There’s a piece over on the blog Be More With Less that’s worth pointing you all to.
Courtney Carver, who’s managed multiple sclerosis for the past twenty years, writes about how her old habit of constant busyness eventually caught up with her body, and how rest became something she had to practice on purpose rather than something that just happens when there’s nothing else to do.
That idea sits close to what we talk about here. Slow isn’t a luxury you earn after everything’s done. It’s a practice, and most of us need reminders to actually do it.
Here are the seven practices she shares, with a few thoughts on each.
1. Get comfortable being unavailable
Block out time each day where you’re simply not reachable. Phone in another room, no notifications pulling at you. Carver’s point is that protecting this time actually makes you more present for people later, not less connected to them.
2. Move your bedtime earlier
When her sleep got off track, someone suggested she try 8 p.m. It sounds extreme, but the pattern interrupt worked. You don’t have to go that early, but getting into bed a good hour before you actually want to fall asleep, with a book instead of a screen, gives your body room to wind down instead of crashing.
3. Cook something slow
Instead of rushing dinner onto the table, pick a night (a weekend afternoon works well) to make something that takes time. Chopping, simmering, a bit of music in the background. The slowness is the point, not a byproduct.
4. Watch a movie in the middle of the day
This one pushes against the idea that daylight hours are only for output. Carver’s reasoning is simple: you can’t get things done well when you’re running on fumes. A matinee, or just your couch with the phone off, counts as legitimate rest, not laziness.
5. Let your body physically relax
She quotes therapist Rachel Shanken on how muscle tension sends a false danger signal to your nervous system, which keeps you in a low-grade fight-or-flight state without you realizing it. Stretching, lying with your legs up the wall, or rolling out tight spots with a ball can interrupt that cycle. Calming the body helps calm the mind, not just the other way around.
6. Write it all down, unedited
Journaling without worrying about grammar or how it sounds. Carver even suggests shredding the pages afterward, since knowing no one will read it makes you write more honestly. The rest here comes from getting thoughts out of your head instead of turning them over and over.
7. Try a “Little Saturday”
Borrowed from the Nordic tradition of Lillördag, this is about treating a weekday, usually Wednesday, like a small weekend. Order dinner in, do something you’d normally save for Saturday. It breaks up the week and reminds you that rest doesn’t have to wait for a calendar date.
One more thing worth carrying from the original article: if you try any of this and guilt shows up, because you feel like you should be doing more, Carver suggests reframing that feeling as discomfort rather than guilt.
You’re just doing something unfamiliar. That’s allowed.
