A search for balance and freedom

In times managers enforce to improve efficiency continuously and burn-outs occur even with younger people, more and more people are looking for balance, sometimes in a radical way. This can be seen both at home as in the workplace.

'Sitting is the new smoking' is heard more and more. People are better able to function if they can relax and move at work. Especially younger companies integrate this. The workplaces of Google can barely be called an office. They are optimally designed to improve interaction, inspiration and relaxation. More and more companies are doing it differently: they build a digital stop, making it impossible to mail after work hours. Or they lift - like at Heldergroen in Haarlem - at six o'clock the desks into the air.

Yoga, meditation and mindfulness have become mainstream and especially young professionals are no longer lead by a financial drive. Instead of putting the financial reward on top, they are looking for forms of working with happiness and enjoyment as core criteria. The number of companies with friends bundling their strengths is growing. I also see this in the field of living: the role of family is replaced with sustainable ways of living with friends. Some people even make a cohabitation contract with a friend who is not their romantic partner.

A remarkable new movement in my opinion is the  'tiny house movement' originated in the US. An increasing amount of people dreams from a tiny house without a mortgage. Design collective Woonpioniers facilitates this with the Porta Palace, a house on wheels of just a few square meters. A way to live burden-free on a place you can live happily and freely, short-term or long-term. It gives the freedom to live your life based on your feeling instead of your wallet.
 

Saar van der Spek is teacher Trend research at Fontys Hogescholen - International Lifestyle Studies and has her own trend research agency Ontroerend Goed.