This week's blog is a simple life hack introducing you to 8 easy steps you can take to improve your home environment, to actually improve your mental health during the Christmas and New Year restrictions.
- Surround yourself with pictures and trinkets of loved ones, special memories and things you're proud of. Framed images don’t just have to be hung on the walls of the hallway or the bedroom, don’t be afraid to incorporate them in to your study or anywhere you spend ample amounts of time indoors.
- Surround yourself with patterns. It is a simple fact of psychology that small intricate patterns give us clarity and a sense of order and calm. If you’re the arts and crafts type why not create a throw or a set of sofa cushions out of a pattern of your choice. Keep it simple and geometric and make sure they can be seen from anywhere in your living space.
- Surround yourself with light. This is a fairly well known principle in how humans regulate mood and temperament and gives us an answer to why it’s so easy to feel blue on a winter's morning without any particular reason. Consider coloured lampshades with soft covers for better diffusion in to a room. Also consider placing lights in corners to draw the eye more and give a more spacious, broad feeling to your environment if it borders on the small. Or why not try the NHS recommended SAD lamp? A way of keeping on top of your mood by utilising natural light, check them out here: https://www.lumie.com/collections/sad-lights
- Surround yourself with plant life. Easy to maintain plants that leave a lingering scent like pelargoniums are great for maintaining good mental health. Aim for woodland, chestnut or smokey smells that evoke the winter outdoors too. It’s no coincidence we feel healthier and happier when we’re near forests, open spaces and lots of the green stuff. It’s because we’re built for the outdoors, so why not bring the outdoors in?
- Surround yourself with the tactile. In an age of swipe and pinch, society has an ever increasing thirst for things that click, clunk and squeek. We crave the texture and irregularity of granite, the course feeling of unrefined materials and the ‘honest’ approach to decorating our homes. So make sure you’re surrounded by the real. Opt for wood, stone and brass over UVPC and durable polyurethane.
- Surround yourself with less. De-clutter what you can and remember only to surround yourself with that which adds value to you practically and spiritually. Turn that closest in to a boot room to keep the hallways clear, donate the clothes you never wear, or take the 12-12-12 challenge. Minimalism wasn't something just for the 90's, in fact it's more a remediy to the present age than a fashion statment. Learn more about it here: https://www.becomingminimalist.com/creative-ways-to-declutter/
- Surround yourself with order. There’s nothing wrong with a little order and logic in our homes. You don’t have to go full on Vulcan at this point, but why not consider designating different areas of your home for different tasks and processes, and then sticking to them? If there’s an area you always feel more calm and relaxed in why not consider designating this as your quiet spot for reflection, reading or a daily tea break? Keep one spot for study and one for eating, and off course don’t neglect the outdoor areas too. Is there a particular part of your back yard garden you find helps you think and work through problems? Maybe there’s a pleasant route around the park or through a leafy neighbourhood you enjoy? Designate that as your ‘distancing place’ where you can firmly leave everything behind for an hour and climbing to a different headspace. Having basic designated zones in our living environment creates routine, and routine acts like a glue in our daily activity. Too much order can lead to paaralysis but too little can lead to chaos, so get it together!
- Surround yourself with reality, not virtual reality. OK granted this is an obvious one but consider a ‘no tech’ zone in your house where smart technology is firmly excluded at all costs. To begin with it may seem a little alien, but getting that digital monkey off your back for a set time every day will bring a notable relief to the day’s proceedings. Significant damage can be done to our psychology just in the simple knowledge that we’re always ‘on grid’ and within reach at the mere sound of an alert tone. With every chime, vibration and chirp, our hive-like membership of a virtual audience is drip fed back in to our reality. A membership where indulgences like privacy, originality and serenity are in scarce supply. So, why not make your home’s no tech zone the family dinner table, the sofa or the daily route you take round the local park. Or why not get the best of both worlds and check out a new generation of minimalist smart gadgets now appearing in the market place like Smartech’s ‘Light Phone’ as an alternative: https://www.thelightphone.com
