Our homes are crucial to our happiness, even more so this year as many of us are working from home. However, if you’ve found bringing your work into the living room is having a detrimental impact on your wellbeing we have a happiness tip from happiness researcher Meik Wiking to restore the balance.
Related: Give your home a happiness makeover with these 10 easy tips
Meik Wiking is the best-selling author of The Little Book of Hygge, and responsible for introducing the Danish concept of Hygge to the world. He is CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Denmark, so it is safe to say he is an expert in the field of what makes us happy.
Speaking to Ideal Home as part of the Lego Bygge Hygge campaign Meik explained that our homes have a huge impact on our happiness. ‘We did a study a few years back looking at how important homes are to our overall happiness. We did it in UK, in Denmark, in 10 countries across Europe. We can see that 15 per cent of our overall wellbeing is connected to our home.’
Image credit: Simon Whitmore
‘We spend a lot of time at home – and that was pre-pandemic, and I think that is, even more, the case these days.’
Working from home happiness tip
Meik noted that working from home has had a big impact on our wellbeing. It might have taken the stress of a commute or choosing what to wear in the morning out of our hands, but it has made it harder to switch out of work mode and de-stress.
However, according to Meik restoring balance could be as simple as putting everything associated with work out of sight at the end of the day.
Tim Young
‘We’re looking at how homes play a part in our wellbeing and had interviews with similar people in similar situations but different setups at home,’ he explains. ‘So one man working from home and he has the ability to shut a curtain to his work station. That means he can easily mentally shut off work after work, by drawing the curtain.’
‘Another woman we spoke to, her office station is visible at all times in her living room. That means she is constantly thinking about work, and constantly being in work mode,’ he continues.
‘So having the ability to shut the curtain or if you are one of those lucky people who have their home office where you can close the door. I think is important to understand how visible objects trigger our mental capacity.’
Image credit: Simon Whitmore
It sounds so simple, but we all know the saying ‘out of sight out of mind’. In this case, moving your laptop behind a curtain or into a basket at the end of the day could be the key to pushing that work stress out of your mind.
Whether you are working on your kitchen tables or in your bedrooms, take the time to put everything away and maybe crack out the Lego or a puzzle in its place.
Related: Presenter Katie Piper shares her simple tips for creating a happy home
You won’t believe the difference it will make.
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