the tortoise & the hare

Latest Episodes:

Working from home tips with Louise Miller: Life in the Time of Covid-19 Apr 15, 2020

Show notes

Season 6 coming in hot!
After some feedback and lots of questions about slow living in the time of Covid-19, Brooke and Ben decided to bring forward the new season. There are so many ways slow living might be able to help as we all adjust to the weirdness of isolation, but even more importantly as we all start to think about what we'd like our 'new normal' to look like on the other side of it. So that's what Season 6 is going to focus on, and it will be full of practical advice, realistic suggestions and hopefully helpful strategies to navigate the world during a pandemic.

In today’s episode Brooke speaks with Louise Miller, a productivity coach who doesn't believe in productivity for productivity's sake. They discuss the ins and outs of working from home, with lots of tools and strategies for those of you who are very new to the remote working scene.

Louise shares her insights on:

The importance of grace and compassion right now as everyone navigates this new reality
Why creating 'Ta Da' lists instead of 'To Do' lists is one powerful way of finding satisfaction in our work efforts - particularly on those days where we feel we're not doing enough
Why the loss of your commute might be affecting you more than you think
How installing a buffer in to your daily rhythm can help create grace and compassion amidst the stress and worry
Why 'slow productivity' gets such a bad rap and why she's such a big fan of it

Looking for more Slow?

Find show notes, resources and links at slowyourhome.com/season6
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Managing screentime, finding balance and future plans - A Coronavirus Hostful Apr 08, 2020

Show notes

And just like that, the end of Season 5 is upon us.

In today's hostful episode, Brooke and Ben spend some time answering the most common pandemic-related questions as asked by you, as well as tackling some lighter topics to try and provide some much-needed balance to not only this episode but also their own mindset.

It's undoubtedly been an incredibly difficult few weeks for everyone, with many more challenges and dark days ahead. Today Brooke and Ben offer some insights in to how they're trying to use the tools in their slow living toolbox to navigate some of these hard days, as well as offering some suggestions for how you might want to adapt some of them in to your own life.

They also answer the following questions:

How are you managing remote schooling while also trying to work from home?
Do you think slow living is helping during lockdown? And if so do you think it will have a positive effect in the future?
What did you learn about schooling and spending a lot of time together while travelling? And has any of that been helpful during lockdown?
How to create rhythms for working or studying at home, for those who've never done it before?
What good new recipes have you tried lately?
What's bringing you joy right now?
What are you listening to/watching/reading right now?

Brooke and Ben end with a brief update of what you can expect from Season 6 (which will be in your ears shortly - they've decided not to take a break between seasons in light of the current situation and all of the excellent guest interviews they have coming up which may offer some help) as well as what to expect from the next round of the Slow Beginnings Online Retreat, which starts on April 26.

Looking for more Slow?

Find show notes, resources and links at slowyourhome.com/season5
Follow us on Instagram @slowhomepod
Sign up for Brooke's weekly slow-living love letters
Or leave a rating or review in iTunes

Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Life in the time of coronavirus Apr 01, 2020

Show notes

Season 5 has thus far been a pandemic-free zone (mostly because all episodes previous to this one were recorded before the world turned topsy-turvy) but that changes today.

After having a couple of weeks to process some of the changes in their own lives and the world at large, Brooke and Ben chat about where they're at right now and the huge shift in pace that's happened. Ben shares the impact the crisis has had on his business and Brooke talks a little about trying to work around home-school responsibilities, heightened anxiety and a new normal.

Slow living has given Brooke and Ben a lot of tools over the years, many of which have been helpful in the first weeks of the pandemic and lockdown, and in the first half of this episode they share what they are and how they're helping. They also discuss:

The impact the crisis has had on Ben's business
Working from home while also trying to keep on top of home-schooling responsibilities
What's helping them the most right now
Why limiting inputs of news and social media is so important
How they're allowing themselves to 'feel all the feelings'
Why single-tasking has become more important than ever

The second half of the episode resumes normal transmission as Brooke continue her follow-ups with guests of last season. This week she catches up with Elisa who shares some of the changes she has implemented in her days, before sharing one of her biggest ongoing challenges. One of Elisa's children has medically-complex needs and working out how to apply intentional living to those additional requirements is something she and Brooke discuss in-depth. Elisa will remind you of the power of resilience, and the strength in being able to encompass the messiness of life and the warrior of motherhood - and everything in between.

Looking for more Slow?

Find show notes, resources and links at slowyourhome.com/season5
Follow us on Instagram @slowhomepod
Sign up for Brooke's weekly slow-living love letters
Or leave a rating or review in iTunes

Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Self-care: A Slow Living Deep-Dive Mar 25, 2020

Show notes

In another 'pre-pandemic’ yet very timely episode, Brooke and Ben dig deep in to ’self-care’ and all it represents, as well as how they apply it in their own lives.

