Home Upgrades That Beat The Hedonic Treadmill
How to beat the hedonic treadmill, one dollar at a time
Most things you buy lead to a hedonic treadmill: You get a quick boost to your happiness and then go back to baseline. For example when buying a new car.
That could lead to the conclusion that you should just not invest in any worldly pleasures at all. We think that’s a bit too far. Here we assembled all the things in your living space that can make a lasting impact on your wellbeing.
Your shopping list
Get the basics right
Air, light, and sound are omnipresent, yet often overlooked. Start here for the potentially largest effect.
Air: Air pollution and CO2 levels can have a large effect on cognitive function. Fix those separately: For air pollution, just get a good HEPA filter. For CO2 levels, get a CO2 monitor, and open your windows when it goes too high.
Light: Create a setup that you can adapt to the day: Very bright (~1k lux at eye) blue indirect top lighting to mimic “walls of light” similar to the sun, low orange/red “campfire” lighting in the evening. Get CRI 95+ for low strain.
Sound: Ambient sound adds to your stress levels. But how to lower it? Get heavy rugs, heavy sound-dampening curtains, or acoustic panels, and consider adding soundproofing panels under your table or in other hidden areas.
Indoor air quality is a low-effort, high-impact thing to improve, but as with most things, it starts with noticing the problem. I borrowed a friend’s CO2 monitor and was surprised to see how quickly levels built up indoors. Research suggests that elevated CO2 can meaningfully impair cognitive performance. The easiest fix is also the simplest: once an hour or so, open a window wide for five minutes to let fresh air in.
Create a nature oasis
New research in environmental psychology and neuroarchitecture (yes those are scientific fields) found that your environment can have a large effect on your your stress levels. The best setup? Making your house look like a yoga studio.
Plants: Viewing natural fractals, the scientific term for houseplants, can reduce physiological stress markers significantly. Gardening the plants gives an additional boost.
Wood: Direct contact with wood reliably lowers sympathetic nervous system activation. Try to work and eat from a wooden table, swapping out your floor for wood might be a bit more difficult.
Smell: Stay with me on this one. It turns out there is evidence for small effects of smell on mood and performance but it is highly variable. Best thing to give it a try for yourself. Citrus for performance, lavender for chill.
I’ve always been a fan of houseplants and now I finally know why. Natural fractals!
Christoph
Posture support
Permanent back pain seems like the thing that permanently reduces your wellbeing. I am already feeling my back writing this from my couch and should really embrace this one.
Your bed: Get a medium-firm hybrid mattress. Those have been shown to double the likelihood to improve back pain.
Your work: Get a setup that supports your natural spine. We won’t be able to explain it all in two sentences but check this. Advanced: Get a split keyboard and a vertical mouse.
The other 8h: In general the key to posture seems to be: Variation. Don’t eat, read, work, sleep on your couch. Maybe have a reading chair, a dining table, and if you do end up on your couch, try to get one that is again medium-firm with a shallow seat depth.
Let’s make it actionable
Go through all of these - what stands out most to you?
Regularly open your windows, unless you live in a highly polluted city.
Measure your light levels with a good app.
Learn how to change.
Bet money on your change.