5 Habits of an Unhurried Life

Sep 11, 2025 - 10:04

Updated: 9 months ago

Do you find yourself constantly racing against the clock? Do you feel that there simply are not enough hours in the day to accomplish everything that you want or are expected to do?

If so—join the club! Most people have experienced the strain of modern life and are looking to others for an example of how to live differently.

Even as society has grown wealthier, and many of us have fewer day-to-day financial worries, we’ve seemingly replaced those concerns with an even greater number of new desires. People in the modern world seem more stressed and busy than generations before.

Everyone has the same number of hours a day—so why do some people get more things done than others?

Those who live an unhurried life have figured out how to get more done in less time because they have embraced a new outlook—along with new ways of being to cultivate a calmer spirit.

Rushing through our lives could very well become something we later look back on with regret. So, I’ve given this area plenty of thought over the past several years.

The 2 Main Reasons We Hurry

There are, of course, times and seasons when going fast makes sense. It can be exhilarating and very productive to push yourself to see what’s possible. However, we all have a point at which life feels too busy, and the rushing around detracts from our joy and contentment.

I’ve noticed two forces that tend to nudge me toward the default of doing more.

1. Cultural Norms

If you ask someone how they’ve been, there’s a good chance that they will say “busy.” Busy is the word we choose because it’s how we feel—it’s also a word that conveys a certain amount of status. If someone is busy, they must be needed—they must be important.

Many people would be almost embarrassed to say they don’t have much going on, even if that meant more time for relationships. I think a big reason for this is that our society tends to equate our identity with what we’ve done and accomplished, rather than who we know and love.

2. Fear of Missing Out

Another significant driver of busyness is our constant exposure to cool ideas, interesting lifestyles, and ways to spend our money. This creates a desire to do more with our lives, and a fear that we’re missing out on some good thing that we could be enjoying. So, what do we do? We fill our lives with more stuff and more pursuits in the hope of grasping an ever-elusive sense of satisfaction.

5 Habits to Cultivate Calm

That being said, we can resist these two forces. With enough of us living counter-culturally, we can begin to shine light on another set of values besides the ones that dominate our current way of life.

Here are, from my own experience, five practical ways to begin living a less hurried life. Note that none of these examples exclude the idea of being productive and pursuing meaningful work, but they offer a more sustainable and pleasant rhythm for doing so.

1. Focus on One Thing at a Time

You’ve heard of single-tasking, where you do only one thing at a time, but what I’m suggesting takes it one step further. Too often, when we’re doing one thing, we’re thinking about something else.

We’re making lunch, but thinking about a meeting—going on a walk, but worrying about an unfinished task. When you are 100 percent present in each thing you do, your life will instantly feel calmer without giving up any productivity. It’s as close to a free lunch as you can get.

2. Take Breaks From Tech

I believe that in the future, we’ll discover that filling every spare minute of our day with phone use will prove to be unhealthy for our brains. With constant screen time, our brains have little time to rest, leaving us in a constant low-level state of activity. Unplug from your device and enjoy a few minutes of mental tranquility between tasks.

3. Take Mental Snapshots

One practice I’ve added to my life since having kids is learning to notice the ordinary—but special—moments of each day. For example, if I overhear a cute or funny conversation between my two youngest boys, I stop and take a mental snapshot of the scene. I absorb as many details as I can and pause to soak in the emotions I feel. In this way, I believe I can slow down time just a little while adding more vividness to my memories.

4. Ruthlessly Prioritize

Prioritizing is one of those obvious but underappreciated ideas. In almost every area, there are exponential rewards to going a little deeper, a little further, or a little more complicated than the average person. Yet, we are constantly tempted to spread our efforts too thin. We feel rushed and exhausted when we should be focusing our best efforts on the few things that really matter to us. In doing so, you will have unlocked one of life’s few cheat codes.

5. Embrace a Few Good Routines

My final piece of advice for transitioning to a calmer life is to invest in a few useful routines. You don’t need to go overboard in this area to see huge results. For me, a 30-minute slow morning routine and a relaxing evening routine bookend my day in a perfectly unhurried manner. Routines make life feel less hurried by removing the decision-making and uncertainty that come with constantly improvising.