We all want to be happier, right? What if happiness were as easy as setting up your environment once, and then letting it nudge you into happiness each and every day? Well according to Dan Buettner, that's a big part of it.
I just finished reading "The Blue Zones of Happiness: Lessons from the World’s Happiest People" by Dan Buettner. The ideas in the book are fascinating. I highly recommend you read it for yourself. Of course as a declutter coach, I found the lessons in this book about people's personal possessions and houses most interesting. If you feel unhappy and you suspect your home is a big culprit to the problem, I especially recommend chapter 10, "Designing Your Home." I boiled down the lessons in this book (many coming from Chapter 10) of what you can do in your home to design an environment optimized for happiness.
I've broken the lessons into two separate lists: (1) things you can do inside your home and (2) things about your home's design or location. The first list is below and the second list you can find here. The list below is not in any particular order. The more things that are true for your home, the easier you will find it to be happy. Do your best to implement the ideas you can, and don't worry about the ones that are not feasible for you. (Worrying about what you can't control will NOT make you more happy!)
Okay now, let's get to it!
How to Optimize Your Home for Happiness
Open your curtains and shades often - Natural light is not only a giver of vitamin D, it also makes us happier. If you can, open all or most of your window covers each morning and then close them again (if you want/need for privacy) at night.
Have house plants - Indoor plants bring nature into the home as well as help clean the air you breath. Nature is a happiness booster and if you don't get a lot of it when you go out (big city dweller?), it's vital to have some when you get home. So head to the local shop or nursery and get yourself a pathos or a succulent to start. Not sure you're ready for even an easy plant yet? Get in the habit of getting yourself fresh flowers. A little nature indoors can go a long way.
Grow a garden - As well as just leafy house plants, plants that grow food are even better for your happiness. Whether you have space for a garden or green house out back or just an small herb garden indoors, gardening is shown to increase happiness. It gives you something to take care of as well as giving you healthy, home grown produce to eat. Never grown anything edible in your life? Try a basil plant and see how it goes.
Find ways to add laughter to your home - Laughter is one of the key factors that determines if you are happy from day to day. If you are laughing multiple times a day, you are likely to be happier (no surprise there). But often times we don't make humor a priority, so find ways to make it more commonplace in your home. Add a few funny decor items (but keep it minimal). Keep a joke book on the coffee table. Or get some funny conversation cards to use when you have guests. Speaking of...
Keep your home hosting ready - Socializing for 6 hours a day is the ideal amount of time for happiness, so make sure your home is set up in a way that makes inviting people over easy. Have a dining and living room set up that has enough extra seating. Create a system so tidying up at a moment's notice is easy (baskets are your best friends here). Keep a few drink and snack options on hand that are easy to pull out so people don't feel like they have to leave when they get hungry. Keep your bathroom clean. And if you can, have a guest room ready so visitors can stay the night.
Create a hygge (or flow) room - Hygge is a word in Danish and Norwegian that describes a cozy, contented mood evoked by comfort and conviviality (from Wikipedia). And according to The Blue Zones of Happiness, a hygge room is a room that has no technology, seating, maybe a table, and space to socialize and do hobbies you enjoy. This is also called a flow room, referring to the flow state a distraction free room can facilitate. Design a room like this in your home. Perhaps you can take the TV out of the living room and only have one in the bonus room (or visa versa). Or declutter your dining room you hardly use and start using it regularly for socializing with family and friends. You can also add things like, candles, blankets, and hobby items (instruments, paint supplies, table games, knitting yarn, etc.) so you go in there whenever you feel inspired by your hobby. The idea is to design a cozy space that is distraction free so you can focus on things that bring you joy. Speaking of a cozy space...
Dim the lights - Lighting candles is a common Danish habit that adds to their hygge, or coziness. Consider adding candles, lamps, or twinkle lights to the areas of your home that you use most often, especially in the evening. A cozy, warmly lit space is more likely to make you happy than fake, bright florescent lights. So, consider getting some low lights and then getting in the habit of turning off bright lights and turning on dim lights when it gets dark outside each day. This can also help with preparing your mind and body for sleep.
Reduce technology - According to The Blue Zones of Happiness, "The happiest people watched less than an hour of TV per day; where in contrast, the least happy people reported watching 8 hours of TV daily. So, do what you can to reduce technology use. Declutter that extra computer, tablet, smart phone, and/or TV so that you only have what you really want and need. Ideally, your home should have one TV at most. Make using the TV more inconvenient, maybe by keeping it in a room farthest from the main living spaces. And at the very least, keep your kitchen and bedrooms TV free. BONUS: Find a way to store or hide your TV when not in use. Hide it in a cabinet or cover it with a pretty tapestry when not in use to reduce how much you use it.
