How I Create Balance Between Busy Days and Slow Living as a Mum and Small Business Owner

Half of September is now gone, and Autumn has settled for good. Summer might linger in the afternoon light, but these are really the last goodbyes before it leaves us. There is something really beautiful about those golden, sunny afternoons when the last whispers of Summer mingle with newly arrived Autumn.

Life has been both busy and slow, and if you wonder how I achieved this, keep reading 🤍

Let’s start with busy. The good busy. I always feel the need to specify if it’s a good, bad, or annoying busy, but thankfully my busy lately has been pretty good.

The kids are back to school, which means a school run five times a week and ballet class on Wednesday. The shop naturally gets busier at this time of year. We’ve had lots of new customers this Autumn, and we welcomed back our regulars <3, received some big corporate orders, and we also launched a new English country home décor collection. This has been my business dream for the longest time. I hope I’ll manage to grow this part of the business in the next few years, and seeing our customers ordering the new pieces made me feel emotional.

As always, I’ve busied myself with filming, editing, writing, creating new listings, and updating old ones. I said “busied myself” because no one ask me to do those things, I do it because I want to. YR Studio Ltd and my private life are so closely knit together that I struggle to draw a line. Sometimes I question if there *is* a line? I know I’m very lucky to call myself my own boss, but at the same time, I have a tendency to go overboard with my work, and this is where the teachings of slow living become so valuable to me.

You see, there is this skewed picture of slow living as a life of idleness and perfect harmony. Many people picture a little cottage in the countryside, a flock of ducks, and themselves in the kitchen baking bread and brewing tea with no stress or worries in sight.

Whenever I get to see this kind of content online, I have so many questions. How do you make money? Is the house yours? What if your ducks need a vet? Where is the money to cover the bills coming from? Do you know that thatched roofs should be replaced every 10 years? Do your old windows keep warmth in Winter? Do you struggle with mould in the cold stone corners? Do you have a car? Have you ever felt road rage?

I could keep on going, but the point is that one picture on Pinterest doesn’t cover the depth of human existence and life circumstances that are complicated, chaotic, and full of emotions.

Slow living is not daydreaming but a solid practice meant to help you train your brain to enjoy the life you have. It really isn't about location. By being mindful and choosing to see the good around us, we become calmer and happier. The best part is that the more you practice, the easier it gets until it eventually becomes a habit, a natural state of being. Cracking a little smile at the smell of your morning coffee, or appreciating the soothing vibes of your home after a busy day at work. Trust me, it becomes second nature.

Here are some highlights of my mindfully created ways to slow down and enjoy these moody days of September:

1. A day escape with my husband. We have very little help with the children. In fact, none unless one of our mums visits (they both live abroad, one in Greece and one in Romania). My mum was visiting for only a few days, but we managed to steal a whole day for ourselves. We visited pretty little villages and walked the green rolling hills of the Cotswolds that are changing for Autumn. We ended the day with a meal in the famous Daylesford farm restaurant and arrived back home at 9:30 pm – shockingly late, and we totally felt like rebels!

2. Working from home became a little easier now the children are back in school. I always write my daily to-do list with the three most important tasks at the top. This helps me assess what’s really important and complete my tasks in a peaceful, organised manner rather than jumping from one thing to another like a headless chicken.

3. Embracing the ordinary and mundane. I work from home, but I don’t allow myself to slump and sit in PJs all day. Instead, I put on pretty, but cosy clothes, light candles at my desk, and brew a cup of tea. Editing Etsy listings isn’t the peak of excitement (to be honest, it’s boring and repetitive), but I seek reasons to be grateful for it: the predictability of my work, the fact that it pays my family’s bills, and that I get to create gift candles that people will share with their friends and family – pretty awesome if you ask me!

Find links to my working form home cosy outfit HERE

4. Paying close attention to nature is always a good way to slow down. So much is changing right now, and you can notice the shift wherever you live, countryside or city. The sunrise comes later, and evenings draw in a little earlier. The air just feels different – a gentle chill, the smell from chimneys, and the aroma of fungi in the woods (by the way, have you read my post where I share my memories connected to September and the smell of the forest at this time of year?). Even a short walk will make a difference, I promise. Go out, breathe in the fresh air, leave your phone in the car.

5. Outdoor running. I went back to running in my neighbourhood about two months ago (earlier this year I was using a treadmill at the gym), and although running is about speed (not that I’m fast!), my morning runs actually help me slow down. First is the amazing, still-cold air after the night and the silence in my neighbourhood. Second – if I run first thing in the morning, I get this calming sense that nothing worse can happen to me that day, haha!

6. Embracing the longer evenings. As a candle and newly home décor shop owner, this is as natural to me as breathing. Lighting YR Studio candles (current favourite is "Autumn Leaves"!), filling my hot water bottle, and reading, writing, or watching something is a simple yet effective way to slow down and appreciate the small pleasures of life. Andrei and I are currently watching "Taboo" with Tom Hardy on Netflix. It makes me turn my eyes away at times (as its quite graphic) but the dark and mysterious story set in early 19th-century London is the perfect spooky TV show for this time of the year.

I’ve got the feeling that this Autumn will go by fast – two weeks of September are already gone! Before we realise it, we’ll be stocking up on Christmas candles and planning festive menus. I want to fully enjoy the current season and make it one to remember, so I mindfully try to notice signs of Autumn at every step. As life speeds up in the last quarter of the year for many of us, let’s make sure we stop often enough to notice all the simple joys of everyday life that we might otherwise pass by in a hurry.

Thank you for reading
Adriana x