Episode 679: 5 Ways To Slow Down and Savor Life (Mindset & Self-Care)

EBT679 – 5 Ways To Slow Down and Savor Life

Intro  00:01

Hey food bloggers. Thank you so much for joining me in this mindset and self-care focused episode here on Eat Blog Talk. One of the reasons I started a blog talk was to hold a space to talk about the importance of mindset and self-care. Being an entrepreneur can be a lot. If we are not taking care of ourselves, then getting actionable information about SEO Pinterest or whatever else is all moot. I will meet you back here every Wednesday to discuss various mindset and self-care topics. So you have the energy and space to tackle the rest.

[00:00:37] Megan Porta

Hey how is it going this week food bloggers? I hope you’re doing great. Thank you so much for showing up for yet another mindset focused episode of Eat Blog Talk.

[00:00:43]   

 So happy to have you here. By the way, if you have topics you would ever like for me to cover in these mindset and self care focused episodes, please let me know. I’d love to cover some things that you want to hear about. In today’s episode we are going to discuss the importance of slowing down and taking the time to truly savor the joys of life.

[00:01:06]   

 This topic feels really important to me at the moment and I will tell you why. One of the things I did when I established my 2025 goals back in early January was to also set some values for my year. When I did that, I asked my trusty friend ChatGPT to help me write out a handful of statements that align with what I believe in and what I wanted for my year ahead.

[00:01:34]   

 It did a really good job. Some of the values I reworded or deleted, but a lot of them were really great. One of the values that spit out for me was something that I could never have articulated myself and that I loved when I first read it. And I still love it. Every day when I read it, I fall in love with it even more.

[00:01:54]   

 And that value is slow down, reflect and savor life’s joys. Wow, I love this line. It just really impacts me so deeply. So much of my entrepreneurial life has been the opposite of this line. I have had multiple years at a time where I just feel like I ignored my family. I worked constantly on nights and weekends.

[00:02:21]   

 I hustled my butt off. I took little to no time to reflect on anything and definitely did not savor life’s joys so many years. I often think about that question we all ask ourselves from time to time. If I could go back, would I change anything? And I don’t know. Maybe, maybe not.

[00:02:47]   

 I kind of like the way my life and businesses have played out. I’m a pretty blessed and grateful human. I absolutely adore my life the way it is. But with that said, those years when my boys were so precious and little and I shut myself in my office to work, it literally hurts my heart to even talk about it.

[00:03:11]   

 Honestly though, it doesn’t matter if I would change anything because here we are. There’s no going back and there’s only moving forward. That desire to do, do, do and constantly achieve, achieve, achieve and grow, grow, grow does not leave my soul. It’s always there. Even though I love my family and time with them way more than I love anything in my businesses, I still feel pulled constantly to keep achieving.

[00:03:44]   

 You have heard me talk about the year of 2024 and how it was too much for my system to handle. I experienced epic amounts of burnout, health issues, mental health issues, a lot of sadness and probably borderline depression and just a lot of yucky stuff. Going into 2025, I felt more resolved than ever to slow the freak down, reflect and savor life’s joys.

[00:04:17]   

 I just have to honor myself and my family and make this happen. Which is why I found myself in tears in my bed the other night before going to sleep. I realized in a single little snippet of a moment that I felt deeply tired, right down to the bone. I thought about this for a moment and I was just like, wait a second.

[00:04:41]   

 What is going on? And then it hit me. I’ve gotten back to the point where I’m doing too much. I’ve taken on YouTube for two different channels, Eat Blog Talk and Pip ‘n Ebby. I’m producing YouTube shorts and videos to support my blog’s growth and my podcast community growth. I’ve been prioritizing improving my speaking skills, which means weekly toastmasters and improv classes.

[00:05:11]   

 I’ve also increased the number of blog updates I’ve been doing, and fairly drastically. I’m writing a book and trying to work on that every day. And I’m trying to plan the second year of Flavor Media Summit. Oh my goodness. When I spelled it all out for myself, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

[00:05:28]   

 How did I let this happen? A previous version of Megan would have stuffed it all down and carried on assuming everything will turn out just fine until burnout found me again. But not this time. I am taking action because I cannot let these next few years pass me by. I will not watch our youngest son graduate in a few years with regrets about how I spent my time while he was cruising through high school.

[00:05:54]   

 I cannot and I will not. I am taking action. If you are finding yourself in a similar situation where you just need to slow down, reflect and savor life, let’s do this together. Let’s talk through five ways to slow down and savor life. 