Slow living and self-care have kind of become synonymous in the mainstream, featuring a lot on Instagram and in books and blogs and magazines. There is undoubtedly a lot of crossover between the two, but there is also a lot of consumerism and privilege tied up in the modern-day vision of self care. In this episode Brooke shares her thoughts on that, and then she and Ben dig deep in to what they think self-care is, and why it's so important.

They explore:

The origins of self-care as a movement and how society defines self-care now
What it means to advocate for yourself
How they each manage self-care now
Where the words ‘want’ versus ‘need’ fit into self-care
How important exercise is within their own self-care
The enemies of self-care
What self-care looks like for them in a practical sense

The second half of the episode features Season 4 friend of the show Amy and follows up on her waste-reduction efforts in beautiful rural Maine. Amy shares how she's taken on board a lot of the changes and experiments we discussed in our last chat, including some composting ideas (and attending a composting conference!), and the ways she's finding balance between working from home and spending time with her family.

Looking for more Slow?

Find show notes, resources and links at slowyourhome.com/season5
Follow us on Instagram @slowhomepod
Sign up for Brooke's weekly slow-living love letters
Or leave a rating or review in iTunes

Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Technology: A Slow Living Deep-Dive Mar 18, 2020

Show notes

Is slow living anti-tech? In today's episode Brooke and Ben dig deep in to their relationship with technology, which was one of the most requested topics for this season of the podcast.

Tech strategies and boundaries are something Brooke and Ben have spoken about before but as their work has shifted and their kids have grown, their approach has changed over the past couple of years. In this show they talk about:

The elephant in the room – is slow living anti-tech?
How they make technology work in a way that feels slow
What they mean when they talk about tech
The mindset they adopt when managing their relationship to connect-tech
Other tools they use to develop and maintain tech boundaries
Other ways they manage tech use with the kids and themselves when not working
How important it is to be a role model when it comes tech (and how challenging that can be)
Whether they feel good about their relationship to tech or if there are things they're still working on

Brooke then has a wonderful chat with Sara from Season 4 who shares not only some of the shifts she's made since she and Brooke last spoke, but also some of the feedback she received from family and friends in her community. They talk about lifelong learning, finding awe and the ways Sara is supporting her community through her slow living efforts (not always in the ways you might imagine).

Enjoy!

Looking for more Slow?

Find show notes, resources and links at slowyourhome.com/season5
Follow us on Instagram @slowhomepod
Sign up for Brooke's weekly slow-living love letters
Or leave a rating or review in iTunes

Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Community: A Slow Living Deep-Dive Mar 11, 2020

Show notes

In this week's episode Ben and Brooke get talking about community. The sense of place or home or belonging that strikes us when we truly feel seen.

In part this episode was prompted by their own experience of searching for and finding community, and in part due to the many questions they've received about how and why they settled in their new community after travelling for 18 months.

Brooke and Ben discuss how, as they travelled, they almost subconsciously formulated a list of traits they were looking for in a community - access to nature, finding like-minded people, sustainability - and how they went about finding a place in Australia that had most of those things.

They also discuss:

How they've previously struggled with the idea of community, and what it actually means to them now
How their idea of community has changed over time
Whether slow living has anything to do with community and if it's possible to create a slow living community
How they were forced to rethink old beliefs, patterns and boundaries as their experience and ideas of community has changed
What the ultimate slow living community might look like
How you can find community in your work
Whether it's possible to find one community the delivers on all your needs

Brooke then has a great follow-up chat with Lauren from Season 4 to see how she went with her values exercise and whether she was able to experiment with a slow living media ‘fast’.

Lauren shares how her values exercise played out and how the values she was able to zero in on have helped her make big changes already (new job, new city) as well as sharing some of the really practical shifts she's made over the past few months (gratitude journalling and weekly review). No doubt, Lauren took her homework seriously and has a lot of insight to share.

Enjoy!

Looking for more Slow?

Find show notes, resources and links at slowyourhome.com/season5
Follow us on Instagram @slowhomepod
Sign up for Brooke's weekly slow-living love letters
Or leave a rating or review in iTunes

Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Reducing Waste: A Slow Living Deep-Dive Mar 04, 2020

Show notes

In what feels like a very natural progression from last week’s episode on Stuff, this week Ben and Brooke talk about their efforts to reduce waste in their home. From food, to clothes, to cleaning Ben and Brooke talk about where they started out on their waste reduction journey and where they find themselves now.

