How space design can improve daily life

redesign your – Behavioral scientist Leidy Klotz argues that where people live, work, and play shapes psychological well-being, identity, relationships, and memories—and he offers five practical ways to use spaces to live better.

On a spring morning, Leidy Klotz says, the smallest pause can change how you move through the world. In his new book. “In a Good Place: How the Spaces Where We Live. Work. and Play Can Help Us Thrive. ” the behavioral scientist and engineering professor at the University of Virginia points to a simple problem: too often. people drift past their surroundings while their phones and screens pull attention elsewhere.

Klotz’s core message is direct. Physical surroundings shape psychological well-being, identity, relationships, and memories. And when people intentionally design and engage with their spaces, they can “help us live better lives.”

1. Practice space before screen

Klotz’s first insight is about noticing. Too often, people move through daily life without paying attention to the physical world around them, and phones only intensify that habit.

His prescription doesn’t ask for fighting the reality head-on. Instead. he suggests turning the moment you reach for your screen into a cue to check in with where you are. One friend. he says. started pausing in the morning after waking up and reaching immediately for her phone to check email. “Wait. I haven’t even taken in the space that I’m in. ” she thought—using the distraction as a reminder to re-enter the room.

2. Seek adjacent freedom when you feel constrained

Even well-designed intentions meet the limits of real life. Klotz describes an example from his own office: there’s a window that used to open but no longer does because of the air-conditioning system. On a nice spring day, he says, that’s frustrating—fresh air feels close but out of reach.

The lesson is not to pretend the environment will cooperate. “There are always aspects of our environment we can’t control,” he writes. When control is blocked in one area. he argues. you can “exercise control somewhere else.” In his office. that means rearranging furniture. decorating the walls. or choosing where he sits.

“Our surroundings give us a sense of agency.”

3. Practice setting boundaries by claiming space

Klotz then shifts from control to growth. He connects the way people relate to their surroundings to how they develop as individuals.

A story from his daughter gives the idea a human, domestic clarity. After she started preschool. Klotz says she learned that in a crowded space. saying “space” is a cue that people should give you more room. One day. when the two of them were at home and it wasn’t crowded. she still insisted—telling him to stay outside her circle. When he asked if he could move past her, she agreed, but said he couldn’t look at her.

It was funny, Klotz says. But it also revealed something bigger: boundaries aren’t only about relationships with other people or about the self. In his daughter’s lesson, physical space became a way to learn identity and personal limits.

One of his takeaways is that boundaries show up early. “A house is a boundary. A teenager’s bedroom becomes a space for independence.” Claiming space, he argues, is one way people define who they are.

“Our relationship with our surroundings helps us grow as individuals.”

4. Build campfires to encourage connection

Klotz’s fourth insight is about designing for conversation. When people are in neutral spaces and want to connect, he suggests thinking about environments that function like campfires.

He gives a concrete example from an event planning company he interviewed. The company organized a conference in the Superdome in New Orleans. Alongside the main presentation area, they created a large open space meant for connection. To encourage it, they placed glowing orbs with seating arranged in circles around them. Each orb had a different color to signal different types of conversations.

You don’t need to replicate the scale, Klotz says, but the campfire idea is powerful because it changes the social rules. Around a campfire, no one owns the space. People bring their own chairs. Everyone is equal. There’s no head of the table—just a shared focal point.

For an introvert at a conference, he adds, the problem isn’t always interest. It’s access. Sitting at a small table with a few open chairs—without spreading belongings everywhere—can signal that others are welcome and make it easier to approach.

“We should think about creating environments that function like campfires.”

5. Cultivate nostalgia in your spaces

The last piece ties environment to memory. Klotz describes spaces as “memory containers,” places that store and help people recall meaningful moments.

His most vivid example is his family’s vacation house. He says it has been passed down for generations: his dad went there as a child, and now he brings his kids and grandkids. The space holds layers of shared history.

But Klotz insists nostalgia doesn’t require inheritance or grand architecture. Marking a child’s height on a wall creates a timeline of memories. He has only lived in his house for eight years, yet those markings tell a story. Over time, people can look back and remember exactly what life felt like at those moments.

In this way, he argues, spaces become portals into the past—and people can design them to help them remember what matters.

The piece itself is described as a “Book Bite. ” and it notes that the article originally appeared in Next Big Idea Club magazine and is reprinted with permission. The takeaway is simple. but it lands with everyday force: if your surroundings influence what you feel and remember. then changing how you move through them—before your screen. within your limits. and around others—can shape how your days unfold.

Leidy Klotz In a Good Place behavioral science space design psychological well-being identity relationships memories agency boundaries campfire concept nostalgia