[00:06:13]  Ikram Ali

We all know what it’s like to be completely swamped in our business from juggling a dozen or so hats. And sometimes you just need a little help. If you’re ready to elevate your blog with stunning imagery, but lack the time I got you covered. I’m Ikram Ali, the photographer behind Ikram Ali Photography. I use my background in Pastry Arts and cake decorating, blending my culinary expertise and my photography skills to create premium still images and engaging short form videos for food bloggers and brands alike. If you’re ready to start updating old content, or just needing to get food photography checked off your list, I’m here to help you can go to the services page on IkramAliPhotography.com That’s spelt, Ikram, I-K-R-A-M, Ali, A-L-I photography.com. I’m excited about the prospect of working together. Bye friends.

[00:06:46]   

 If you’re ready to start updating old content or just needing to get food photography checked off your list, I’m here to help. You can go to the services page on ikramaliphotography.com that’s spelled Ikram I K R A M Ali a l I photography.com I’m excited about the prospect of working together. Bye Friends.

[00:07:10]  Megan Porta 

 Number one: Prioritize what matters most? What are your priorities? Just off the top of your head, what would you say? Would you list out work priorities first? Or ones related to family and loved ones? Or maybe your own well being? Or maybe a combination of all of these? For me, my first automatic response to this question is my family.

[00:07:33]   

 Hands down, they are number one. Everything I do is for them and so I can spend quality time with them. They are the best. I love them so much and I have to pinch myself every day because I can’t believe how lucky I am to get this time on earth with these amazing people.

[00:07:51]   

 They’re so fun and they’re funny and they’re smart and kind and about a million other positive things. They are my priority. So why do I slip over time and let other priorities infringe on my time with them? Maybe it’s a lack of intentionality or just a habit that gets the best of me.

[00:08:10]   

 I don’t know. It feels so easy to get caught up in things that don’t always honor my ultimate priorities. I can have balance with my work and personal life. I’ve done it before and it feels really good. But I’m not consistent enough with this. Here are some tips for prioritizing what matters most.

[00:08:31]   

 I’m going to talk through three things. First, do a time audit. It is so easy to lose track of what you’re spending your time doing. If you’re not keeping a close eye on it. And if you have a tendency toward being off balance like I do to stay focused on what matters most and what you’re actually doing with your time, you need to have data to work with. Perform a week long time audit I just finished a week long time audit and I am going through the results right now.

[00:09:03]   

 I love analyzing my data because it’s hard fact. This is what I spent my time doing in the past week. So for you log everything. Specific work tasks that includes inbox cleanup, Slack check ins, blog updates, communication with your team, recipe testing, photo editing, professional development time. Log it all. You can use a free app like Toggl that is spelled T O G G L to make this super easy and to have a very well organized data report at the end of your time.

[00:09:36]   

 Once your audit is done, you have to analyze and make adjustments as needed. Maybe there are things you’ve spent time on that week that you can easily hand over to a family member or a VA. Or maybe you’ll notice that you can tap into that magic flow by moving your Wednesday writing to Monday when you’re catching up on scheduling emails.

[00:09:58]   

 Here’s a little bonus tip. Have a trusted friend or peer or partner analyze your results and give you feedback. Having a unique set of eyes on your data might be really helpful. I actually just sent my husband my report from this past week to have him look at it and give me his thoughts.

[00:10:13]   

 I’m really excited to hear what he has to say. Okay, second tip for prioritizing what matters most is to set boundaries to protect your time. Your time audit results will help you to pinpoint areas of your life and your business where you need to establish boundaries. Maybe you see in your data that you had a 90 minute Zoom call with your team that you know could have been 20 minutes long going forward.

[00:10:38]   

 Set these calls for 20 minutes non negotiable and show up ready to be as efficient as possible during your time together. Maybe you see that you’ve worked all day on Sunday like I did in my report and that this is not acceptable. I didn’t even realize I was working so much on weekends until I did my audit.

[00:10:57]   

 It makes me so sad to know that I’ve let this happen. I’ve allowed work to creep into my weekends because I feel so behind. Time tracking is going to allow me to make a plan with my data so I can move all of my Sunday work to weekday work. This is what I want.

[00:11:14]   

 And bonus tip. Once you have your time audit data, plug it into ChatGPT and ask what boundaries you can set based on the data shown and then you can put stipulations in there like so that I don’t have to work on Sundays or so I can stop working at 4pm every day and see what it tells you the third tip for prioritizing what matters most is to align your daily actions with your priorities.

[00:11:40]   

 This is why I review my goals and values every single morning, so they stay top of mind and so I can align my daily actions with my priorities. And obviously, even when I’m being consistent with this, I still slip over time. Imagine where I’d be without the guidance of my daily goal. Check in.

[00:11:58]   

 This part just takes some brutal honesty with yourself. I’m saying this as much to myself as to you right now as you read through your daily goals and priorities and I beg you to please, please please do this. Ask yourself, am I really, truly following through with these priorities? Here’s a bonus tip.

