Newsletter 2: Sent July 13, 2020
I'm one of those 'messy but pretends they're not' kind of people.
I like to think my office desk is always tidy. In reality, though, every few days it ends up looking like a used bookstore vomited everywhere. And even though I can pretend this set-up is convenient (maybe for osmosis?) it always ends up making me feel a bit twitchy.
Our brains are pretty sensitive to our environment. Often, small things can have a significant impact on our mood, motivation and behaviour.
It's been theorised that red and yellow are signalling colours to humans. They get our attention, which may be why we see them often on fast food logos. I recall reading one theory that suggested the reason red and yellow are so attention-grabbing is because they are commonly utilised in the animal kingdom to signal danger (e.g. on a poisonous snake, spider or wasp's stinger) or sexual receptivity (commonly seen, for example, in female non-human primates, who often exhibit red on their face, chest or genitals).
Red can even affect our perception of romantic prospects. In one study in 2008, men found women more sexually attractive when their photo had a red background compared to other colours, and another in 2010 suggested that men found women in a red shirt more attractive and sexually receptive than women in white. Studies consistently show us this “red effect” influencing perceptions of women from romantic prospects.
And yet, studies also suggest that the colour red as a presence in our environment is a bit of an ass. One study found that when participants were in a room bathed in red lighting, they became more anxious, with increased heart rate and blood pressure compared to those who had blue or white lighting[1]. Red has been found to disturb our bodies and minds – from writing less intelligibly when using red pens, to getting more frustrated while waiting for a red or yellow site to load than a blue one[2]. (This reminds me of those lava lamps we all had in the 90’s – why did we have those?)
Is this also the case for pink, red’s softer sibling? Perhaps not, when we consider "Drunk Tank Pink". Drunk Tank Pink is a particular shade of pink which, it was discovered, when painted on the walls seemed to make navy prisoners calmer and children in classrooms more well-behaved. It had a calming effect, as opposed to red's agitating one.
So, it seems, what we have around us can affect our behaviour and mind. Perhaps, if you have bright red walls in your office, it's time to redecorate.
But it’s not only colour that can affect us. Clutter around us can clutter up our brains, too.
In fact, one study found that having clutter in your living space is a big predictor of procrastination, discovering that “chronic procrastinators reported too much clutter (possessions, or stuff), and that clutter interferes with a strong quality of their lives.” While there’s quite a lot of research demonstrating that clutter at home can stress us out, a recent 2020 paper also found that office-clutter can positively predict “a person’s level of emotional exhaustion and stress”.
So, as it turns out, Mari Kondo is not only an incredibly smart businesswoman – she’s also promoting science-backed wellbeing and productivity.
If we’re redesigning our work and home environments to minimise clutter and be conscious of the colours we’re surrounding ourselves with, we can set ourselves up for higher productivity and mental clarity. In 2020, a time of heightened stress and uncertainty for all of us, the small steps of clearing your desk and creating a positive environment around you are achievable and can make a positive difference to your mind.
(Oh, and you might want to get a plant, because having one in an office has been found to increase productivity and boost self-esteem and mood. My cactus Neville just passed so it’s time for me to do that too.)
Book Recs
The theme for books this week is "random, weird and surprising". If you're interested in human behaviour (and I suspect you are), I think you'll like them. They'll give you enough 'weird facts' ammo to interrupt every awkward silence you ever experience again.
Drunk Tank Pink: The Subconscious Forces that Shape How We Think, Feel and Behave - Adam Alter. From some of the colour studies above, to names, labels, symbols and more, this book is full of unusual and fascinating insights that you've probably never considered before.
The Idiot Brain - Dean Burnett. This book is somehow about neuroscience and laugh out loud funny at the same time. From why we get travel sick to forgetting people’s names, it talks through our silly, fallible brain’s imperfections and why humans do some of the ridiculous things we do.
Thanks
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Latest from me
Article: We Are All a Bunch of Phonies - a piece on imposter syndrome. "If you resonate with imposter syndrome, you’ll perhaps be reassured to know that you’re in good company. Dr Google suggests 70% of people experience it at one stage or another. In fact, many celebrities have spoken about or alluded to experiencing it themselves, from Michelle Obama to Maya Angelou to Albert Einstein, who is attributed to the quote,
“The exaggerated esteem in which my lifework is held makes me very ill at ease. I feel compelled to think of myself as an involuntary swindler.” "
Also, follow me on twitter. I'm obsessed with twitter and if you don't have one, make one. (Thank me later).
Next podcast episode will be coming soon-ish. If you like the podcast it's a good idea to subscribe to it on the platform you listen on, because I am not really following a set date of release for each new episode. They're released when they're done, and sometimes the rabbit hole of research ends up taking a few weeks.
Happy Monday!