{"id":459,"date":"2026-08-18T09:01:01","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T08:01:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thealblog.com\/?p=459"},"modified":"2026-08-18T09:01:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T08:01:04","slug":"slow-living-is-a-mindset-even-with-a-9-to-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thealblog.com\/?p=459","title":{"rendered":"Slow Living Is a Mindset, Even with a 9-to-5"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Slow living is always pictured the same way: someone in a cute linen dress making sourdough in the middle of the day, living on a homestead and most important of all: no teams meetings and no boss. To be fair, it sounds amazing but that’s not the reality for most of us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have a typical 9 to 5 job. It’s in the pharmaceutical industry so we’re pretty good at creating that good old false sense of urgency. Combine that with office politics and endless busywork and you get yourself the typical “fast-paced” corporate environment. Is it amazing? No, but it also has positives: 5 weeks vacation, flexible schedule, home office, stability and a good salary… things I wouldn’t really get if I was running a business. Do I fantasize about quitting? Every. Single Day. Will I? No and I’m here to tell you the grind becomes the grind only if you are willing to participate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you mean the grind becomes the grind only if you are willing to participate?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I have worked long enough to see countless people get burnt out and it’s always the ones who care, who want to do good and work hard. Truth be told, I’ve been there myself. The most common advice is to just leave, find something else. But let’s be honest; finding a new job is no walk in the park and most office jobs are the same anyway. They suck the life out of you and sure, you might breathe for a few months only to discover the new company is as dysfunctional as the old one. A complete career change or going back to school? That is even more stressful. So, leaving is something you save for seriously toxic situations or for increasing your salary but you can’t do that so often without making your CV look bad. That’s when slow living comes to the rescue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What slow living with a 9 to 5 looks like<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Before I even start with the practical tips, I need to emphasize the skill you must absolutely master if you want to see any change: setting strong boundaries. That means clearly defining and protecting your boundaries; also known as saying “no”. In a work setting, that would apply to your responsibilities, availability and priorities. The most common example is when a coworker is trying to dump their workload on you. What I noticed is that most people are afraid to say no because they’re scared of being perceived as a bad person or because it might somehow affect their performance review. In reality, knowing when and how to say no will increase respect and trust. Of course this applies only if your boss isn’t a total A-hole but that’s a whole other topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tip 1: Protect your time<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This is exactly why I mentioned setting strong boundaries. It’s incredibly common for people to interrupt someone who’s in the middle of a task and expect them to immediately drop everything to help. Unless it’s a genuine emergency, it’s okay to say no. Or rather, say “not right now.” Let them know you’re happy to help, but that you’ll finish what you’re working on first and get back to them afterward.If you’re not particularly comfortable with those conversations, use other tools. Put up a “Do Not Disturb” sign, use your status in Teams, and block dedicated focus time in your calendar. Just as importantly, don’t make yourself available outside of working hours unless it’s an exceptional situation that has been agreed upon in advance and appropriately compensated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tip 2: Regular breaks and an actual lunch break<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of protecting your time. You must take breaks and that is non-negotiable. First of all, for your body. It’s been proven times and times again that desk jobs can lead to back pain, eye strain and increase cardiovascular risk. But also, brains cannot focus continuously. Most people can stay focused for about an hour, hour and a half at best. Beyond that, you get tired, you slow down, you make mistakes and you get frustrated. In fact, doing more than 3-4 hours of deep work in a day is considered impressive. So take 10 minute breaks every hour but avoid scrolling. Instead let your mind idle and try to move your body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tip 3: Single tasking<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I hate having to constantly switch between different tasks. It makes me lose track of things, and honestly, it’s exhausting. The reason is that it takes around 10 to 15 minutes for our brains to settle into a focused state. Every time we switch tasks, that focus gets interrupted, and we have to go through the process of regaining it all over again. The more often this happens, the more mentally draining it becomes. People often say they’re good at multitasking, but the reality is that no one truly is. The quality of your work is usually much higher when you can complete a task from start to finish without interruptions, and you often get it done faster as well. Now that can be easier said than done so one tip I have for you is to plan in advance. Every Friday, before you leave take a few minutes to plan ahead and block time for your upcoming tasks in your calendar. It might even ease the Sunday scaries a little.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tip 4: Embrace quiet quitting<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I feel like quiet quitting was one of the main buzzwords of 2025, and it was often presented as a bad thing. And then someone just figured out that hey, it’s just the French work ethic. As a French person, I confirm. If you are not familiar with that term, quiet quitting is when an employee continues to do their job and meet expectations, but stops going above and beyond, limiting their work to what their role and paid hours require. Embrace that attitude. It’s not going to cost you a promotion because that’s not how promotions work. They’re more of a popularity contest. Going above and beyond usually leads to more work for the same salary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tip 5: View your job like a transaction<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A lot of people tie their self-worth and identity to the work they do. And I guess I can understand that when people have a job that is meaningful or that they’re really passionate about. Maybe they’re saving lives, maybe they love trains or books or whatever but I am still yet to meet a single person who is passionate about finding files in SharePoint, having teams meetings and updating trackers. Apparently, only a fifth of people report loving their jobs. So yeah, your job is what you do to earn a living, not a measure of who you are as a person. You are selling your time and your skills to a company (that isn’t yours) for money. Nothing that happens there is personal. Project going sideways because of bad leadership? Not your fault. A coworker doesn’t like you? Let them, you already have friends. Manager assigned the world’s most useless task? You get the same paycheck. Detach. Your nervous system will thank you<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tip 6: Transition time<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes it can be hard to unplug from work on evenings and weekends, even if you’re doing all the things I just talked about. And I’m not even talking about stress. It can also be the tasks themselves. I mean, I can’t count how many times I found myself in the shower still thinking about the problem I was trying to solve all day. And you know what? That is perfectly normal. We’re not in an episode of Severance. But when that happens, I shut it down. If the thought was useful, I will write it down and then tell myself work is over and it can wait. But to avoid this, create an end-of-day ritual: brain-dump all your remaining tasks before leaving the office, tidy up your desk, put away your PC, go for a short walk, change clothes… anything that signals to your brain that the work day is over. Use your commute to your advantage. If you’re driving, put on a podcast, audiobook or the music you enjoy. If you’re using public transportation, take a book, download an episode of a show you like or learn a new skill. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tip 7: Make time to actually rest<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When you spend five out of seven days working, and most of your waking hours are spent there, it can be tempting to squeeze as many other activities as possible into the few free hours that remain, on top of the cooking and cleaning. And yes it’s important to socialize, and experience the world but it’s also important to do nothing once in a while in order to rest. Doing nothing is a huge part of slow living and what looks like can vary from person to person, but ultimately, it comes down to engaging in something that isn’t stimulating, productive or driven by a specific purpose. What it isn’t, however, is doom scrolling, binge-watching or gaming. While these may feel like downtime, they actually provide a constant stream of stimulation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Slow living is always pictured the same way: someone in a cute linen dress making sourdough in the middle of the day, living on a homestead and most important of all: no teams meetings and no boss. To be fair, it sounds amazing but that’s not the reality for most of us. I have a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":474,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-wellness-hub"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t