The physical world can be a powerful resource to us in creating happier, healthier lives, yet in our pursuit of climbing the career ladder, completing to do lists and generally rushing through life there is a chance we may forget the impact of our environment. We may not take the time to notice the impacts of how our surroundings make us feel. 

Architects and designers spend years developing concepts, planning spaces, choosing colors, lighting, furniture, artwork to evoke a feeling or a memory in a person navigating that space. It is well documented that our brains hold onto memorable environmental features where we use things like plants, artwork, furniture as landmarks which can act as a useful function to encourage the flow of people, help us provide directions, or represent a certain experience. 

For most people, most of the time, the environments people inhabit have been deliberately constructed. They are built environments. That means everything about them came about by decisions and choices made by deliberation or by default. And this fact of modern life bears clear implications, because every decision made about the built environment — whether a playground, a park, a bridge, a street, a residential housing project or suburban development, an office building — could have been, and could be made otherwise.

All of our senses are involved in determining how we feel about an environment – what we can see, smell, touch, and hear within a space. Do you find those things agreeable? Something as simple as a particular color dominating a room can completely change your energetic response to that space. The environment can facilitate or discourage interactions amongst people, it can influence people’s behavior and motivation to act, and it can influence mood. 

With this in mind it is an important topic to consider as we transition to spending the majority of our time inside our homes. Our homes are now a place of work, a place to educate, a place to relax and everything in between. Whilst this is an overwhelming experience for many, there are things that we can do to make the experience better. 

• Create a dedicated workspace: Whether that’s a separate room in the house or a corner in a room, it is important to differentiate what is work and what is home life. The same goes for where children might play or where schooling occurs. Having a dedicated space for each task allows a routine to be formed. 

• Add some design flare to your space: You might not be in your state-of-the-art office, roaming the halls of University or window shopping but that doesn’t mean you can’t make your home beautiful. Incorporate artwork you love. Images of nature have been shown to lower levels of stress and anxiety too. Add a lamp or a plant to your workspace to create a barrier between work and home life. Greenery also brings life and energy into a space. 

• Reduce environmental stressors like noise: Noise from family members, housemates, equipment or outdoors can impact your mood. If you can, separate different tasks to different rooms in the home. If that isn’t possible wearing headphones can help to reduce noise distraction when working. Alternatively, you can create a nice atmosphere in your home by adding music in the background. 

• Co-create the space with everyone inside the home or seek advice and thoughts from friends, colleagues and family outside of the home. This can be a great way to get everyone involved and bolster interpersonal bonds.  

There is so much stress in the world right now, don’t let your surroundings be one of those stressors and use this as an opportunity to create a space that you love.