Today I want to write a little different kind of post. I’m going to tell you a little story, about myself. Because I’ve thought this over, and I think the best way to make my point is to tell you where it comes from. So that you can relate to it. And so, here it goes.
It was a nice sunny day, and I had the day all to myself. I had already decided that today was going to be my day of rest, without any chores or responsibilities. And I was fine with that–sometimes you need to take a day out for yourself, to rest and recuperate.
I made myself a nice lunch, and sat down to eat. In fact, I found myself eating more mindfully than I usually do, and by extension, enjoying myself more than I normally would. And when I was finished, I took the used dishes to the sink and set them there.
And yup, that’s the central conflict of the story. (Kind of boring and silly, I know, but stay with me.) Because see, I was really tired and had already promised myself no chores today. But I was also working on keeping my kitchen clean at all times, and knew that I would feel better about myself having gotten this task done. I thought how nice it would be to look at my clean kitchen once it was all over. And usually, that worked. But on this day, I was just too tired and it seemed like too much unpleasant work.
The solution
I could’ve left it there. I could’ve just said, “Oh well, I’ll take care of it tomorrow” or something, but I had a weird idea. Instead, what I did was I changed into more comfortable clothes and put on some gentle music in the background. I got really cozy and then I set to work.
And believe it or not, it worked. I felt more able to do the thing that I wanted to procrastinate on. I sort of coaxed myself into it, plying myself with a little bit of extra comfort and sensory support. This way, I was able to actually feel okay about putting in the extra effort because it was ever so slightly less taxing. What a simple story, what a happy ending.
Hygge
That’s where the concept of hygge comes in. You can basically think of hygge as a philosophy of coziness. And a lot of people are starting to think about engineering their homes in this way. Now hygge as a concept comes from Danish culture, and is theorized to be one of the ways their people traditionally were able to cope with the long, harsh winters. These days, it’s becoming a world-wide idea due to its usefulness in daily life.
Essentially, coziness helps us cope with all sorts of things– not just long winters. And what I realized on that sunny, lazy, no-chores day was that if I was able to make myself a little more cozy, then procrastination had a lot harder time getting ahold of me. The same might be true with you.
Coziness and you
Imagine what you could do with just a little extra coziness in your home and in your life. You might be like me–more willing to wash the dishes with calming music and fuzzy socks on your feet. Or a cup of tea might help your studying along. All I can say is this: if a little extra coziness is all that it takes to coax you into taking action in your life, then you ought to grab on tight. Because as far as I’m concerned, that’s a win-win.
