On Changing the Space Around You

There are places where we spend a serious chunk of our lives. First of all, home and the office — but our circle of places doesn’t end there. There are also spaces we pass through for just a few hours, or a few minutes. So why not make all of those a little more comfortable for ourselves?

Working with a business coach, I realized there are people who couldn’t care less what their surroundings look like, and people whose mood and productivity hang on it. I belong to the second group. How we feel in the space around us matters — and there’s no reason to be shy about that particular quirk.

Aesthetics and order in the things around us often mirror a person’s inner state. The psychotherapist Alice Boyes, in her book The Anxiety Toolkit, argues that a space organized to fit you significantly lowers anxiety and raises creativity. And Teresa Amabile, a professor at Harvard Business School, points out in her research that people who can adapt their environment are usually more productive.

What matters is that every object around you brings a little joy: a favourite painting, a comfortable monitor, a keyboard that feels good under the fingers, or simply the absence of clutter and mess. I applied these principles to the places where I live and work, and it improved my quality of life more than I expected.

And this isn’t only about the places where we spend a lot of time. A friend once invited me to an event at a restaurant. I arrived a little early and, while I waited at a table on the summer terrace, an old woman selling flowers walked past. I bought a bouquet from her, asked the waiter for a vase, and set the flowers on the table. A trifle, you’d think — but it transformed the space around me, made it cozier, even if only for a few hours. Other guests came over and asked how it happened that I had flowers at my table and they didn’t. And so I improved the atmosphere not just for myself but for the people around me, adding a bit of joy to that evening.

Small practices like this let us savour life in its details. There’s no reason to be shy about reshaping your environment for your own pleasure — and even less reason to fear someone’s judgment. By creating harmony around us, we make our own lives more emotionally full.

Here’s to the resolve to change the space around us — and to enjoying it! 😎