1 00:00:01,360 --> 00:00:05,240 Hello, hello, and welcome back to another episode of How to Be 2 00:00:05,240 --> 00:00:07,720 Happy. As always, I'm your host, Declan 3 00:00:07,720 --> 00:00:09,920 Edwards. I'm a happiness researcher, 4 00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:14,040 expert, coach, scientist, philosopher, you name it. 5 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:17,600 I love the science of well-being, happiness, and 6 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:20,120 living wealth. In this episode, we're going to 7 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:22,920 explore a core pillar of happiness science that I don't 8 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:25,280 think we talk about nearly enough in day-to-day life for 9 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:27,400 society. It's not spoken much about in 10 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:29,960 workplaces. It's not spoken about much in at 11 00:00:29,960 --> 00:00:32,439 home or in self help spaces. And to be honest, I haven't 12 00:00:32,439 --> 00:00:36,360 spoken about it a lot on this podcast until now. 13 00:00:37,160 --> 00:00:39,840 We're going to have a conversation about environmental 14 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:42,640 well-being. Specifically, we're looking at 15 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:46,920 the massive unseen psychological impact that your physical living 16 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:49,840 and working spaces have on your day-to-day happiness. 17 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:53,000 Now to start, let's do a quick little mental experiment 18 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:54,640 together. I want you to close your eyes 19 00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:57,040 for a second, unless you're listening to this whilst 20 00:00:57,040 --> 00:00:59,480 driving, in which case please keep your eyes glued firmly to 21 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:02,600 the road. Picture yourself walking through 22 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:05,840 your front door after a brutal high stress day at work. 23 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:10,040 Drop your keys and what's the first thing you see? 24 00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:15,520 Is it a calm, spacious sanctuary that lets your nervous system 25 00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:17,520 start to decompress and wind down? 26 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:22,840 Or is it a chaotic gauntlet of half open mail laundry piles 27 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:25,840 that might as well have their own post codes, Amazon boxes you 28 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:28,680 forgot that you ordered but somehow keep showing up, and 29 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:32,280 countertops that are so crowded you couldn't find your sanity if 30 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:35,560 you tried? For many people, it's the 31 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:38,600 latter. We are living in an era of 32 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:42,200 unprecedented overconsumption. We've been thoroughly 33 00:01:42,200 --> 00:01:45,800 brainwashed by a consumerist culture that says to us, if you 34 00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:49,480 just buy this next thing, this next gadget, this next piece of 35 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:53,160 clothing, this next home decor item, then your life and your 36 00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:58,480 home will finally be complete. So we elevate and we elevate and 37 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:02,520 we elevate what we own until our homes have become literal 38 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:05,760 warehouses for all of our unfulfilled emotional needs. 39 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:09,600 Today we're going to dive into why that physical clutter 40 00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:12,600 creates mental clutter. We're going to explore the 41 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:16,200 ancient wisdom of Feng Shui, the modern cultural phenomenon of 42 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:20,080 Marie Kondo, and the heavy hitting neuroscience of how your 43 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:23,840 belongings might actually be secretly spiking your stress. 44 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:27,520 By the time you've reached listening to this episode, my 45 00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:29,440 hope is that you'll understand how to stop letting your 46 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:33,000 possessions hold your Peace of Mind and your happiness hostage. 47 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:36,120 I hope you'll walk away with a practical blueprint to 48 00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:38,920 intentionally curate a home, a working space, and an 49 00:02:38,920 --> 00:02:42,120 environment that actually reflects who you are. 50 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:47,040 So join me, let's learn how to unpack the physical weight of 51 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:51,280 our possessions, and let's explore why your environment 52 00:02:51,800 --> 00:02:59,440 affects your mood. To understand how our homes got 53 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:02,800 so crowded, we have to look at the psychological engine of 54 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:06,200 modern capitalism. I have a favorite saying that I 55 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:07,800 talk about pretty often these days. 56 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:10,720 Consumerism loves an unhappy person. 