This week they talk through:

Where the shift from simple living and decluttering to reducing waste and being more sustainable came from
How they first started to reduce waste
Whether they believe they do ‘enough’
Where they've found new opportunities to reduce waste and what those opportunities look like
How they capture their plastic waste
Other than food, what other kinds of waste they've been trying to reduce, and how they're going about it

Brooke then speaks with Georgi from Season 4, who shares the practical and inspiring things she's done since they last spoke. Not only has Georgi engaged with the communities she's part of, but has also begun a conversation with her council to explore what changes they can begin to make in her local area. Georgi also shares the really exciting project she's working on - a creative and encouraging handbook for action and optimism, written for young people.

There's a lot of inspiration - both practical and heart-centred - in today's episode, and Georgi shows us how much progress can be made when individuals step up and connect with their local communities.

Enjoy!

Looking for more Slow?

Find show notes, resources and links at slowyourhome.com/season5
Follow us on Instagram @slowhomepod
Sign up for Brooke's weekly slow-living love letters
Or leave a rating or review in iTunes

Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stuff: A Slow-Living Deep Dive Feb 26, 2020

Show notes

Since returning to Australia and moving in to a new home, Brooke and Ben have found that there's a lot of curiosity about their stuff. Have they bought a whole heap of it? Are they still living out of suitcases? Are they still minimalists?

So in this episode they decide to dive deep in to their current relationship with stuff and how they view the accumulation or letting go of it through a slow living lens. They also answer some common questions about the things they own:

How has their relationship with stuff changed?
What stuff have they rediscovered since settling back in to a normal life?
What sort of stuff have they bought and how do they approach buying now
Have they continued to declutter, and if so, how do they do it now?

Running through the entire deep dive is a more general discussion of how Brooke and Ben have moved away from a 'traditional minimalist' mindset to a more 'lower waste living' philosophy, as well as some thoughts on why they don’t really associate with a minimalist approach to life anymore.

In the second half of the episode Brooke speaks with Nancy from Season 4 who shares some of the incredible progress she's made since her and Brooke last spoke, which includes a very insightful realisation all about hummus. (Yes, really!) Nancy has come so far along her path of intentional living and it's pure joy to hear her share the changes in her self-confidence, self-esteem and ability to embrace discomfort.

Enjoy!

Looking for more Slow?

Find show notes, resources and links at slowyourhome.com/season5
Follow us on Instagram @slowhomepod
Sign up for Brooke's weekly slow-living love letters
Or leave a rating or review in iTunes

Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rhythms: A Slow Living Deep-Dive Feb 19, 2020

Show notes

Welcome back to another season of the Slow Home podcast!

Season 5 of the poggie has a new format, with each episode comprising of two parts. In the first part Ben and Brooke will be diving deep into an area of slow living that listeners want to know more about (think topics like self-care, waste reduction, tech and their relationship to stuff). The second part of the episode will be a dedicated follow-up with guests from Season 4 to see how they have been tracking and whether they have implemented any changes.

Today's episode kicks off with a conversation on rhythms (as opposed to routines) where Brooke and Ben discuss:

What exactly are rhythms?
How rhythms are applied to different parts of their life
What rhythms have looked like for them since settling into their new town
What they have discovered about rhythms and how they best work for them
If there is room for flexibility and fluidity within rhythms
How to set up and maintain rhythms

Brooke then catches up with Season 4 guest, Kate, who you might remember was struggling with the question of whether slow living might actually be robbing her of ambition.

Kate shares how she has embraced the 'messy middle' and has started to get comfortable with the unknown since she and Brooke last spoke. She also talks about how saying no to things has given her energy, and shares a few examples of opportunities she would have previously said yes to, and the power she felt by saying no instead.

There's so much inspiration and practical slow living in action in this episode and we hope you enjoy it!

Looking for more Slow?

Find show notes, resources and links at slowyourhome.com/season5
Follow us on Instagram @slowhomepod
Sign up for Brooke's weekly slow-living love letters
Or leave a rating or review in iTunes

Join The Tortoise Community: https://brookemcalary.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Season 5 Sneak Peek Feb 12, 2020

Show notes

Brooke and Ben are busily preparing for the Season 5 launch of the podcast (next Thursday!) and sat down earlier this week to record a quick catch-up episode, to share where they're at after a strange and awful summer.

They chat about the bushfires, the amazing efforts of the Slow Home community in helping support a local wildlife rescue organisation and how they're moving forward.

They also share a little more of what you can expect from Season 5, including weekly deep-dive conversations on topics like daily rhythms, stuff, waste reduction, community, technology, exercise and running a household, as well as catch-up conversations with guests from last season.

Season 5 will be with you in no time, but until then, enjoy!

Looking for more Slow?