[00:12:17]   

 At the start of each week, take some time to fill out and really evaluate your to do list. Make sure your daily actions are one feasible and two aligned with your priorities. If something feels off, consider whether it needs to be delegated or removed from your agenda entirely. Onto the second way to slow down and savor life, and that is to be mindful in the present moment.

[00:12:44]   

 That sad moment in my bed the other night was when I realized that I had allowed myself to get swept up in thinking so much about work and the multiple balls I’m juggling that I have stopped having mindful present moments throughout the day. I meditate every morning and that helps me to stay grounded, definitely, but clearly I need to do more.

[00:13:07]   

 I can literally get done meditating and not have another mindful moment until I’m getting ready for bed. This isn’t cool. This kind of defeats the purpose. Present moment living all the time should be my goal. Even if I’m in the weeds on a work project, I should be doing that mindfully, not in a frenzied state where I’m in autopilot.

[00:13:29]   

 I get into these ruts where I feel like I have so much to do that I become laser focused on getting through the stuff. By doing this, I’m missing out on so much of what’s going on around me. Mindfulness can be so helpful in reminding us to be fully present in the moment, allowing us to savor experiences as they happen rather than rushing through them.

[00:13:52]   

 By the way, experience is my word for 2025, so here’s my wake up call to turn things around so I can experience and savor every little moment of this year and beyond. I have three tips for you inside this point of being mindful in the present moment. The first one is to practice daily mindfulness and meditation.

[00:14:13]   

 Start with just a few minutes each day where you focus on your breath and clear your mind. Allow yourself to just be present with your body, your surroundings and the moment. Bonus tip Set an alarm on your phone for a few different times throughout the day to remind yourself to stop and breathe.

[00:14:29]   

 I’m actually doing this this week. The second tip under Being Mindful in the present Moment is to engage your senses. When you are doing something simple like eating, walking or having a conversation with somebody, try to really tune in to your senses. Focus on how things look, feel, smell, taste and sound. And the bonus tip for this is try doing just one thing at a time this week.

[00:14:58]   

 If you’re eating, just eat. If you’re talking to your kid, just do that. If you are paying the bills, focus entirely on that. This is also something I am trying on this week. And third tip under Being Mindful in the Present Moment is to let go of distractions, put down your phone, stop multitasking and commit to being fully present.

[00:15:21]   

 This can significantly improve your connection to people and experiences. Bonus tip for this one. Give yourself a cutoff time each day to disconnect from digital distractions and engage fully in the present moment. Here’s another one. Resist the urge to pull your phone out when you’re at the grocery store or sitting in waiting rooms this week.

[00:15:41]   

 The third way to slow down and save your life is to simplify your day. My to do list lately has been almost humorous. It is so overloaded I’ve had to create extra rows in my magical Google sheet just to fit everything in that I want to accomplish. Not cool. While it’s good to be ambitious and to be focused on all different aspects of life, self care, my team, staying on top of my work and my family, my home, et cetera.

[00:16:09]   

 It can also be very overwhelming to do it all all the time. I did this exercise and I encourage you to do it as well, especially if you are feeling that pull to slow down. Open up your calendar and your to do list for the week and let’s simplify together. Simplifying your schedule and your routines is going to help you create space for more meaningful moments and less overwhelm.

[00:16:35]   

 So here are the tips for simplifying your day. 1. Declutter your schedule. When looking at your calendar, just ask yourself, are all of these commitments in line with my values and priorities and goals. If not, remove or reschedule the less important tasks. Bonus tip Block out time for yourself. Whether that’s for relaxation, downtime, family, or pursuing something that you love, do it now.

[00:17:00]   

 Don’t delay at this point. Trust me and do this every week. Second tip for simplifying your day Eliminate low value tasks. Now you’re going to identify any tasks that do not add value to your life or business and eliminate or delegate them. Bonus tip Use a task or project management system to help you prioritize your tasks and simplify your to do list.

[00:17:25]   

 And the third tip for simplifying your day? Create routines. Establishing simple daily routines can help take that mental load off and allow you to focus on more important activities. Bonus tip Try batching similar tasks together to maximize your productivity while minimizing interruptions. Also, if you don’t already have a morning routine established, now is a great time to experiment with this.

[00:17:49]   

 Start really small if you need to. You can literally begin with a five minute morning routine so you don’t get overwhelmed. The fourth way to slow down and save your life is to make time for joyful activities. Do you ever get to the end of the week and realize that you did nothing fun all week long?

[00:18:09]   

 Oh my gosh, this is so depressing when I realized this life is meant to be enjoyed. Yes, there is a time for working hard and getting your stuff done, but what about the fun? What are those things that bring you so much joy when you do them? Maybe it’s being on a boat or going to a movie with a friend, or enjoying a cup of coffee by yourself in the morning with no one around or no distractions.