Bring music into your life - Invest in a home-wide music system (or wireless speakers) and keep music on in the background when appropriate. Soft classical music can help you relax, Motzart can help with productivity or "make workloads lighter," upbeat music can help you get going in the morning, and highly emotional music can release dopamine in your brain and bring you pleasure (one of the three strands of happiness mentioned in the book).
Dedicate a meditation space - Meditation is amazing tool for destressing and finding happiness. Consider designing a quiet corner designed for that purpose. Add a cushion to sit on, a pretty wall hanging, a plant, spiritual or personal item of significance, and/or a candle.
Create a pride shrine - Pride is one of the three strands of happiness discussed in the book. Having a place in your home dedicated to the items that represent what you and your family are proud of, is a great way to connect and reflect more often on what makes you feel accomplished and satisfied with your life. Consider dedicating a shelf, piece of furniture, and/or wall to items that remind you of family history and accomplishments. These items might include awards, memorabilia, and family photos.
Keep your favorite outdoor chair out front rather than out back - Sitting outside looking into your back yard might provide more privacy and comfort, but it doesn't provide more happiness. Sitting on your front porch or lawn instead gives you the opportunity to occasionally say hello to a neighbor, friend, or stranger who passes by. This socialization is incredibly beneficial for your happiness. So, if you can, move your favorite patio chair from the back to the front of your house. Don't have a front porch or lawn? Consider how you could enjoy time outside where you can get an occasional social interaction. Live in an apartment building? Maybe get yourself a camping chair and keep it by the front door so you remember to walk to the park to read your book rather than staying in your living room to do it. Or have a balcony? Organize it in a way that makes you want to go sit out there instead of inside: add a few plants and a nice chair. That way you can at least people watch from above rather than staying indoors.
Optimize your bedroom for sleep - Most people need at least 7 hours of sleep a night to be happy and healthy. To aid you in getting the sleep you need, consider the following. First, remove as much light from your bedroom as possible. Even very small lights can interfere with your sleep. Some things to remove are glowing clocks, blinking lights on wifi routers or other technology, and cable box displays. Two, consider making your bedroom a tech free zone. Remove the TV and any computers and charge your smart phone in another room (like the bathroom). Three, add light blocking curtains or shades. Four, adjust the thermostat to around 65 degrees Fahrenheit to make it cool. These changes could take as little as an hour or two to set up and then give you hours, days, or even years of better sleep and increased happiness.
Savor your big purchases - When you decide it's time for a new piece of furniture, home decor item, or appliance (or anything really), take your time. Write the desired item on your wish list, talk about it with everyone you live with and your close friends, research your purchase and preferably look for something local or handmade, pick something quality that will last you for years to come, save up, and celebrate after you buy it. Having less items that were well earned make people happier than having more, cheaper quality items.
Declutter - Having a clutter-free, minimal space is an important part of optimizing your home for happiness. Clutter negatively impacts mood and self-esteem. Clutter literally stresses your body out. Read about how clutter increases your stress hormone, cortisol, here. Plus when a home is too full of clutter, other aspects from this list become hard to accomplish: windows are hard to get to or are partly obscured, not much space to put house plants or an indoor herb garden, not enough room to enjoy hobbies, and feelings of shame at even the thought of inviting people over. If you relate to any of these obstacles and you want a home optimized for happiness, decluttering is the place to start. Need help? Let's dig you out together.
Declutter Tips From The Book
A couple specific declutter tips that The Blue Zones of Happiness mentions include:
Get rid of anything you don't need. Old, unused, and broken items have to go.
Digitize your files of paperwork, music, movies, and books, and then get rid of the physical items.
"Don't bring anything new into your home that you don't absolutely love."
"Think small. The items in your life should be efficient and multi-purpose." Consider a murphy bed, chairs that can stack, and tables that can extend to host guests for a meal and then shrink down for everyday use.
"Once a year, take a mental inventory of your closets, junk drawers, and shelves, and make a plan to purge unnecessary items."
Edit your space and declutter your belongings to "focus on what matters."
"In an era of abundance, happiness is having just enough. Not too much, not too little. It's about cutting out the extraneous so you can focus on the good stuff."
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