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Plan your days before someone plans them for you. Our time, especially our leisure time, gets taken up fast with work, family, and even friendship commitments. All are important of course, but so is your personal time, or the time spent with the people you want to be with the most. Having at least one weekend of downtime a month is better for your wellbeing and mental health than booking up all of your available time. As an introvert and as a wedding photographer, I cherish my leisure time, mostly because my weekends fill up fast. I usually end up with an unplanned weekend once every couple months or so. And when that happens I do everything in my power to guard that unplanned weekend for myself by booking it on my calendar. Unfortunately, it can be tempting to fill in that free time with all of the things you have been putting off due to other commitments or say yes when someone asks you to be somewhere for them, but don’t do it! If you’re feeling overwhelmed, overbooked, and overworked, then this won’t help. You need to take the time to do nothing in particular, except to slow down and appreciate the present.
This weekend is my first unplanned weekend in over seven weeks. I will not be traveling far and the only photography and adventuring I will be doing will be local, low-key, and all in the name of fun. I decided to create myself a recipe as a reminder to keep the digital noise down, the adventures simple and local, and to guard the sanctuary of my mornings. I plan on filling my time with coziness, nature, autumn appreciation, self-care and a good book.
I have created a recipe for a perfect slow autumn weekend.
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Ingredients:
One weekend without commitments to others.
Your favorite coffee/tea mug.
A good book.
A cozy blanket.
Comfortable walking shoes.
Instructions:
Start your day when you want to.
Turn your phone on silent for a weekend. If the call is important, you can check for a messages once or twice during the day.
Begin the morning with a favorite cup of coffee/ tea. Boil the water yourself, keep the distractions away and live in the moment.
Instead of turning on the television, play some music.
Enjoy a delicious home made breakfast or venture out to your favorite cafe or diner.
Spend time in nature and refresh.
Spend the afternoon doing what you want to do.
Stay offline and read instead. Open a book that has been on your to-read shelf for a while or spend that time doing something creative.
Skip dinner out and eat a healthy home cooked meal. Spend time cooking.
Skip the shower and take a relaxing bath instead.
Cozy up with a good book again before bed.
Day two: repeat.
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Share in the comments your favorite ways to slow down and your own recipe for the perfect slow autumn weekend.
