The Impact of our Spaces

We have probably all heard the saying, “You are the sum of the five people you spend the most time with”. But have you ever stopped to consider the five spaces you spend the most time in?

Just how the people we surround ourselves with can affect our mood, habits and behaviours, so can the environments around us. Our everyday spaces have the impact to effect change in us, or to keep us stuck in our ways.

Habits

Think about some habits that you may have set as goals this month. Are you sticking to them? Do you find yourself in the places that will encourage or hinder your behaviour change? Consider the following examples:

·        You want to quit drinking but spend all your leisure time in the pub with friends

·        You want to work out but never go to the gym or a room you associate with exercise

·        You want to cook healthy meals, but you don’t prioritise time in the kitchen.

Mood

You can also consider your mood when it comes to spaces. Perhaps you’re always feeling deflated and unmotivated. What does your work space look like? When you close your eyes and imagine walking into that building, what feelings come up? Think about the physical space itself. Does it encourage creativity, collaboration and productivity? Or is it just a bland box with bright lights?

The same can be said with your home. Whether it’s the colours in the room, the style or if there is clutter about. Even if you are not consciously aware of it, these environments are impacting the way you feel. It’s not just how a space looks either, if the function of your home or workplace is going against you, it can add to micro stressors over the course a day and contribute to your stress levels. We all know the agony of not being able to find our keys or when something breaks or walking into something that shouldn’t be where it was. These functions can really build up over time.

Health

Finally, we need to talk about health. What spaces are you in everyday and are they healthy for you? Do you get out in nature, or do you work all day in a poorly ventilated office? Are you surrounded by healthy, natural materials or are there plastics and potential toxins in your environment? Do you design your bedroom to aid sleep? Your living room for relaxing? Your kitchen for healthy dinners? We can design our spaces to enhance our lives through encouraging healthy behaviours and by designing healthier spaces with less toxins and indoor pollution.

Views of and connections to nature can have a positive impact on our mental health and wellbeing

Time to think

So, I would like you to take a moment and think about the five spaces you find yourself in most often. For most of us that will be made up of our homes, workplaces, leisure activities and commuting. Think about what they look like, how they function, how they make you feel. Do you think they are uplifting you or bringing you down? Is there anything you can identify or do to make these places support you more?

Spaces can bring you joy, make tasks easier and positively contribute to your physical and mental health. Or they can leave you feeling down, filled with micro stressors and be a detriment to your physical and mental wellbeing.

Which spaces do you find you spend most of your time in?