Put the psychology of color to use

Put the psychology of color to use in your life

Are you tickled pink? Feeling blue? Or green with envy? Seeing red? Name an emotion, there’s probably a color to express it. And it works the other way too. Science has long told us that color can affect mood.

Corporations spend lots of time and money choosing colors for their brands. UPS brown, T-Mobile pink, and John Deere green have even been trademarked. Hospitals, airlines, and other businesses use the psychology of color in planning decor, packaging, and logos to affect the way their clients to feel.

But what about you and me? How can we put the psychology of color to work for us? Of course, you’ll want to consider color when decorating your home or office, but I’m thinking smaller. What can we do on a daily basis to lift our own spirits, calm ourselves, get motivated, build confidence? Here are a few ideas I thought of. I’d love to hear your ideas.

  • Wear colorful clothes or accessories.
  • Prepare colorful food.
  • Choose a small colorful item to carry with you or to place in your line of sight.
  • Can’t access a physical item in the color you need at the moment? Visualize the color.
  • Take a coloring break. Color, paint, play with food coloring.

Before we go any further, let’s talk about what effect different colors are said to have on our emotions. (I can’t take credit for the photos. I found these free-to-use photos on bing.com.)

Put the psychology of color to use in your life
Green: health, growth, tranquility

 

Put the psychology of color to use in your life
Blue: calm, trust, stability

 

Put the psychology of color to use in your life
Yellow: happiness, warmth, optimism

 

Put the psychology of color to use in your life
Orange: creativity, vibrance, energy

 

Put the psychology of color to use in your life
Red: passion, heat, danger

 

Put the psychology of color to use in your life
Purple: power, ambition, wealth

 

Put the psychology of color to use in your life
Pink: gentleness, compassion, sweetness

So based on years of research (others, not mine), next time you’re ill, surround yourself with green. Need to win over a new client or going on a first date? Blue might be your color. Want some cheering up? Get some yellow flowers. Suffering from writer’s block? Eat an orange. Got a case of the doldrums? Pain your nails red. But if you need to make a power statement, put the red suit away and opt for the purple. Feeling irritable? A splash of pink just might bring out your gentler, sweeter side.

Sources:

http://theweek.com/articles/547323/just-how-important-color
https://www.cuinsight.com/the-importance-of-color.html
https://chipolo.net/blogs/chipolo/the-importance-of-colors-in-our-life
https://www.post-it.com/3M/en_US/post-it/ideas/articles/using-color-to-affect-mood/
http://www.sheknows.com/health-and-wellness/articles/951809/8-ways-to-brighten-your-mood-with-color
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1297510/

8-week transformation challenge update

In order to create accountability for myself, I will be giving a weekly update of my efforts and progress in the 8-week Transformation Challenge. If you are not interested in this portion of my blog, please feel free to skip down to “Your Turn.” I’d love to hear from you.

Workouts. I attended four Orangetheory classes this week, one more than usual in anticipation of possibly being away next weekend. The requirement is a total of 24 classes during the eight weeks. I didn’t want to start out down one. Anyway, since I knew I would be going three days in a row, I made the middle class (lower righthand corner) a little lighter push, aiming for the green. I was mostly successful.

Orangetheory challenge week 1

In between the Orangetheory workouts, I did one yoga session, one stationary bike ride, and a rest day.

Nutrition. Who knew that just saying I need to eat fewer sweets wasn’t a nutrition plan? Okay, everyone, but it took me a week to face the reality. So now my new goal is to eat clean(ish) for breakfast, lunch, and snacks as a starting point. Sunday, I meal-planned, grocery shopped, and prepped breakfasts and lunches for the week. No more frozen entrees for me. I’ll keep you posted, but for now, the extra work was worth the delicious and nutritious food.

Weigh-in. I lost 1.2 pounds this week. But to be fair, that is within the range of my normal fluctuation, so I’ll be waiting for a downward trend over time before I read too much into that.

***Your turn***

  1. What is your favorite color?
  2. What ideas do you have for incorporating more color into your day?

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47 Comments

  1. I enjoy color-theory and have used it to select room color paint and to analyze my vision boards. Have not used it in daily life as much though. My favorite color is blue. Possibly because I look good in it with my coloring or just because I need calming spaces. I might try eating an orange when I’m struggling with writing…that one is a new slant! Usually I went with chocolate.

    Congrats on your workouts! I’m still on the fewer sweets, smaller portions, and get moving (almost) everyday mindset … but it’s at least holding me now against more winter weight gain. Adding in better meal-planning is next. You are inspiring me!

    1. Dark chocolate and oranges go great together, Pat! That might be the winning combination for busting creative blocks. As far as the healthy lifestyle changes, you’ve got a winner with fewer sweets, smaller portions, and moving more. My trouble is I convince myself something is smaller or fewer when it’s really not. Also, with my increased physical activity, I feel like it’s time to pay closer attention to the quality of the fuel I’m putting in my body. An added benefit to the meal planning is I’m trying tasty new recipes, so it doesn’t feel at all like restriction. Thanks for the encouragement.

      1. A couple of friends have recommended I try out Hello Fresh or Blue Apron which give both a good sense of portion size as well as tasty and healthy dinners. They are not cheap, but I’ve found coupons for both. Now I just need to get the activation energy to order one! (LOL.) I’m sure they are not just local… have you looked into them?

        1. I have heard of both of those services, but have not tried them. We have ordered a few prepped meals from our local Winder Dairy and loved them! It was nice to have all the spices and everything in just the right portions.

  2. Fun ideas!! Green is my favorite color. Like spring green. I like the idea of using color to alter how you’re feeling. I’m gonna give it a go.
    Also, good job with your 8-week challenge so far!

