5 Tips to Have Better Patience

Here are a few tips to have better patience

Practice mindfulness

When the traffic jam is getting to you, or the queue in the shop doesn’t seem to be going down, take a moment to be present. Try not to judge. 

Just stand or sit there quietly and notice your breath. 

Notice the sounds around you, then bring yourself back to the breath. 

Make yourself wait

We live in a world now where we don’t have to wait so much. Instant gratification! Gone are the days of waiting for photos to be developed, waiting for a TV show to be on, waiting to hear your favourite song on the radio. So much is instant now with just a few taps of a screen or clicks of buttons. 

Try to make yourself wait for things. You have a chocolate bar in front of you, can you wait 3,4,5 minutes until you eat it? Doing things like this will help you learn to wait. 

Don’t get sucked in

When it comes to having patience with friends, family and loved ones you want to avoid getting sucked into their moods. 

If your loved one is having a bad day, or an emotional outburst, don’t tell them to calm down or get impatient with them because they’re in a bad mood.

Instead, if possible, take yourself away from the situation. Let them have some space. Without patronising, ask if they want to talk about it. If not, leave them be. 

If your loved one is dealing with a mental illness or depression and you are finding it hard to understand, there are charities who can help you. Check out Mind and this great article from Mental Health Foundation.

Focus on progress, not perfection

You might find that you get most impatient with yourself, maybe when you are due on your period. Maybe you are trying to learn something new and it’s not going right. Maybe your new business or side hustle isn’t picking up.

Focus on how far you have come rather than why you aren’t where you thought you’d be. 

Make a plan for ways to improve. Maybe it is hiring a mentor, taking a night class or asking someone to help. 

Ask yourself – what’s the rush?

During the pandemic life slowed us down. We suddenly had nowhere to rush off to. While I might have felt impatient with the world or the supermarket queues, I really did learn how to slow the pace. 

If you are finding that you are always rushing, it might be that you need to take a look at your timings. Could you allow a little more time on your morning commute by getting up earlier? Could you give yourself longer to finish a task?