57 00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:16,160 When we feel lonely, anxious, stressed, or unfulfilled, our 58 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:19,200 brains naturally run at what behavioral scientists call an 59 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:24,040 emotional deficit. We're wired to seek a quick fix, 60 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:27,200 to pull ourselves back into an emotional credit rather than a 61 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:29,600 deficit. And this is where online 62 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:32,640 shopping comes in. Sit on your couch at 10:00 PM, 63 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:37,560 hit add to cart, and boom, your brain treats you to a sweet, 64 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:42,520 sweet instant hit of dopamine. And for that fleeting second, 65 00:03:43,160 --> 00:03:44,680 you feel happier than you did before. 66 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:48,640 You feel in control. But it's all an illusion. 67 00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:52,840 It's a temporary chemical spike. This is not sustained well-being 68 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:56,240 in any way, shape or form. And a few days later, the 69 00:03:56,240 --> 00:04:00,560 package arrives, The dopamine baseline drops back down, and 70 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:03,360 that item gets pushed into a closet or left on a shelf to 71 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:06,040 collect dust. It joins the rest of the 72 00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:10,880 physical artifacts of our coping mechanism for our own state of 73 00:04:10,880 --> 00:04:15,400 dissatisfaction, and in doing so, we're sacrificing financial 74 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:19,320 freedom and our physical living spaces for temporary emotional 75 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:22,840 band aids. A landmark study conducted by 76 00:04:22,840 --> 00:04:27,200 the Centre on Everyday Lives of Families, the CELF at UCLA, 77 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:30,400 tracked 32 dual income American families. 78 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:33,440 So both people are working in these families, both parents or 79 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:37,680 partners, and they deeply mapped out their material possessions. 80 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:41,760 The research has found that managing the sheer volume of 81 00:04:41,760 --> 00:04:46,000 possessions in our modern home has become so overwhelming that 82 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:51,200 actually impacts our health. Specifically, the study found a 83 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:54,600 direct causal link between a high density of household 84 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:55,880 objects. So you've got a lot of 85 00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:58,480 possessions in your house and a lot of things and elevated 86 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:00,800 levels of the stress hormone cortisol. 87 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:05,400 Now this was seen more so in women than in men, and I think 88 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:09,320 that's got a lot to do with outdated societal expectations 89 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:10,920 and norms about who manages the household. 90 00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:12,960 And that's a whole nother conversation for another episode 91 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:14,280 because that needs to be changed. 92 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:18,080 But what this study found is that when women walked through a 93 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:22,040 cluttered room, their cortisol spiked into a fight or flight 94 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:25,480 pattern. The brain views physical clutter 95 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:29,920 as a non-stop visual To Do List. Just more tasks that are added 96 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:31,880 to our plate when our lives are already busy. 97 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:36,720 Every stray object is a tiny little voice whispering you 98 00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:39,560 still need to clean me, oh hey, I'm broken R.E.M., you need to 99 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:43,280 fix me or organize me, put me away somewhere, or the worst of 100 00:05:43,280 --> 00:05:46,680 all, you wasted money on me. You're not even using me. 101 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:50,480 We think we're buying comfort, but according to the data, we're 102 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:55,200 actually purchasing stress. We're crowding out our Peace of 103 00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:59,080 Mind to make room for things that we don't even end up using. 104 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:04,160 This isn't a new realization. Humanities actually understood 105 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:07,840 this in some way, shape or form this link between space and 106 00:06:07,840 --> 00:06:10,640 psychology for thousands of years. 107 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:14,400 The thing about ancient cultures that developed practices like 108 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:19,520 Feng Shui in China or Vastu Shastra in India, for centuries 109 00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:22,040 these traditions have taught that your physical environment 110 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:26,040 is an extension of your internal energetic blueprint. 111 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:28,760 They treat the room like a living Organism. 