We teamed up with Tarkett for this Clever Extra to unpack the idea that we can consciously impact our wellbeing through design choices. We spoke with Mausi McDaniel of Tarkett about the cultural drivers that are influencing our collective consciousness, and with joy expert, Ingrid Fetell Lee, about our unconscious emotional responses to cues in our surroundings. Goal: We can work with all of this knowledge to design spaces that truly support the health and wellbeing of humanity. Yay!

Thanks to this episode’s sponsor, Tarkett.

Learn more about Tarkett at Tarkettna.com.

“Happiness is a broad evaluation of how we feel about our lives over time and it’s tied to big milestones in life, whereas joy is much simpler and more immediate. It lives in moments. ”

— Ingrid Fetell Lee

In this episode, we discuss five cultural drivers and how they influence the human condition, interpersonal relationships, and our use of space. We talk about why technology and the pursuit of happiness seems to be making us less happy, the importance of practicing empathy, and how rethinking the design of space or even injecting small moments of joy can affect our overall productivity, comfort and eventually, happiness. You’ll want to listen and take notes from these experts on how you can inject tiny joyful moments into your everyday, or do small empowering and mind-shifting things regularly to alter your mental state.

“We can’t underestimate how much your state of mind and your emotions and feelings affect your productivity at work. If [you’re] 20% more productive, that could equate to five additional hours to spend doing things that bring you joy.”

— Mausi McDaniel

If you need the Cliff Notes, here’s a list of the five cultural drivers ~

1. Technology and the Happiness Paradox
The pursuit of happiness is actually making us less happy.

2. The Reputation Economy
In our climate of fake news and political dissonance, we search for brands and employers that align with our personal values.

3. The Diversity of One
A new approach to diversity, equity and inclusion encourages us to consider the unique contributions of every individual, beyond our visible differences.

4. Spatial Economics
Advances in transportation and connectivity will allow individuals to live further from city centers.

5. Design for Deconstruction
Building for the future means more than just environmental effort, but actually how we build the dwellings where we live and work.

Clever is produced by 2VDE Media. Thanks to Rich Stroffolino for editing this episode.
Music in this episode courtesy of El Ten Eleven—hear more on Bandcamp.
Shoutout to Jenny Rask for designing the Clever logo.

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