{"id":29049,"date":"2015-08-25T06:00:27","date_gmt":"2015-08-25T13:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/?p=29049"},"modified":"2015-08-24T17:29:25","modified_gmt":"2015-08-25T00:29:25","slug":"9-signs-its-time-to-slow-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/9-signs-its-time-to-slow-down-0825154","title":{"rendered":"9 Signs It\u2019s Time to Slow Down"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"relaxing<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/em>Life moves pretty fast. If you don\u2019t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.\u201d<\/p>\n

This recognizable quote from the movie Ferris Bueller\u2019s Day Off<\/em> can be helpful to remember when we find ourselves saying things like:<\/p>\n

\u201cI simply can\u2019t keep this pace up for much longer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere just aren\u2019t enough hours in the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cStop the merry-go-round. I need to get off!\u201d<\/p>\n

Often, we miss the signs that we\u2019re moving too fast or that we\u2019ve got too much on our plates. Sometimes our tendency is to switch to autopilot, and we may become suddenly unaware of what we\u2019re doing in a given moment.<\/p>\n

To help foster self-awareness, here are nine important indicators of when you might wish to slow things down before they go awry:<\/p>\n

1. You\u2019re always late to appointments.<\/h2>\n

\n\t

Find a Therapist<\/a><\/h2>\n\t
\n\n\t\t\t\n\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\tAdvanced Search<\/a>\n\t<\/form>\n<\/div> You might think that slowing things down will only cause you to be later. However, if you take a few moments to check your schedule and budget the appropriate amount of time to get from place to place,\u00a0 you won\u2019t constantly be racing and apologizing for being tardy. Always build in a few extra minutes for travel in case of traffic or delays that are beyond your control.<\/p>\n

2. You keep losing things.<\/h2>\n

The first time you lose your keys, glasses, or wallet, you may simply let it go. The second time it happens, it\u2019s a sure sign that you\u2019re moving so fast you\u2019re not aware of what you\u2019re doing. You put things down without a thought and then don\u2019t know where to retrieve them.<\/p>\n

It can help to have a designated \u201chome\u201d for your belongings, but if you seem to be rushing lately and have tunnel vision, slowing the tempo can also help you stop misplacing things and find them more easily when you do.<\/p>\n

3. You don\u2019t know how you got from point A to point B.<\/h2>\n

Ever drive somewhere and wonder how you arrived? A little scary, right? What that means is that you weren\u2019t focused on the task at hand and were too distracted be be\u00a0engaged with your surroundings.<\/p>\n

4. You\u2019re not getting enough sleep.<\/h2>\n

You need to give the tasks in front of you the proper attention they deserve to tackle them efficiently. Otherwise, they could end up costing you more time. Listen to that spilled milk or stubbed toe when they tell you that you need to slow it down.<\/span>Sleep is required to fill your tank so that you can face the challenges of each day. Of course we all are short-changed sometimes for various reasons, but if it\u2019s happening for an extended period of time, it\u2019s often a signal that something has to give. Take it down a notch if at all possible.<\/p>\n

5. You have no time to eat.<\/h2>\n

If you don\u2019t slow down long enough to nourish yourself, you\u2019ll find that you will eventually come to a screeching halt, regardless of how much you desire to keep going.<\/p>\n

6. You\u2019re plagued by clumsiness.<\/h2>\n

Are you frequently dropping things, bumping into things, tripping, spilling or breaking things? That\u2019s a strong indicator you\u2019re moving too fast. You need to give the tasks in front of you the proper attention they deserve to tackle them efficiently. Otherwise, they could end up costing you more time. Listen to that spilled milk or stubbed toe when they tell you that you need to slow it down.<\/p>\n

7. You\u2019re forgetting appointments.<\/h2>\n

\u201cWhere are you? You were supposed to be here 10 minutes ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heard that one lately?<\/p>\n

Missing an appointment feels awful. You wind up disappointing both yourself and others. It can put relationships<\/a> at risk and cost you money. If you\u2019ve missed a meeting, you might want to decelerate before it happens a second time.<\/p>\n

8. You\u2019re always multitasking.<\/h2>\n

You might be an amazing multitasker, but once in a while it\u2019s important to discover what it\u2019s like to put all of your focus and energy into just one thing. With multitasking, it\u2019s possible to spread yourself too thin. If your schedule seems to ruthlessly demand multitasking, see if you can delegate things to others or at least assign each activity its own time slot.<\/p>\n

9. You\u2019re repeatedly getting sick.<\/h2>\n

If you find yourself feeling ill a lot more often than usual, it’s likely your body’s way of\u00a0letting you know you\u2019ve got to slow things down and rest! Listen to what your body is saying and don\u2019t wait for your health to decline further.<\/p>\n

Taking notice of just one or two of these meaningful signs should be enough to ease your current pace, which will serve you well in the long run.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Missing appointments? Getting sick a lot? Not getting enough sleep? These could all be warning signs your body is giving you to tell you to slow it down. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2944,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[542],"tags":[389,31,25,47,239],"class_list":["post-29049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured-articles","tag-adjusting-to-change","tag-psychotherapy-practice","tag-psychotherapy-issues","tag-self-care","tag-stress"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2944"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29049\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}