112 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:32,120 And if the flow of energy is blocked by stagnant and useless 113 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:35,840 clutter, the life of the person living in that space fragments 114 00:06:35,840 --> 00:06:38,920 as well. Now, in the modern western 115 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:42,120 world, we don't talk about energy flow in such a same way. 116 00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:44,960 Whether or not you believe that, you know it's up to you. 117 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:46,440 I'm not here to yuck someone's Yum. 118 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:51,000 But in environmental psychology and environmental well-being, we 119 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:55,680 do talk about the map and the emotional association that we 120 00:06:55,680 --> 00:07:01,200 have with our surroundings. Our brain is a master of pairing 121 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:02,480 context and pairing these together. 122 00:07:02,480 --> 00:07:05,600 Our brain likes to make meaning. So if your bedroom is neat, 123 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:10,000 minimal, or maybe it contains a nice little indoor plant, our 124 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:14,200 brain ties that environment to a story of this is a space for 125 00:07:14,240 --> 00:07:17,480 sanctuary, it's a space Forrest, it's a space for restoration. 126 00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:22,000 But if your bedroom is an unorganized staging ground for 127 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:26,760 laundry, bills, work laptops, our brain starts to tie that 128 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:31,600 space to the story of obligation and stress and being alert. 129 00:07:32,560 --> 00:07:35,200 You will literally struggle to sleep because your brain is 130 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:38,360 reading all of the stressful cues of your space. 131 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:43,000 This is exactly why Marie Kondo's Con Marie Method took 132 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:44,560 the world by storm a few years ago. 133 00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:47,680 If people thought she was just teaching a neat way to fold 134 00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:49,440 T-shirts. But her core philosophy was 135 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:54,240 profoundly psychological. Keep only that which sparks joy. 136 00:07:55,640 --> 00:07:58,520 When you pick up an item and ask, Does this spark joy? 137 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:00,400 Does this bring any value or happiness to my life? 138 00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:03,840 You're performing a little audit of your environment. 139 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:07,000 You're moving away from extrinsic value, which is just 140 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:09,480 keeping something because of what it costs, or out of 141 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:12,240 obligation because someone gifted it to you, or what you 142 00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:16,200 think you should own, and you're shifting more into intrinsic 143 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:20,320 alignment. Does this actually align to my 144 00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:23,760 values and to my well-being? You're deciding that your 145 00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:26,400 physical space is too valuable, it's too sacred, because you 146 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:30,640 spend so much time in it to be used as a storage locker for 147 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:33,320 guilt or for past versions of yourself that literally no 148 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:35,799 longer exist. I'm talking about all the old 149 00:08:35,799 --> 00:08:37,840 clothes that you say one day you're going to wear again. 150 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:42,520 Minimalistic living isn't about living in this sterile, white 151 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:44,920 empty box. It's just about being more 152 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:49,240 intentional with creating a home and a living space that acts as 153 00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:54,600 a reflection of your values, of your sense of self, and of your 154 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:58,760 happiness. Now, if we're going to have a 155 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:02,680 conversation about optimizing environmental well-being, we 156 00:09:02,680 --> 00:09:05,200 can't just talk about what we're going to take out of our spaces. 157 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:06,720 Yes, it's important to declutter. 158 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:09,600 Yes, it's important to be more intentional about what we 159 00:09:09,600 --> 00:09:12,040 purchase to not fall into the trap of over consumerism. 160 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:16,080 We also though have to look at what we intentionally bring into 161 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:20,160 our spaces. And arguably the most beneficial 162 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:25,160 thing that you can introduce to a living or working space is 163 00:09:25,160 --> 00:09:28,600 nature. In well-being science, there's a 164 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:31,720 prominent framework known as the biophilia hypothesis. 