As the year of 2026 begins, one of the major things I promised myself I would implement into my everyday life was to live intentionally and fill my life with things that I enjoy. Not that other people enjoy, not what I think I should enjoy, but what I actually like.
The approach to this resolution that I am taking is to embark on slow living and Hygge. Slow living is an “intentional, conscious, and mindful lifestyle that rejects the “faster is better” mentality, focusing instead on doing things at the right speed to prioritize quality over quantity”. And that’s exactly what I needed to do.
Hygge is about celebrating the small joys in life and taking the opportunity to unwind and take things slow. Danish society greatly values the equality and well-being of everybody – including physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. It’s about taking the time to appreciate the people around you, enjoy the present moment, and appreciate its simple pleasures for “the art of creating intimacy”.
However, let’s be real. It’s a hard mindset to adopt especially as a college student in America. We are constantly being fed quotes, routines and optimal schedule to keep up with hustle culture, but that just isn’t attainable. At least for me. So with that being said, since the New Year, I have been trying to be more intentional in my actions, more mindful of my time, and more present in my interactions with the people around me.
Lately, I’ve been falling into the trap of hustle culture and all that’s done has led me to quicker burnout. Especially over the last semester I was trying to constantly do something productive or useful with my perceived limited amount of time to “maximize it”, but that led to me to feel immense amounts of guilt and stress when I couldn’t do that.
Near the end of last semester I was miserable, stressed, lost, and I overall felt useless. I couldn’t gather up the courage to do something new, I couldn’t find the motivation to study for anything, and I couldn’t bring myself to care about a lot in my life. Honestly, I was in one of the worst places in my life emotionally and mentally.
I couldn’t continue living like that because that wasn’t a life. That was merely surviving.
So, in search of a change, I started small. I’ve started getting up earlier to give myself more time to get ready for the day because I used to always wake up right at the last possible minute. In that time I’ve carved out in the mornings I don’t look at my phone, I don’t play music, I slowly (really not that slow) get ready for the day in solitude, make my morning coffee, and I grab the book I’m currently reading. I sit down at my dining table with my coffee, book, and highlighter and dedicate at least 10 minutes to intentionally slowing down for something I love doing. I take my time and make those small things into a routine that I look forward to doing every morning.
This may not exactly fit into the Hygge philosophy, but I’ve also begun intentionally hanging out with myself. In that, I allow myself the space to learn who I really am and who I want to be. For example, there was a coffee shop in Denver I have been dying to try, but I felt as though I couldn’t go because no one else could go with me. But that’s not true! Just because I didn’t have anyone to go with me didn’t mean I couldn’t go. So, that’s what I did. I took myself out to the new coffee shop and I had a great time. I put my headphones on, opened my book and sipped my iced coffee in the solitude I have been subconsciously craving.
Not only is Hygge about mental well-being and state, it’s also about your physical space around you as well. Lighting candles, warm lighting, cozy blankets, and lounging on comfortable furniture are all parts of the physicality of Hygge. That also extends to warm clothing like big cozy sweaters, much like Sandra Bullock in While You Were Sleeping (one of my favorites) or my favorite colorful scarf. Essentially, physical items that bring you joy and comfort.
With that in mind, I make it a point to light a candle any time I’m back in my apartment, listen to music when I’m cooking because that makes me feel alive, and only collect items that I love. It’s very important to me to be able to look around at my surroundings and love every item in it and know that there was a story behind it.
Now, it’s a little hard because I don’t have a lot of space to work with (and I have roommates), but I think it’s an important concept for me to adopt now to continue into my adult life as well. Plus I think it’s also super fun to collect and find items that are the most “me” to communicate who I am in my physical space.
But how can you have Hygge? Here are some of my favorite tips on how to incorporate Hygge into your life:
- Create a “Hygge” environment – Light that candle, turn off overhead lights, grab a cozy blanket, put on the warm socks, and unwind.
- Take. Your. Time. – If you’re cooking something, take the time to prepare, slice, cook, and serve it. Enjoy the process!
- Let at least one moment in your life leave you at ease – Whether that’s watching your favorite show at the end of the day, reading a book with tea or a glass of wine, going for a walk, taking a long shower, using the products you’re saving for a special occasion – whatever it is, just do it. Do what you love and it will love you right back.
- Stay present – the main component of Hygge is to be present and spend quality time with your loved ones. So put the phone down and really be with those around you. Listen to everything they have to say and feel what they feel. They need you there just as much as you need them.
- Appreciate everything – gratitude is another core principle of Hygge. Take the time to take in the people, places, things, and feelings you are most grateful for and reflect on them. You can write it down, say it out loud, or keep it to yourself. Your list of gratitude is for you after all. But life can be so beautiful if you slow down to realize it.
Living slowly and incorporating Hygge into your everyday life serves you in any way you want it to. This doesn’t have to be something that you have to implement every single day for the rest of your life to see results or to make it work, because if that isn’t going to work for you, it’s never going to work for you in the long run. Incorporating these principles into your everyday life has to be on your own terms because you are working on you, for you. There’s no “right way” to practice slow living or Hygge because, at the end of the day, it’s about the art of creating intimacy in your own life. Not anyone else’s.