5 Scandinavian Habits You Should Adopt to Nordic Life – The Nordic Mum (2024)

5 Tips to Nordic Life

What is the Nordic Life that our Scandinavian cousins live? What habits do they have in life that you want to adopt? Do they have some secret sauce, some secret recipe that they use magic potion, perhaps or something else? Well, in this episode, I’m going to tell you the five Scandinavian habits that you should adopt in your life. These are very simple, ways to adapt to the Nordic life that makes your content.

1. Nordic Food

“In Scandinavia, we love to have home-cooked meals, healthy, raw and natural products so no-nonsense cooking like Jamie Oliver would say.”

The home-cooked meals are done using homegrown products. Some people cook game because they go hunting or they would cook their fish as they have been fishing from the lakes or the sea. They might use berries or mushrooms they’ve been foraging from the forest. Many grow products on their own garden or veggie patch that they use.

I have Pinterest Board for Scandinavian Cooking and Scandinavian Baking which you can use to look for recipes for example. Homemade buns and baking, in general, is big thing that everyone learns to do.

2. Nordic Minimalism

You know how much I want to talk about this;

“Less is more approach in life.”

“You can have less products that you need and all these things that we are accumulating in our houses and cars and you just thrive by having less. Producing less waste, using less things, using less energy. Everything is less, less screen time for kids and yourself, reading more books, educating yourself, getting your kids to play, rather than being locked up in front of the telly or iPad.”

“Scandinavian minimalism is not just like less screen time.”

“Do I need all these things that I don’t use, and they’re just sitting in a corner gathering dust? Do I really need them? If not, well, get rid of them, put them on the marketplace on Facebook or sell them on eBay, Gumtree. Amazon, or recycle them, give it to someone who might have used for them.”

Think about your life in general and what is it that you really need to thrive in life. You will be surprised to realize and notice that is much less things than you think.

Everything about life in the Nordic way is about practicalities. Make sure that you are thriving with what you have. Nordic Life is about simplicity, less about things more about life.

3. Sustainability

Being that eco-friendly person that you’ve been hoping to be. Using fewer products and asking yourself do I need all those skincare products that I have? Do you need all the cleaning products that you have? Do you need all those products that you have in your pantry cupboard?

When replacing them should I look at a more eco-friendly approach when you go and replace them?

“So making sure that you are sustainable in your Nordic life you can take the bus instead of your car. Take the train to if you have a car. Can you have a car that is a more eco-friendly option when you upgrade it? “

Cycle to that corner shop or walk to the corner shop, don’t take the car. Look at this from not just personal gain of getting healthy on exercise. But how good it is to useless money on petrol, reducing the carbon footprint at the same time?

“There are options if you really start looking into it.”

Sustainability is just part of the everyday life and we don’t even think about it in Nordic countries because we recycle everything and anything.

There are like four or five different recycling containers of that your things on. One for papers here, your cardboard here, your cans here, your glass here, and it’s all done without even thinking about it.

It’s part of your everyday Nordic life and it can be part of your everyday life. If you really look into it. If you make a conscious choice to be more eco-friendly.

4. Creating a Comfortable Home

“We love our home, and that’s why we make it as comfortable as possible. Having practical, comfortable furniture is number one. Making it pleasing, making it visually appealing, making sure that you’re using all those comfortable colors like whites and pale grays and little black and little pastel colours here and there.”

“Making sure that you use textures that are soothing and comfortable. So comfortable house, home, space apartment, whatever you want to call it, make sure that it really brings it together for you that this is a place where you can be comfortable, and this is where you can be productive. This is where I can be energized. This is where I can relax.”

5. Loving Yourself- Being Hygge

“Being kind to yourself and taking care of yourself and enjoying being in the moment.”

Swedes call it the Fika having cup of coffee and a cake. That’s all about being loving towards yourself, using natural products on yourself on your skin on your hair, being kind to yourself and finding that time to enjoy what you are doing.

“Family is a centerpiece of the Scandinavian culture. Having family time, whether it’s your grandparents, your parents with your kids, and using it really to enjoy that moment and connecting with each other and disconnecting from the world for a moment”

“Living your life with intention and being really mindful about loving yourself and making yourself a priority.”

“Just enjoying that moment and having a cup of tea, cup of coffee, having some candles, having some music and just being comfortable with yourself. These small things really matter, perhaps even more than the bigger things.

Take the time of being comfortable with where you are in life, and remember that you are exactly where you’re supposed to be in life. I know that sometimes we are so busy and we just start planning a bit too much and we forget to take the time to enjoy life.”

Take small steps and you will gain momentum and just start changing one thing at a time. Don’t try to do all these changes at the same time. You will no get anything done and nothing changes, but just take one thing to change and you will notice a difference in yourself and in your life.

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