165 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:34,800 It was pioneered by an evolutionary biologist called EO 166 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:38,160 Wilson. It states that because human 167 00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:42,120 beings evolved over hundreds of thousands of years in deep 168 00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:45,720 immersion with the natural world, we possess an innate and 169 00:09:45,720 --> 00:09:48,720 biological need to reconnect with nature, to be part of it. 170 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:51,040 And I've seen it said that, you know, it's not that so much that 171 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:53,720 we need to connect with nature. It's to recognize that we are 172 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:55,280 nature. We're not separate from the 173 00:09:55,280 --> 00:09:58,200 natural world. But when we completely isolate 174 00:09:58,200 --> 00:10:00,600 ourselves inside a concrete jungle, we're surrounded by 175 00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:05,480 drywall, glass boxes, artificial lighting, Our well-being suffers 176 00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:09,520 a penalty for that. And the data that backs us up is 177 00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:12,120 astonishing. There's a famous study published 178 00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:14,920 in the Journal of Physiological Anthropology that found that 179 00:10:14,960 --> 00:10:16,600 active interaction with indoor plants. 180 00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:19,200 So I'm talking things like touching them, repotting them, 181 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:21,640 or simply sitting near them, looking at them. 182 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:23,960 You may have heard people talk to their house plants. 183 00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:25,800 I'm one of those strange people that talks to their house 184 00:10:25,800 --> 00:10:28,680 plants. Just interacting with indoor 185 00:10:28,680 --> 00:10:32,640 nature, indoor house plants significantly reduces the stress 186 00:10:32,640 --> 00:10:35,640 response. The researchers compared 187 00:10:35,640 --> 00:10:38,240 participants doing a computer task against those who are 188 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:39,560 interacting with an indoor plant. 189 00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:43,680 The plant group showed a pretty notable drop in blood pressure 190 00:10:44,040 --> 00:10:46,640 and a suppression of sympathetic nervous system activity. 191 00:10:46,640 --> 00:10:50,760 The fight or flight response, They call this vitamin green, 192 00:10:50,760 --> 00:10:52,600 right? It's like being around green 193 00:10:52,600 --> 00:10:56,400 spaces in nature was enough to tell the brain, hey, things are 194 00:10:56,400 --> 00:10:58,320 good here, you're safe, you're OK. 195 00:10:59,520 --> 00:11:01,840 More research out of the University of Exeter found that 196 00:11:01,920 --> 00:11:05,960 simply introducing indoor plants into an office space increased 197 00:11:05,960 --> 00:11:09,640 employee productivity and it improved workplace satisfaction. 198 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:14,960 This might be because the plants started changing the 199 00:11:14,960 --> 00:11:17,360 environmental story, the story that our mind was telling us 200 00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:19,640 about the space we're working in from something that was, you 201 00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:23,400 know, clinical productivity focused, performance focused 202 00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:28,360 into a space of life supporting work, something that is more of 203 00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:30,400 a natural habitat for us as a species. 204 00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:35,280 Nature seems to soften the sharpness of our modern working 205 00:11:35,280 --> 00:11:40,480 lives. So how do we bring all of this 206 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:43,960 into our day-to-day life? What do we actually do with it 207 00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:44,840 all? Because if you've listened to 208 00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:46,960 the show for a while, or maybe this is your first episode, I'm 209 00:11:46,960 --> 00:11:50,040 a huge believer that this can't just be a show about concept and 210 00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:52,000 theory and philosophy. It has to be practical. 211 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:54,280 We have to do something with it, otherwise nothing changes, 212 00:11:54,880 --> 00:11:56,200 right? Ironically then we've fallen 213 00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:58,840 into the trap of over consuming. We're just consuming a podcast 214 00:11:58,840 --> 00:12:00,960 mindlessly and not doing anything with it. 215 00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:03,920 So I do want to give you 3 distinct, highly actionable 216 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:07,040 practices that you can hopefully implement into your home or your 217 00:12:07,040 --> 00:12:08,640 workspace pretty well immediately. 218 00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:14,160 The first one is do the one box guilt free perch. 219 00:12:14,160 --> 00:12:17,960 You know, 1 is the one of the biggest hurdles that people face 220 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:21,840 when it comes to decluttering is the psychological friction of 221 00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:25,240 throwing things away. Our mind feels guilty about it 222 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:27,720 because we spent money on it or because someone we love gave it 223 00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:30,000 to us. So this week I want you to just 224 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:34,360 grab a single cardboard box. No more just one walk through 225 00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:38,640 your living space and place 10 items into that box that you 226 00:12:38,640 --> 00:12:40,960 know are just currently cluttering your house. 