on December 1, 2020
5 Ways to Add Hygge To A Home Office
When I was introduced to the Danish concept of Hygge (pronounced hue-gah) a few years ago, I embraced it immediately. Not only did it speak to my natural need for quiet downtime and my constant quest for all-things-comfy, but my own Danish heritage practically demanded I jump on board.
So I did. Happily.
If you aren’t familiar, Hygge is a Danish concept that embraces coziness, self-care and well-being, with permission to indulge in life’s small-but-wonderful things. It’s helped the Danes become some of the happiest people on earth, and it’s often credited with helping folks not only survive a long, cold winter, but embrace it. It’s about mindset and intentionality, and doing things specifically to bring attention to an enjoyable moment.
So, with the shorter, darker days of winter upon us, and with so many of us working from home, I was thinking about how to introduce a little Hygge into a home office.
1. Light up a room. Sorta.
Lighting is important in the Hygge experience. Open the blinds and let the sun shine in. Ditch the harsh overhead bulbs and instead use lamps with softer lighting. Light a few candles in the corner to provide a soft glow as the afternoon gets a little darker.
Use light as a means to subtly quiet your mind and slow your thinking down, just a bit. This helps relieve a little stress, and can help you relax into the last few hours of the workday.
2. Dress for the (non) occasion.
This is one of my super favorite things about Hygge – it’s about comfort. While our usual “get ready for work” routines have probably slacked quite a bit lately (I’m looking at you, nice-shirt-hanging-in-the-corner-for-Zoom-calls…), go ahead and embrace it.
Hell, kick it up a notch now that it’s getting cold — dig out your wool socks and favorite slippers, put a lap blanket on your chair, and pull out fuzzy sweaters and oversized sweatshirts. Settle into your home office in all your cozy, pajama-pants glory.
3. Honor your senses.
Hygge is about finding ways to notice, enjoy, and embrace the moment; sight, sound, taste and smell are an important part of the “in the moment” experience.
Put something you enjoy from your travels on your desk, or add a plant to bring some life to the space. Make sure only your favorite pens are at the ready. Instead of your usual (boring) cup of coffee, add a cinnamon stick or a touch of chocolate to make it a smidge more indulgent. They say classical music helps with focus and productivity, so try out a new streaming station of background music. Fire up an essential oil diffuser to make deep breaths more cleansing.
Whatever makes your senses happy, do that.
4. One thing at a time.
This is a tough one, and not always possible (#businessowner). But, when you can, choose to slow down in your work. Work with intention. Stop multi-tasking and do only one thing at a time. If you’re embracing a Hygge moment on a Saturday afternoon, you’re not reading a book, watching a movie, chatting with a friend, and baking cookies … all at the same time. You’re doing only one of those things, and enjoying that one thing fully and completely.
Set aside a little time each week to work on one thing – just one thing — you truly enjoy, but do it at your own pace with no expectation other than you simply like doing it. Your only intention is to slow down and focus your time on something that brings you joy in your work.
Perhaps it’s writing a blog post. Or brainstorming Big Ideas in a journal. Or decluttering a desk drawer. Or catching up on your reading. Or handwriting cards to clients.
5. Get outside.
I once heard a Scandinavian saying, “There’s no such thing as bad weather. Just bad clothing.” So, make it a point to get off your pajama-pants tush, bundle up, and get some fresh air. Take a walk around the block (bonus points if a friend joins you). Everyone and their brother bought fire pits this year, so dust the snow off it and light er’ up at the end of a busy workday.
Just get outside. You can hate winter, but winter is still coming no matter how you feel about it. You may as well embrace it, if for no other reason than out of spite.
It’s been a (really!) tough year for a lot of us. Introducing a little Hygge into your home office probably won’t solve all the world’s problems, but it will help you find moments of peace and enjoyment. It’s the little things that will remind you to come back to gratitude. And it just might make this work-from-home COVID winter a bit more palatable.
