Your Environment Affects Your Happiness More Than You Think with Dr. Leidy Klotz

23:53Where is it going to be located? It's an illustration of like the bike shed is more understandable. People get the bike shed and therefore feel okay chiming in on it. There's also the decisions related to the bike shed, while small, are much more certain. Like, okay, if we paint the bike shed blue, everybody knows what that is going to look like. Whereas if you say, oh, we should have a different kind of nuclear reactor, nobody even knows what that would mean. So we focus on these small and inconsequential decisions because they're understandable, but also because there's more kind of certainty in what the ultimate decision outcome would look like.

24:29So it becomes really important to get over bike shedding, to go back to basic principles about what we want from the space. And that's one reason why it's important to think about agency growth and connection. That's one way to avoid bike shedding is to say, OK, how is this going to contribute to these fundamental psychological needs? But what it's doing is helping people think through the big things before you move on to these small, granular decisions. So that's tip number three, avoid the choice paralysis, fight the bike shedding. Tip number four switches gears a little bit. It's this idea that we need to fight the habituation we would normally experience in spaces.

25:05Yeah. A way to overcome it is to consciously tune in to what's going on. One interesting way to pay attention is to close your eyes. Close your eyes. All of a sudden you'll start hearing things and smelling things and maybe feeling things, maybe the breeze or whatever that you wouldn't have otherwise about the space. And this is an opportunity to notice pleasant things, but it's also an opportunity to notice negative things that even if you've habituated them away are still having a toll. So there's studies of workplaces where there's like a lot of ambient noise. And even if workers don't say that it's a noisy workspace, they still report being more stressed out at the end of the day.

25:48Same with unpleasant smells like the new car smell that comes in cars, but also off gassing carpets. And people sit in a space like that all day and don't even notice the smell and then go home with a headache because they've been inhaling the VOCs. So breaking free from habituation is a matter of paying closer attention. But like one way to do it is to tap into all your senses. Another tip that you've given for fighting habituation, which I love so much, it's going to get its own tip number, tip number five, is what you've called space before screen. Oh, yeah. What's that? Obviously, our screens are taking our attention.

26:24I use my screen. It does amazing things. It's allowing us to talk right now, me to talk to your audience. That's freaking amazing. But no matter what it can do, it's not tapping into my other senses, right? It's basically just visual and sound here, but there's no smell. There's no touch. It's two dimensional. And again, this isn't bad, but it is like kind of inadvertently taking out of our life, something that really provides meaning and happiness and fulfillment. And so So space before screen doesn't even try to fight that and just use your screen as a cue to take in the space around you. So if I walk into this new space and I start looking at my screen to see like, OK, did I get a text from anybody?

27:05When you start doing that, say, oh, wait, I just looked at my screen. I'm in a new space. Can I take in the space? And now all of a sudden you're looking and you're smelling and you're noticing things and you're seeing opportunities. So using that thing that we're naturally drawn to and instead turning it around as a reminder to analyze the space that we're in. You can do that in spaces that you're in all the time. And I guarantee you, you will notice new things about the space. Since reading your book, I've tried doing this, just using my own phone that I'm looking at as a cue. And I can tell you this helped me in a lot of spaces, but especially in the morning.

27:37Interesting. I first wake up and I'm looking at my phone to check my email. It's like, no, wait, space before screen. And I stop and I'm like, oh, man, my cozy bed. The light is coming in. And what's the weather outside the window? And it's just so much more embodied and grounding when before I'd just be like halfway through my inbox before I would even notice I was awake and alive and I had a body at all. Yeah, well, that makes me really happy that it was helpful. I do the same thing and resist the same way that you do now. And so tip number six is one that's helpful whenever we're in spaces that involve learning.

28:07And it's to harness what you've called memory anchors. What are memory anchors? So when we learn something, the information about where we learned it is filed right alongside the thing that we learned. Now, we can engineer that. And if we want to learn something and really remember it, then we can also do it in a spot that we're more likely to remember. So it's maybe a different spot. And a really simple example that I use in my teaching is I'll figure out a reason to just get out of the classroom and go to some random spot on campus. And then I'll guide them through an experience that helps them learn some important lesson.

