Contract Magazine - May 2017 - S7

PHOTOGRAPHY:

What do you believe has allowed people to become more receptive
to learning about wellness in recent years? Changes in society?
Generational changes? Technology impacting our lives?
All of those factors play a role, and the science on this topic
has been flooding in. The science is clear and unambiguous about
the connection between well-being and productivity. In the last
few years, we have gone from a time in which well-being tools like
meditation and mindfulness were seen as vaguely flaky and New
Age-y to a time in which those practices are constantly being
discussed in the business world.
And, yes, technology has certainly played a role as well-
as much as it adds to our lives, it has also accelerated the pace of life
beyond our abilities to keep up. It is not a sustainable way to live,
and, therefore, people are increasingly receptive to the message
that they do not have to burn out to succeed.
What should our readership of design professionals know
about Thrive Global's message of wellness?
If we are going to change the way we work and live, architects
and interior designers have an important role to play because there
is a lot of science available on the connection between well-being

"Office design can clearly play a role in how we communicate,
how we deal with stress, how much movement we have during
our day, and even how happy we feel."
What inspired you, personally, to attempt to revolutionize
the ideas of wellness and rest by starting Thrive Global and
by writing your latest books, Thrive and The Sleep Revolution?
The seeds for both of the books and the company go back to 2007,
when I collapsed from exhaustion and broke my cheekbone. I asked
a lot of questions about the way I was living and made a lot of changes.
I became more and more passionate about the connection between
well-being and productivity, and that led me to write Thrive and
The Sleep Revolution.
As I went around the world speaking about the issues of stress,
burnout, and sleep deprivation, I saw how deeply people wanted to
change their lives. I chose to go beyond just speaking out and raising
awareness-I felt the need to turn this passion into something real
and tangible that would begin to help people change their daily lives.
It was a call to action I could not ignore, so I founded Thrive Global.
Your writing addresses the importance of sleep and its impact
on health and performance. Describe how you see this influencing
the way people work and live? How do you see well-being leading
to greater productivity and creativity?
Sleep impacts our health and performance in practically every
way, both at home and at work. The science shows that sleep,
and the well-being it underpins, affects our decision-making, problemsolving, memory, creativity, focus, attention, energy, and overall
physical and mental health. If you are looking to increase your
productivity and creativity, the solution is to prioritize your wellbeing rather than working longer and later.

and our physical environment. In addition to changing our workplace
culture, we also need to change our physical workplaces to reflect
what we know from the science.
In your opinion, how might office interior design impact
well-being and success in the workplace?
Office design can clearly play a role in how we communicate,
how we deal with stress, how much movement we have during
our day, and even how happy we feel. All of those elements are crucial
to well-being, which, in turn, is directly tied to productivity and to
personal success. Well-being is about both our internal and external
environments, which cannot be considered in isolation-each
has to support the other. For instance, well-being and productivity
can be enhanced in a workplace with the presence of greenery
and access to nature, the design of spaces that encourage faceto-face communication, and interiors that allow employees to easily
move about.
The role of the media has taken on greater importance today.
Looking back, what are you most proud of in terms of your
legacy associated with the Huffington Post?
What I am proud of is how HuffPost connected with its audience.
That was our goal-connection, engagement, and dialogue. It was
about changing the news model from one of presentation to one
of participation. It was not just about finding out what was going
on in your world but about being involved in the story, adding your
voice, reaching out, finding solutions, and continuing the story. c

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Contract Magazine - May 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Contract Magazine - May 2017