227 00:12:41,640 --> 00:12:44,840 They don't actually bring any value or joy or happiness to 228 00:12:44,840 --> 00:12:46,880 your life. Now here's the trick. 229 00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:48,920 I don't want you to throw that box out yet. 230 00:12:48,920 --> 00:12:53,280 I want you to tape it shut. Write down a date about a month 231 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:57,000 from now and then pop it in the garage or in a closet out of 232 00:12:57,000 --> 00:12:59,880 sight. Now, if over that month you 233 00:12:59,880 --> 00:13:03,400 don't think about those items once you don't need to open the 234 00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:07,360 box to pull them out, then your brain has had a chance to adjust 235 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:11,120 the story it tells about them. We've proven that we don't need 236 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:13,320 them. You can then donate these items 237 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:16,920 or gift them or throw them out completely guilt free, knowing 238 00:13:16,920 --> 00:13:20,720 that your physical space is worth more than storing these 239 00:13:20,720 --> 00:13:23,920 unused objects. So with one box, 10 items. 240 00:13:25,120 --> 00:13:27,400 The second practice I'm going to recommend for you is to 241 00:13:27,400 --> 00:13:29,960 establish a tech free decompression zone. 242 00:13:31,320 --> 00:13:34,840 You know, if consumerism loves an unhappy person, technology 243 00:13:35,080 --> 00:13:39,560 loves a distracted person. Our working and living spaces 244 00:13:39,560 --> 00:13:42,560 have become really blurred because our phones and laptops 245 00:13:42,560 --> 00:13:46,480 follow us everywhere. You know we're doing work, 246 00:13:46,480 --> 00:13:49,280 answering work emails literally in bed these days. 247 00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:53,640 This week I want you to design an explicit tech free 248 00:13:53,640 --> 00:13:56,400 decompression zone in your home. Doesn't have to be a whole room. 249 00:13:56,400 --> 00:13:58,440 It can just be like a specific armchair, a corner of your 250 00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:01,560 bedroom, your dining table, somewhere where there's a very 251 00:14:01,560 --> 00:14:03,320 clear boundary for you and your loved ones. 252 00:14:04,320 --> 00:14:08,560 No phones, no laptops, no screens within that physical 253 00:14:08,560 --> 00:14:12,120 square footage. You can pair this with some of 254 00:14:12,120 --> 00:14:14,120 the conversations we've had in previous episodes on the show 255 00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:17,080 about wintering well and huger and creating cozy spaces. 256 00:14:17,080 --> 00:14:20,240 You might curate this specific zone with warm lighting or, you 257 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:23,000 know, comfortable texture like a linen blanket. 258 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:24,520 Or you might bring in an indoor plant. 259 00:14:24,520 --> 00:14:26,880 Like we'll talk about before, I just want you to create this 260 00:14:26,880 --> 00:14:30,280 physical boundary. Give your brain an undeniable 261 00:14:30,280 --> 00:14:32,800 environmental cue that the moment you enter that space in 262 00:14:32,800 --> 00:14:37,160 that zone, work is done for the day, output is paused and your 263 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:39,480 nervous system is allowed to reset. 264 00:14:39,920 --> 00:14:43,600 It's allowed to wind down. Now, last practice I'm going to 265 00:14:43,600 --> 00:14:46,960 recommend for this episode, last but not least is I want you to 266 00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:51,000 go adopt A plant. Don't go out and spend hundreds 267 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:53,000 of dollars turning your home into a jungle. 268 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:54,640 You don't need to do so. Start small. 269 00:14:54,640 --> 00:14:57,160 I just want you to visit a local plant nursery. 270 00:14:57,320 --> 00:15:00,400 Buy 1 low maintenance indoor plant, something that's really 271 00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:03,920 easy to look after. Place it directly in your 272 00:15:03,920 --> 00:15:06,360 workspace or your bedside table, somewhere where you're going to 273 00:15:06,360 --> 00:15:08,960 look at it consistently and spend just a couple of minutes a 274 00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:12,560 week caring for it, watering it, checking the soil, nurturing it. 275 00:15:13,040 --> 00:15:18,720 This small, consistent injection of nature into our life is a 276 00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:21,200 really great way to support our well-being. 277 00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:22,640 It doesn't take a ton of time either. 278 00:15:23,320 --> 00:15:25,680 So again, three options there. Look, whether you do all three, 279 00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:29,160 whether you do one of the three, please either do the one box 280 00:15:29,160 --> 00:15:32,520 guilt free purge or you just take that one box, fill it, and 281 00:15:32,520 --> 00:15:34,920 then get rid of it in a month. Establish a tech free 282 00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:36,960 decompression zone for you and your loved ones in your house, 283 00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:39,760 or go adopt A plant or maybe do any combination of those. 284 00:15:40,360 --> 00:15:41,960 By doing these things, I promise you, you're being more 285 00:15:41,960 --> 00:15:44,640 intentional about how your environmental well-being 286 00:15:44,880 --> 00:15:47,840 supports your happiness and your overall well-being. 