28:39And then they're like, why are we at the amphitheater for this? We didn't actually need to come here. Like, I just wanted you to be more likely to remember this. Like, think back to your own school, right? If you remember something, it's very often happens outside of the classroom. Maybe it's on a field trip. I mean, my dad, I don't know if he knew he was doing this, but when he would help us with our biology, he would take us on walks outside. So you're just like getting people outside of the routine environment. And then you've got this memory anchor where it's the new space and the new idea working together to be remembered.

29:14Seems like it's just another way we can harness our spatial memory system, right? Is that we're using space to kind of do what we actually want to do, which is to be learning new stuff. Right. And, you know, one of the ways that you might hear about this idea is memory champions will, if they need to memorize a bunch of facts, will actually take the facts and associate them with spaces. That's super interesting, but it's pretty much useless for everybody else. And so we're basically just turning that around, right? It's like, okay, we want to actually learn, so let's align our spaces to do that.

29:45So far, we've looked at how our spaces can shape our daily habits, how we connect, how we focus, and how we learn. After the break, we'll go deeper into how our surroundings can reflect our values, tap into our instincts, and even help us stay connected to the people we've lost. The Happiness Lab will be right back.

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33:19Find Simple Mills at your local grocery store. As the host of the Happiness Lab, I spent a lot of time thinking about what truly brings us joy. And for me, one of my happiest experiences was traveling to Australia. Seeing kangaroos in their natural habitat, hearing kookaburras with their unmistakable laugh, it was magical. And I also got to adore Australian coffee culture. Having a real Aussie flat white was such a treat. Australia is a place where happiness feels effortless. Whether you're exploring vibrant cities, hiking through breathtaking landscapes, or simply connecting with nature. That trip reminded me that joy often comes from immersing ourselves in new environments and embracing awe-inspiring moments.

34:01Australia can be more than just a getaway. It's a chance to recharge by walking along pristine beaches, enjoying some of the freshest seafood, and exploring interactive museums and aquariums. It's all about connecting with what truly matters. I've been dreaming about returning ever since. But next time, I'd love to visit some friends in Sydney. Explore more destinations in Australia. And start planning your memorable vacation at Australia.com.

34:34We've been walking through my top 10 favorite ideas from Leidy Klotz's new book, In a Good Place, about how we can use our spaces to boost well-being. Tip number seven takes us back to our evolutionary roots and the kinds of environments that we're naturally wired to feel good in. Obviously, there's a lot of advice out there about what you're going to like. And I think the ones that really hold up scientifically are things that are aligned with the laws of nature. And so one great example is prospect and refuge. We talked earlier about spaces being critical for our survival. So what kind of space would be good for survival?

35:08Well, refuge first, right? So the space is going to protect you from the elements and from predators, but also prospect and being able to see like food or water sources or other opportunities from the space. And that prospect and refuge, I mean, that's sitting under an umbrella at the beach. You're getting prospect and refuge. Washing dishes in your kitchen while looking out the window, that's prospect and refuge. So that's something that we tend to like. When it comes to design aesthetics, it's kind of a balance of organization and complexity. And so this is how nature just takes shape, right?

35:42If you think about a pine tree, for example, I mean, it's super complex, impressive thing that's doing all this amazing stuff. But there are also some very basic rules in the appearance of this tree. You know, there's small patterns in the tip of the branch that are identical to the patterns in a larger branch. And you don't necessarily notice them unless you're really trying to pay attention to it. But that's the world that we've been surrounded with. And that feels pleasing. And going into a built environment example of that, if you think about like a facade of bricks, super plain, right? Seemingly very straightforward.

36:19But if you look at how bricks are organized, which now you're going to be cursed to do for eternity. But there are all kinds of different patterns. I mean, there's like a pattern where the bricks are just staggered offset by a half a brick each row. And that creates this balance of order and complexity. But there are other patterns where you might have a brick with the long side facing out, then a brick with the short side facing out, then long side, then short side. And then that alternates each row. And it creates this aesthetic of like, okay, there's complexity, but there's also this underlying order.

36:50And that's stuff that we tend to have been surrounded by for a long time. And that kind of helps our brains feel comfortable and then we can go about our lives doing other things. Any tips for how to build more of that into our own spaces? The classic interior design advice about, you know, varying the materials. So you don't want to get things too matchy, but also have like a clear organizing principle to them. So tip number seven was this evolutionary idea of go for these moments of prospect and refuge, maybe find order and complexity. Tip number eight is about aligning our space with our beliefs.