[00:18:34]   

 Or taking a walk at dusk. Or walking around an art supply store or a library. Joyful activities are different for everyone, but they’re so, so so important to prioritize. They are often the simplest things in life, right? But they’re also the most fulfilling for us. When you prioritize them, you will feel more connected to those pleasures in life.

[00:18:59]   

 I have three tips for you for this point for making time for joyful activities 1. Schedule Joyful Time into your week. Make time each week. This week. Start now. Do it now for activities that bring you joy, whether that’s a hobby, a walk, or spending time with family. Bonus tip Treat these moments as non negotiable appointments in your calendar.

[00:19:22]   

 Make them a priority. Consider coloring them. I don’t know, red or purple. Whatever your favorite calming color is to signify that they are super important and cannot be moved or changed. The second tip for making time for joyful activities is to say yes to fun. Don’t be afraid to say yes to those spontaneous moments of fun.

[00:19:45]   

 Do you ever have a friend ask you to do something that’s completely outside your comfort zone? Like hey, do you want to take an improv class with me? And you automatically think, oh my gosh, no way. Bonus Tip the next time someone asks you to do something spontaneous, different and or fun, say yes.

[00:20:05]   

 The third tip for making time for joyful activities is to practice gratitude for everyday joys Take a moment every day this week to appreciate the small everyday pleasures in life, such as a warm drink or a beautiful sunset, or just the quietness of a simple moment. Bonus Tip, Keep a joy journal where you note things you are grateful for throughout the day.

[00:20:27]   

 Revisit what you wrote anytime you need a boost, and the fifth and last way to slow down and savor life is to practice gratitude for the small things. It’s super easy to gloss over those small things that make our lives better, right? But when we sit down to give them a little bit of attention, we realize that they’re just masked as small things and that they are actually quite significant.

[00:20:51]   

 The warm, cozy home on a negative 25 degree day. Significant and definitely something I take for granted often. The teenager willingly sitting next to me on the couch in the evening. Significant. The working washer and dryer in my basement that washes and dries all of our clothes in just a couple of hours.

[00:21:11]   

 Also significant. Gratitude shifts our focus from what we do not have to what we do have, which helps us to savor those small pleasures and joys in life and it increases our overall joy. I have three tips for you for practicing gratitude for the small things. 1. Start a gratitude practice, start or end each day by writing down at least three things you are grateful for.

[00:21:37]   

 I promise once you start, you will go beyond just three. These can be big or small, it doesn’t matter, but make sure you really reflect on them. Bonus Tip: Use a gratitude journal or app to track your daily reflections. Second tip for practicing gratitude for the small things is to appreciate the little moments when you are rushing through your day.

[00:21:59]   

 Slow down occasionally and recognize those little things that bring you joy. Just a little bit ago I forced myself to take my lunch bowl of oatmeal and go sit on the couch. Normally I would have run right back down to my office to keep working while I ate. This simple act felt so good.

[00:22:21]   

 It did feel foreign, but it felt good. I noticed how juicy the blueberries in my oatmeal were and how good they tasted. I was able to watch my cat’s funny antics outside as he ran around and this gave me a few minutes to chat with my husband about how his coffee date was with his friend earlier.

[00:22:40]   

 Bonus Tip Take a pause during the day to savor the moment, whatever that moment is. Set an alarm if you need to. The third tip for practicing gratitude is to share your gratitude. Sharing what you are thankful for with others will help to strengthen relationships in your life and boost positivity. Bonus Tip Take a moment to tell someone in your life how much you appreciate them today.

[00:23:06]   

 Maybe it’s a friend, family member, spouse, or even a peer. Go do it now. All right, that’s all I have for you for this episode. I hope this inspired you. Let’s summarize the five points that we discussed for slowing down and savoring life 1. Prioritize what matters most, 2. Be mindful in the present moment.

[00:23:25]   

 3. Simplify your day. 4. Make time for joyful activities and 5. practice gratitude for the small things. Remember that slowing down and savoring life is essential for maintaining that balance that we all want in our lives and businesses. It can also help to reduce stress and to help you feel connected to what is really important. Make some small changes today anything we mentioned inside of this episode so you can slow down and savor life’s joys. It’s so important to do that. I hope you love this episode. I will see you back here next week. Thank you so much for listening. 

Outro 

Thank you so much for listening to this mindset and self-care episode here on Eat Blog Talk. If you are a food blogger providing a service for other food bloggers, and you want to spread the word about the value that you offer. I would love to offer you a free way to do just this. Send me a 60 second audio clip to be featured in a mindset and self-care episode here on Eat Blog Talk. Go to eatblogtalk.com/audioclip to learn more.