When we think about our productivity and focus — especially in creative or demanding environments — we often consider habits, schedules, or tools. But what about our surroundings?

The design and sensory atmosphere of your home or work environment has a profound impact on your emotional well-being, ability to focus, and even your levels of creativity and motivation. Following on from our previous article on visual well-being, this post dives into the less-discussed but equally powerful senses: touch, sound, scent and taste.

I recently hosted a Salon Series talk for Coventry University on supporting Women in Academia and Business. The theme was Building Confidence and Beating Imposter Syndrome.

The session focused on building confidence and replacing unhealthy, toxic understandings of ‘success’, ‘knowledge’, ‘growth’, or ‘motivation’.

The space we created was safe, confidential, and fair. Everyone could share however much they wished, and whatever personal stories were shared stayed in the group.

... This realization of how powerful and effective this resolve was changed my business objectives. I pivoted from the last ten years of business/personal development support. I wanted to dedicate myself solely to figuring out this activity as a universal opportunity for anyone feeling lost, overwhelmed, burnt out, or disconnected. To make a tangible difference in people's lives by utilising creativity to enrich wellness for people across the board...

"What do you want to do with your life?"

It’s the question that haunted me. I never fit in the box. I was the round peg in a square hole—refusing to be pigeonholed. Creative teachers told me “you can’t do it that way” one too many times. Eventually, I stepped away from formal art education, reshaped myself to fit into a materialistic, conventional world—and lost parts of myself along the way.

But it never really worked. I’ve always been more than one thing.

How Your Home and Work Environment Affect Focus, Mood, and Productivity.

We spend most of our lives in just a handful of spaces — yet we often underestimate how much these environments affect our mental health, focus, creativity, and overall sense of well-being.

From home interiors to office desks, every element — lighting, clutter, colour, even smell — either supports or sabotages our mood and productivity.

… Grabbing any device I could at work, notifications pinging around left, right and centre, constantly open and ready to connect and talk, always on the go-go-go on every platform, selfie-ing my way through life, running events, sharing everything.

I didn't understand the repercussions of social media and the decline of:

- my mental health
- my authenticity, who was I?
- the quality of my work...