    1. Spring green is a bright, beautiful color. I’ll be curious to hear the results of your color experiment. And thank you for the encouragement on the challenge. So far, it’s energizing, but I must admit I was so happy for an easy yoga session this morning.

  3. It is fascinating how colour can affect our mood, Christie. I have found that I definitely wear more colourful clothes now that I am not in the corporate world. Well done with your challenge, you are motivating me! It is Smart Eating week in Australia so I’m really looking at what I eat. Thanks for linking up at #overthemoon and I hope you will be linking up at Midlife Share the Love party this Wednesday x

    1. In the past I’ve chosen my wardrobe colors based on what’s easy to match and what I think looks good on me, but I’ll start paying a little more attention to the psychological effect I hoping for. I love that Australia has a smart eating week. Thanks for hosting these great link-ups. I will definitely participate in the Midlife Share the Love party.

  4. I find myself very sensitive color and very picky about the colors around me. Blue is my favorite color and the color I look best in so i wear a lot of blue. For some reason (calmness? ) I love green in my home but never wear green. I like little splashes of bright color in a scarf or throw pillow. That makes me happy.

  5. Well done with your challenge, Christie! I look for colours in nature during my daily walks, and always have colours in my food or fruit snack, not only to make them attractive but also because fruits with different colours bring different nutrients.

  6. My favorite color is yellow, a former boss once told me that yellow meant you were crazy, lol!! Well I will take a whole lot of craziness in my life, beats the heck out of boring anyway!! Great post!

  7. How interesting! I didn’t realise that colours represented so many emotions and feelings. I’m definitely a pink person, but generally I love colour – tropical bird that I am. It definitely affects my mood and my spirit. Such an interesting article, thank you 🙂

  8. I’m a purple and pink girl (with a bit of teal thrown in) I love a bit of colour – especially around my face – black and beige just drag me down. They make for great background colours in a wardrobe, but I need some brightness and prettiness to make me feel bright and pretty!
    Congrats on how well you’re doing with the challenge – I’d like to say that the changes I’ve been making are working for me, but I seem to be much the same weight-wise….sigh…. Thanks for linking up with us at #MLSTL

    1. I love all of those colors as well and realize I don’t have enough purple in my life. I’m going to have to fix that. 🙂 Thanks for the encouragement on the challenge. Of course, weight isn’t the only measure of progress, but it’s the one that’s easy to track and, for some reason, the one we women often get caught up on. I hope you are feeling healthy and happy.

  9. Colour is so important in our lives and as you say can make a huge difference to how we feel. No chance of my choosing a favourite though, too many that I love.

    1. Welcome Jan. Thanks for joining the conversation. I’m with you; I couldn’t possibly choose one favorite color. Thanks goodness we live in a world full of a fabulous, vibrant variety!

  10. I love wearing orange clothes and have an orange car, orange purse, orange shoes and needless to say my friends always choose orange things for me when out shopping. I like yellows and reds too. This was a really interesting post Christie and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

  11. Congratulations on your progress in your challenge! I love color. If you could see my home, you would see loads of color. I do tend to dress in colors according to my mood. I’m not sure I’ve ever worn a color to change my mood – maybe something I should try!

    1. Welcome Linda! Thanks for stopping by and joining the conversation–and thanks for the encouragement on my challenge. I bet your home is beautiful. I’m not a great decorator, so I admire those who are. I know what I like when I see it, but I have a hard time visualizing how it will all come together in advance. Have a lovely, colorful day!

  12. Great post. My favourite colour is purple but not for my walls! I am not great with colours. Generally, if I think something will work together it doesn’t!

    1. Welcome Jill! Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment. I do okay putting my wardrobe colors together (I think–maybe I should ask my daughters 🙂 ), but for some reason, that doesn’t translate to decorating. I was just telling Linda I have a hard time putting a concept together in my mind. If I see something I like, I just want to duplicate it.

  13. My always tend to favor blue when it comes to clothing, but in other things I often pick a green. You’re doing great in the 8 week challenge Christie! You go girl!

  14. Having been a graphic designer in a past career, I am all about color theory. My office is painted a soft, buttery yellow and I love it. I have always admired those who look great in dramatic black and white but I don’t… give me color! Not a lot, not necessarily bright, but definitely color.

    And, congrats on your Transformation Challenge (obviously Orange is your color 🙂 )!

    1. Our walls at work are gray. It was the “in” color at the time, but I don’t think it inspires energy. I’ve added some color to my office with artwork. As far as clothing, I have a lot of black and white, but some bright shirts too. I have a fantasy of a personal stylist redesigning my wardrobe. Of course, in that fantasy I have a perfectly proportioned body too. 🙂

  15. Hi Christie, I loved reading this and I do have to admit I am a huge fan of colours. The brights more than the pale. I am not a fan of beige nor brown. In the past months as part of my individial challenge to look good and feel good I have been participating in my own Outfit of the Day pics on Instagram. I do notice that when I want a lift or to feel confident I will have red on me somewhere. It is my power colour. I do wear blues of different hues the most! Denyse . x

    1. Welcome Denyse! Thanks for stopping by and joining the conversation. It’s good to hear from someone that consciously thinks about color. I’ll be following you on Instagram to catch up on the Outfit of the Day.

  16. Congratulations on your continued achievements on your Transformation Challenge, Christie. Your openness and transparency regarding your weekly progress on this challenge is very inspiring.
    The information that you shared on Colour Therapy is very interesting. Pink is my absolutely favourite colour…now i have more info on what wearing that colour may convey to others!

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