287 00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:55,480 And just like that, you have reached the end of another 288 00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:58,800 episode here on how to be happy. My invitation to you from this 289 00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:02,480 one is to consider your home as an antidote to the chaos of the 290 00:16:02,480 --> 00:16:06,880 outside world, not a physical manifestation of the chaos of 291 00:16:06,880 --> 00:16:10,160 the world. You deserve to live and work in 292 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:14,560 existing spaces that breathe in spaces that invite you to feel 293 00:16:14,560 --> 00:16:18,480 present, in spaces that reflect your values and what you care 294 00:16:18,480 --> 00:16:21,520 about, rather than spaces that are just filled and cluttered 295 00:16:21,520 --> 00:16:23,840 with what you've bought and collected over the years. 296 00:16:24,720 --> 00:16:27,200 I encourage you to take back ownership of your environment, 297 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:31,680 clear the noise, curate your spaces and build living spaces 298 00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:36,280 and working spaces that align to joy, that align to happiness. 299 00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:39,800 If this conversation into environmental well-being brought 300 00:16:39,800 --> 00:16:42,320 a sense of clarity or understanding or encouraged you 301 00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:44,240 to make a change that maybe you've been thinking about for a 302 00:16:44,240 --> 00:16:47,400 while, please do me a massive favour and hit subscribe on 303 00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:49,680 whatever podcast platform you're listening to right now. 304 00:16:49,800 --> 00:16:51,320 It's a great way to support our show. 305 00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:53,600 We're fully independent, so it's a great way to help us find more 306 00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:56,280 listeners and help more people find out about the skills and 307 00:16:56,280 --> 00:16:58,440 science of happiness. And as a reminder, as our 308 00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:00,680 ongoing pledge to making the world a better place, we 309 00:17:00,680 --> 00:17:02,800 actually pay to protect one square meter of threatened 310 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:04,680 rainforest for every single person who clicks. 311 00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:09,480 Subscribe if you want to find out exactly how your environment 312 00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:12,520 and how other practices and pillars and actions are 313 00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:14,040 impacting your happiness right now. 314 00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:16,720 I'd also encourage you to take a few minutes to complete our 315 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:19,000 completely free happiness scorecard. 316 00:17:19,720 --> 00:17:22,720 It takes about 3 to 5 minutes to do and it gives you a customized 317 00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:25,640 data backed backed breakdown of your well-being skill sets. 318 00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:28,440 It helps identify your happiness across the well-being spectrum 319 00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:30,560 and different elements of positive psychology. 320 00:17:30,760 --> 00:17:32,640 And it gives you suggestions for, hey, this is what you're 321 00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:34,360 doing really well that supports your happiness. 322 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:36,800 And here's a couple of dot points about where you could 323 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:39,800 improve. You'll find the link for that in 324 00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:42,000 the show notes. You can also find that by going 325 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:44,440 to our website, buhappinesscollege.com. 326 00:17:45,320 --> 00:17:49,280 And last but not least, if your favorite way to enjoy a nice 327 00:17:49,320 --> 00:17:51,760 space that you've curated to enjoy your living and working 328 00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:54,720 spaces is to read. If you're an avid reader of 329 00:17:54,720 --> 00:17:58,560 books, then I would love for you to grab a copy of my book, How 330 00:17:58,560 --> 00:18:00,600 to Be Happy. It's out in the world. 331 00:18:00,600 --> 00:18:02,320 It's been doing really well. We've been getting fantastic 332 00:18:02,320 --> 00:18:04,640 feedback and reviews from it. You can pick up a physical 333 00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:07,040 copyright now at any good bookstore, or you can grab it 334 00:18:07,040 --> 00:18:11,120 online by Amazon or Booktopia. You can also grab it immediately 335 00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:13,240 as an Audible audiobook. So if you've been enjoying 336 00:18:13,240 --> 00:18:15,200 listening to the show and you want to hear more of my voice, 337 00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:18,480 you can also grab How to Be Happy, the book as an audiobook 338 00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:20,440 on Audible. And the links to all those, as 339 00:18:20,440 --> 00:18:23,680 always, are in the show notes. Thank you so much for taking 340 00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:26,480 some of your time to spend with me, to spend with yourself, to 341 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:28,520 learn about happiness, to be more intentional about your 342 00:18:28,520 --> 00:18:31,600 well-being. Now go clear a countertop, be 343 00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:35,760 kind to yourself, be kind to others, and be intentional about 344 00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:38,880 creating living spaces that are conducive to happiness and 345 00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:40,960 well-being. I look forward to our next 346 00:18:40,960 --> 00:18:44,080 conversation here in the next episode of How to Be Happy.