37:26What are some beliefs that we might be unknowingly propagating in our spaces? is. I'll give you one I unknowingly propagated. So we bought an old Cape Cod post-World War II house. And the way those homes were designed, classic design, was that the kitchen's kind of in the back. And of course, that was based on post-World War II gender roles, where it was seen as the woman's job to be there cooking, but also cooking like out of sight from everywhere else. And it was supposed to be you bring out the food and then return to the kitchen and people don't have to see the mess and people don't have to interact with the mess.

38:01But like if you opened up your kitchen to make it a more open plan, you're like taking down those gender roles. And this kind of thing comes up at work, too, when it comes to hierarchies that we might not intend as well. Yeah. I mean, if you're thinking about the quality of the offices, where the offices are, who uses what space. I was talking to somebody recently and they're like, we have this idea that our office is open plan and everybody can use any space. But the big boss always comes in and just sits in this conference room all day. And it's like, nobody's going to go take the big boss's space.

38:31Right. And so really thinking about what message are you sending with the spaces and does it align with what your company or yourself actually values? And what I think is really important about like sharing our ideas through spaces. I mean, people do all this work with social norms because social norms is one of the most powerful ways that behaviors spread. So when you see a sticker that says, I voted, that's like, okay, we're trying to spread voting by making a behavior visible. And what's hard about a lot of behaviors is that they're not super visible. So you need a sticker. But a space doesn't need a sticker.

39:04It's already there. And there's this classic example. I think it's actually Connecticut suburbs of how solar panels spread. And basically the gist of the study is that people who can see solar panels from their house are more likely to have solar panels on their house. And they control for everything else. And so it's a classic social norm, right? It's just by seeing this space, it's spreading this value. And so I just think of that as it's a huge opportunity we have to actually enhance our influence in the world and make change for the things that we think are important. And one of the things we might think is important is a sense of community, kind of egalitarianism.

39:40And that gets to tip number nine, which is that if you want to use spaces to enhance what you value, you might want to consider promoting what's called collective efficacy. What's collective efficacy? Building together, basically. I remember when I first started teaching my class on sustainability and the built environment, students in the class were like, oh, there's this project that's going to happen in New York City where they're going to redo this old abandoned rail line and make a walkway on it. that allows people to walk through the city and experience it in a totally different way. And this has turned into the High Line.

40:09And when they first started talking about it, I'm like, yeah, great. I hear about these projects all the time. And this is just two people's dream. The people who started the High Line literally just met at a community meeting and had this idea for this thing. And then it grew from there. And it's just a really pleasant place that has been incredibly popular. It's a success by any measure, except for maybe gentrification, but that's a different book. And even if you think, Like, you know, Jane Jacobs, another New York story where she was really famous for her activism, stopping a highway from bisecting Manhattan.

40:40And it started with people in rooms talking about not wanting this to happen and they protest against it and their group gets bigger from the protesting. And then they're able to take on bigger space change projects. So that's collective efficacy. It feels good. It's one great way to get things done in the world. And if you track how these examples happen over time, it very often starts with groups taking on a relatively small project. And by taking on the relatively small project, they build their capacity to do things, but they also build the capacity of their group and makes their communities stronger.

41:17And so this collective efficacy is not just making the space nicer. It's bringing the community together. And so that gets us to our final tip, tip number 10. And I've saved the best for last because this is the idea that we can feel happier in our spaces if we use them to promote healthy forms of grief and nostalgia. And this is a theme that's really woven through your book in part because of an awful tragedy that your family suffered. And so if you're comfortable with it, tell me about Josie. Yeah, I love talking about Josie. So Josie's my daughter and there's stories of her throughout the book.

41:50They were in there before she died, and I didn't want to take them out after she died. She just died suddenly, unexpectedly from a quick illness in 2023, and losing a four-year-old is as awful as it sounds. But I love talking about Josie. I love talking about her stories, you know, building sandcastles on the beach, or another story of Josie that's in the book is we talked about this idea of functional fixedness. And one of the things I'll never forget about her was she had to have been like two or three. And I walked into the kitchen and there's my daughter sitting at the pantry. So it was just like two full height cabinets.

