Lagom: Balanced Living
Lagom: The Swedish word for 'just right', not too much, not too little.
At first sight, it seems common sense that too much or too little of everything: work, personal space, mental space, money (yes, even that), time etc... is bad. But it is difficult to strike a balance in our lives as we are often caught up by the whims and fancies of society.
Let's still do 'Lagom' anyway, to find that balance in life in the pursuit of happiness.
Work
When we see the word, 'work-life' balance, we often think of it as 'how can I work less', instead of 'how can I work better'. The end we are going for, of course, is to work shorter hours. So that we can have a life outside work.
Working better means working more efficiently, more productively and collaboratively. When someone works long hours, we are often tuned to think that he / she is very hardworking (even to the extent of a workaholic) or very dedicated to work. But we can still be dedicated to work and still produce quality work during shorter hours. Working long hours may not necessarily mean good quality work. Instead it could be the opposite as working long hours tires people out. Also, working with the knowledge of the long day of work ahead encourages people to accomplish more mundane, minor tasks just to look busy and reduce the motivation to work properly.
Imagine a long work day, wrought with overtime. We feel tired, drained from long discussions and answering repetitive questions about mundane tasks. We go home late and tired and usually hungry, then we wake up tired the next day and we drag ourselves back to work again the next day. It's just a vicious cycle.
Compare this to an efficient work day, with a similar list of tasks that need to be completed within a short work day, one would prioritise and focus on the most important tasks, due to the limit of time. In this way, efficiency could be vastly improved and 'look busy' tasks would be reduced. We go home early, have ample time for break and to do other things that we like, then we can wake up refreshed to face a new work day.
We can have our cake and eat it. Leaving work on time, getting the work done and getting to spend time with friends and family outside work.
Home and Health
Home is a safe place, for us to rest and rejuvenate after work, to live, to sleep. For some people, they also work in their home.
Lagom at home, not too much clutter, not too sparse. Home should be cosy, Hygge (Danish) or Mysig (Swedish), comfortable, allow us to relax. Make it unique and personal.
And of course, if you cook or bake, filling the home with these wonderful smells will make it feel more homely. Making crafts or your favourite artwork adds a personal touch.
Health has two aspects, mental and physical. Wellness is a balance between physical and mental health. One great way to improve mental health is unplugging. When we are on holiday, or during a rest day, it helps to unplug. Spend time away from the TV, emails, social media and chat with friends and family. Have a small gathering.
Build activities and exercise into our daily routines. Avoid a sedentary lifestyle. Lots of people like to work out at the gym or attend aerobics classes etc. Personally I like to incorporate daily activities like walking, climbing stairs to keep active. It's easier to maintain, as we don't have to go to a specific place to work out. For those who participate in exercise classes, more often that not, it will just lead to 'lazy days' when there are no exercise classes.
Environment and Sustainability
What is amazing is that the Lagom mentality can also be applied to sustainability. It is just the simple idea of using what we need, shopping, electricity. This is so important in today's world of consumerism, where everyday there are some ads asking us to buy things, tempting us with discounts and sales and usually we end up with a lot of things that we don't need. This is made worse when we just throw away the excess stuff. We could donate these items, or buy second-hand. By doing so, we can create less waste and reduce the burden on the environment.
Lagom is a way to seek a balance in life. To make it better.
Some interesting books and articles on Lagom:
Lagom by Linnea Dunne
An easy-to-read guide on living the Lagom life, with recipes!
Live Lagom by Anna Brones
A guide on balanced living the Swedish way.
More Lagom books
The Swedish word that is replacing Hygge (BBC)
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20170818-the-swedish-word-thats-displacing-hygge
At first sight, it seems common sense that too much or too little of everything: work, personal space, mental space, money (yes, even that), time etc... is bad. But it is difficult to strike a balance in our lives as we are often caught up by the whims and fancies of society.
Let's still do 'Lagom' anyway, to find that balance in life in the pursuit of happiness.
Work
When we see the word, 'work-life' balance, we often think of it as 'how can I work less', instead of 'how can I work better'. The end we are going for, of course, is to work shorter hours. So that we can have a life outside work.
Working better means working more efficiently, more productively and collaboratively. When someone works long hours, we are often tuned to think that he / she is very hardworking (even to the extent of a workaholic) or very dedicated to work. But we can still be dedicated to work and still produce quality work during shorter hours. Working long hours may not necessarily mean good quality work. Instead it could be the opposite as working long hours tires people out. Also, working with the knowledge of the long day of work ahead encourages people to accomplish more mundane, minor tasks just to look busy and reduce the motivation to work properly.
Imagine a long work day, wrought with overtime. We feel tired, drained from long discussions and answering repetitive questions about mundane tasks. We go home late and tired and usually hungry, then we wake up tired the next day and we drag ourselves back to work again the next day. It's just a vicious cycle.
Compare this to an efficient work day, with a similar list of tasks that need to be completed within a short work day, one would prioritise and focus on the most important tasks, due to the limit of time. In this way, efficiency could be vastly improved and 'look busy' tasks would be reduced. We go home early, have ample time for break and to do other things that we like, then we can wake up refreshed to face a new work day.
We can have our cake and eat it. Leaving work on time, getting the work done and getting to spend time with friends and family outside work.
Home and Health
Home is a safe place, for us to rest and rejuvenate after work, to live, to sleep. For some people, they also work in their home.
Lagom at home, not too much clutter, not too sparse. Home should be cosy, Hygge (Danish) or Mysig (Swedish), comfortable, allow us to relax. Make it unique and personal.
And of course, if you cook or bake, filling the home with these wonderful smells will make it feel more homely. Making crafts or your favourite artwork adds a personal touch.
Health has two aspects, mental and physical. Wellness is a balance between physical and mental health. One great way to improve mental health is unplugging. When we are on holiday, or during a rest day, it helps to unplug. Spend time away from the TV, emails, social media and chat with friends and family. Have a small gathering.
Build activities and exercise into our daily routines. Avoid a sedentary lifestyle. Lots of people like to work out at the gym or attend aerobics classes etc. Personally I like to incorporate daily activities like walking, climbing stairs to keep active. It's easier to maintain, as we don't have to go to a specific place to work out. For those who participate in exercise classes, more often that not, it will just lead to 'lazy days' when there are no exercise classes.
Environment and Sustainability
What is amazing is that the Lagom mentality can also be applied to sustainability. It is just the simple idea of using what we need, shopping, electricity. This is so important in today's world of consumerism, where everyday there are some ads asking us to buy things, tempting us with discounts and sales and usually we end up with a lot of things that we don't need. This is made worse when we just throw away the excess stuff. We could donate these items, or buy second-hand. By doing so, we can create less waste and reduce the burden on the environment.
Lagom is a way to seek a balance in life. To make it better.
Some interesting books and articles on Lagom:
Lagom by Linnea Dunne
An easy-to-read guide on living the Lagom life, with recipes!
Live Lagom by Anna Brones
A guide on balanced living the Swedish way.
More Lagom books
The Swedish word that is replacing Hygge (BBC)
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20170818-the-swedish-word-thats-displacing-hygge
Comments
Post a Comment