Finnish happiness is a fascinating thing: Finland has been declared the happiest country in the world for the eighth consecutive year, according to the World Happiness Report prepared by the UN. And, naturally, the rest of the world is keen to unravel its secrets.
One documentary, Finland, the Happiest Country, offers a few suggestions. For one thing, Finland has one of the highest numbers of readers. The Finnish people also have a special connection with nature (perhaps thanks to its 200,000 lakes). They follow the 8-8-8 rule to the letter, sleeping eight hours, working eight hours and enjoying the rest. They regularly visit the the sauna – in fact, there is one for every two inhabitants.
But the fact that struck me the most? They have a welfare state that makes things genuinely easy for them. It makes it easy to start a business (the paperwork to found a company can be done online); easy to start a family (the state and companies provide many facilities); easy to get an education (education is free at all stages). The welfare state makes life easy. It’s no wonder levels of happiness are so high, not only in Finland but also in the rest of the Nordic countries.
In these countries, the concept of simplicity as a way of life is also always in the air. Nordic people enjoy the small pleasures of life. Everything is done with efficiency in mind. They make their own lives as easy as possible.
I spoke to a few experts to find out how we can replicate this approach to life for ourselves.
1. Act like it’s easy (even if you think it’s not)
For a long time, we’ve subscribed to the culture of overexertion, believing that if it’s hard and you try hard, everything will be fine. But as the writer Oliver Burkeman explains in his book Meditations for Mortals, not everything that is hard is better. After all, if we believe that meaningful tasks require a lot of effort, we are probably less likely actually get them done.
Instead, what if we thought, from the outset, What if this were easy? It can change things. “Instead of trying to figure out how to muster the energy or the motivation or the self-discipline to do something that’s important to you, it’s often easier to ask, ‘What if this were easier than I had thought?’” explains Burkeman.
The author rejects the idea that working hard means our time is better spent. It is not necessary to complicate yourself believing that the overexertion will ensure the reward. As Julia Rogers Hamrick said in her book Choosing Easy World, it’s about choosing to live in an easy world, where everything is easy. “When you’re faced with a titanic idea, decide that this time you’re going to act like it’s easy,” Burkeman explains in her book. So, the next time you have to prepare for a public talk that overwhelms you, get your arguments in order, write them down on paper, rehearse a few times, and let it go. Because maybe, approaching your challenging tasks as if they were easy, could actually make them feel that way.
2. The law of minimum effort
Although we may have culturally praised overexertion, the reality is that the nature of our brain is different. As James Clear points out in his book Atomic Habits, “energy is precious and the brain is programmed to conserve it when possible. It is part of human nature to follow the law of least effort, which states that when faced with a choice between two similar options, people will naturally tend to choose the option that requires the least amount of work”. This explains our tendency to watch TV or doomscroll, activities that often dominate our free time because they are performed effortlessly. That’s why the expert talks about simplifying and eliminating points of resistance when you want to implement new habits. “The less resistance you have to face, the easier it will be for the strongest part of your being to emerge,” says Clear. So, if you want to exercise, prepare your clothes in advance; if you want to improve your diet, have easy access to healthy foods; and if you want to stop looking at your cell phone and read more, take your phone out of the bedroom and put a book on your bedside table.
3. Create facilitating spaces
Psychologist Cristina Martínez is a specialist in emotional wellbeing and time management and collaborator of the flexible accommodation project Be Casa. “Tidy spaces with natural light improve concentration and reduce anxiety levels,” she says. “It has even been proven that working in well-kept environments increases productivity by up to 15%”. It’s a concept that is closely related to the environmental design Clear talks about in his book, which consists of optimising spaces to perform actions more easily. “For example, when deciding where to practice a new habit, it’s best to choose a place that is on the same path you travel when performing your daily routine. It’s easier to build habits when they fit into the flow of your daily life. It’s easier for you to go to the gym if it’s on your way to work, because stopping there isn’t going to add a lot of stress to your lifestyle,” explains Clear.
It’s about removing those points of tension or resistance we talked about earlier to make things nice and easy. And that means, for example, putting the phone away to eliminate distractions or tidying up at home so that there is no chaotic environment that raises cortisol levels. “Every time something new comes into your life, whether it’s clothes, decor or any goal, make sure something old comes out,” explains Martinez. Start by tidying up small spaces like a drawer or closet. “There’s no need to empty the whole house at once. When we start with small, manageable places, we feel quick and motivating results, which makes it easier to maintain the habit and gradually extend it to other areas of the home,” concludes the Be Casa expert.