5-Minute Taking Your Time Practice
Time needed: 5 minutes (90-90-120 seconds)
Setting: During any daily activity
Purpose: Cultivating unhurried presence and sustainable pace
Pace Awareness Check (90 seconds)
What: Notice your current rhythm:
- Observe speed of your movements right now
- Check breathing pace - shallow/rushed or deeper/steady
- Notice urge to hurry or multitask
- Feel where rushing lives in your body (shoulders, jaw, chest)
- Ask: “What’s my actual timeline here?”
Notice: Default speed settings, where time pressure creates tension, difference between urgent and important
Why: Builds awareness of automatic rushing, reveals unnecessary time pressure
Intentional Slowing (90 seconds)
What: Choose one activity to do slower:
- Walk at 70% normal speed for 30 steps
- Eat next few bites more slowly, really tasting
- Type/write at deliberate pace
- Listen to someone without planning your response
- Complete one task without checking time
Notice: Resistance to slowing down, what details emerge at slower pace, how your nervous system responds
Why: Interrupts rush patterns, reveals benefits of slower pace, builds tempo choice
Time Abundance (120 seconds)
What: Cultivate sense of having enough time:
- Take three slow breaths saying “I have time for this”
- Look around and notice something you usually miss when rushing
- Feel your feet on ground while doing current task
- Let yourself finish one thing completely before starting next
- Send appreciation to your more leisurely pace
Notice: How slower pace affects task quality, where you find unexpected time, what opens up when not rushing
Why: Builds time abundance mindset, improves task engagement, reduces stress
Closing: One breath appreciating unhurried moments
Notice: How taking your time changes the experience
Why: Anchors benefits of intentional pacing
Tips:
- Works with any activity
- Slower often means more efficient
- Time expands when you’re present
- Quality over speed
- Practice in low-stakes situations first