42:28She had just opened both doors at the pantry, moved her high chair over there and was just sitting at the pantry eating. So instead of like having to carry all the food over to the table, she's like, I'm just going to bring my chair to where the food is. And then I've got all this food at my disposal. It's amazing. So I love being able to share her stories. I think that's one of the ways that the awesome things that she gave to the world keep going. And also, you know, thinking about how do we remember her in space? Because obviously this is a big thing that we try to use our spaces for. I mean, from the Egyptian pyramids, right?

43:05They're there to try to make somebody immortal. And a lot of donations to university buildings are, you know, it's worth$50 million for me to have my name on this thing that's going to still be up after I'm not here. So I was thinking about that for Josie and we used to walk between my house and a pond on campus where we would go fishing and mainly just like throw rocks in and she'd run around. And she would always take different paths there because she liked exploring. And so one day we took a path that went through an old house that the university now owns. So basically she walked up their yard and then through some English ivy and then hit a paved path that went to the street.

43:43And on that path, the homeowner had like put a marble block and inscribed their name in it. So Josie, one benefit of being four is that letters say whatever the heck you want them to say. So she looks at it and she says, that says Josie's way. I think she kind of knew the double meaning too, right? Where it's like, this is now I've just named this path after myself. And also So Josie's Way is like my way of being in the world. So we wanted to do something for her in the world that kind of remembered her, remembered her spirit and the idea of a Josie's Way. We made one next to the best playground in town that just goes parallel to it and over some creeks.

44:20And it's just a place where kids can go down, ride their bikes, but also get into the woods and explore. And it spreads things that she cared about and would have liked. It makes me happy. And that's, you know, agency, right? I love these stories so much. And one of the things I love kind of knowing about neuroscience is that what you're doing is really using the part of our brain that encodes space to kind of make these memories thicker. Yeah, and I learned this after she died, the neuroscience. And as our brains, you know, adapted to relationships being more important and human connections, they didn't like develop new networks.

44:55They adapted the networks that were used to code space. Right. So when we talk about being close and distant from somebody, those are spatial terms. And we're having boundaries. That's a spatial thing that has taken on kind of relationship meaning. And, you know, so again, like trying to reverse engineer that and create spaces that help us remember the person and help spread the spirit of that person. It's almost like we're developing these physical experiences that we can go back to to feel the same emotions. Yeah. And so has recognizing this connection between our inner and outer lives affected your happiness positively?

45:31I think so. I think I've always paid a lot of attention to it because I care about the physical world and that's like kind of the area that I work in. But I think what's really helped me is homing in on agency competence and connection because there's just so much there. And I think we can go a really long way to start with these core big three. And that's been what's really helpful for me in kind of just filtering decisions through that. It's almost like the next time you're facing a space question, ask yourself, how can this boost my agency? Where am I going to get some competence and growth from this?

46:05And how can I promote connection? Yeah, we need to come up with a Zillow or Realtor.com profile that like, what's the agency growth and connection scores for the house? But of course they depend, right? So they depend on the person. I hope this episode has served as a reminder that the spaces around you matter. They're actively shaping your mood, your habits, and even the way you hold on to the people you love. The good news is that you don't need to redesign your entire home to feel those benefits. Even small changes, like creating a campfire-style seating area for guests, noticing your space a bit more, or using your surroundings to reflect what you value, can make a big difference in your happiness and in the happiness of the people around you.

46:46And if you want even more ideas about how to design your space to boost your well-being, be sure to check out Leidy's new book, In a Good Place, How the Spaces Where We Live, Work, and Play Can Help Us Thrive, which is out now. If you have thoughts about today's episode, we'd love to hear them. You can email us at happinesslab at pushkin.fm and leave us a review to tell us what resonated. You can also sign up to learn more about the science of happiness and join my free newsletter on my website, drlarisantos.com. That's D-R-L-A-U-R-I-E-S-A-N-T-O-S dot com. In our next installment on Spring Cleaning Your Happiness, we'll go back to the Happiness Lab archives to share an episode about downsizing your stuff.

47:29We'll hear about the joy of letting go and learn why material possessions don't boost our happiness as much as we assume. I mean, there are more storage units than there are McDonald's. It's just ridiculously a symptom of a culture which has become obsessed with possessions. So it's like this demon, this little imp in our mind telling us to buy things. And don't throw it away because it might be valuable one day. That's all next time on The Happiness Lab with me, Dr. Laurie Santos.

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