. It isn’t ignoring the “experts, coaches or influencers”It’s finding YOUR rhythm again. It’s feeling more connected and grounded so you can flow forward, feel like yourself again. That might look different to how you imagined it but thats ok.
You deserve to move through life at a pace that feels gentle, kind, and sustainable.
You’re allowed to rest, lovely. You may not give yourself permission, but I will. The world can wait a moment.
If you want to figure out what area of your life could do with the most attention take the short quiz in the flow forward starter guide. Start your shift now and flow forward.
Take care
Amber x