Learn to slow down the time for yourself
Social media has romanticized the idea of working long hours to “hustle” and create wealth.
All the productivity tips online would recommend milking every second available to do something worthwhile.
In such an era, it’s refreshing to slow down and practice gentle productivity.
The essence of gentle productivity
To me, gentle productivity is about being on a journey of discovering what+how to balance different priorities in your life at different times, while being gentle with yourself in the process.
This implies regular planning and reflection while being self-compassionate.
It’s easy for us to judge ourselves when we plan something and don’t achieve those goals. We procrastinate, we fail, and we get off track.
This is exactly where we get to practice self-compassion and gentleness.
Enjoying the process
The calendar I’m designing now would need consistent updates. The time blocks I have for work now wouldn’t be the same when I have a kid or a dog.
The idea of gentle productivity isn’t about reaching a certain milestone — it’s more about being on a journey and enjoying the process of creating and recreating.
What if your work isn’t your whole life, rather only a part of it?
What if you don’t need to keep chasing new stuff, rather you balance creation and stillness?
Big life purpose v/s being present
Motivational gurus have romanticized the idea of “big is better”.
“I want to help 10,000 people in my life.”
“Why not 1M people?”
Yep. I’ve been there too at some point. Most coaches start their journey with a big number in their heads. The number of people they want to impact, the amount of money they want to create, etc.
What if you focus here and now — on being present?
What if you let go of all self-created pressure and focus on serving 1 client at a time?
What if you focus on creating only 1 event at a time?
Maybe your life purpose is to actually save humanity. Or maybe your life purpose is to save yourself and a few dozen people around you.
One is not better than the other.
The most underrated tip for productivity — slow down time for yourself
Remember this canteen scene from the Spiderman movie?
What happened in this scene?
The Spiderman has this superpower — he has time working slower for him. Whenever there was any problem, he could see it coming minutes before anyone else.
That’s how he caught the food tray and saved it from falling.
You and I can develop this slowed-time superpower too.
How?
By slowing down our life.
By enjoying a slow morning/night routine.
By being present and mindful of our breath.
No kidding. Try it.
When we are completely present in the moment, everything around us moves slower. It’s literally how the quote goes — “slow down to speed up.”
Here’s how to get started right away
The first rule of gentle productivity?
Be gentle. haha 🙂
Start with a small step.
Maybe for the first few days work on your morning/night routine.
Imagine you wake up 15–20min earlier, so you don’t have to rush to your morning meetings.
Plan and reflect regularly on your progress and challenges.
Keep moving forward, one step at a time.
Enjoy the journey within and keep creating love every day.
And if you need some help, reach out to me here.
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