‘Tree-charging’: The new answer to employee burnout

Getting outside can make employees more productive, more creative, and less susceptible to burnout and stress.

The burnout crisis is so often touted that, were its consequences not so devastating, it would hardly warrant another article. Just as its causes are complex and interlocking, so, too, are its solutions. That said, a new report from LinkedIn and Unyoked seems to have landed on one promising, evidence-based answer to the crisis: “tree-charging”.

Essentially, tree-charging is all about realising and using nature’s unique creativity, de-stress, and productivity benefits. By returning to nature in a structured, meaningful way, Aussie professionals report feeling 80 per cent more creative and productive while also feeling significantly more motivated and positive about their work.

Burning out

The modern office work environment, for all its promise of flexibility and worker-driven design, is failing on mental health. Seventy-six per cent of employees feel burnt out at work at least sometimes, while some data suggests that Australian employees are the most burnt out in the world.

As noted by the Nature of Work report, the hybrid work environment – where any horizontal surface could serve as a desk while end-of-work rituals often consist of little more than a closing of the laptop and a few steps into an adjoining room – often blurs the lines between work and home life. Forty-five per cent of workers regularly think of work outside of work hours, while only 17 per cent have creative ideas in the workplace.

This should concern employers and employees alike. Burnt-out employees are 2.6 times more likely to leave their current employer, half as likely to discuss how to approach their performance goals with their manager, and 13 per cent less confident in their performance. Crucially, the way people approach their work is more predictive of their wellbeing than the number of hours they work.

It’s against this backdrop that the Nature of Work report was published – promising a new approach to work and life specifically designed to stave off burnout while remaining productive and career-driven.

The ‘nature of work’

“With a recent and growing body of research behind it, more and more of us are realising just how powerful exposure to the natural world can be for us and building it into our daily, weekly, monthly and yearly rhythms,” said the report.

Indeed, spending time in nature has three main classes of professional benefits:

1. Reducing stress

According to the report, cortisol levels drop by an average of 21.3 per cent per hour spent immersed in nature. Cortisol is a hormone we produce during periods of stress, whose excessive production can cause uncomfortable, even dangerous, physical side effects. Research has found that our stress hormone levels can drop substantially from as few as 20 minutes spent in nature.

2. Boosting creativity

The benefits of creativity extend far beyond traditionally “creative” industries. As noted by the Harvard Business School, creative employees are more innovative, more productive, more adaptable, and more growth-minded.

Further, as noted in the report, 80 per cent of professionals who spend time in nature report higher levels of creativity and problem-solving skills. Immersion in nature can boost these two skills by up to 50 per cent.

3. Clearing the mind

As noted by researcher and cognitive psychologist Ruth Ann Atchley, modern life keeps us distracted by mundanities. These distractions “sap our resources to do the fun thinking and cognition humans are capable of”, she said, adding that “nature is a place where our minds can rest, relax, and let down those threat responses”. This sentiment was echoed in the report, which claimed that nature has a unique ability to ‘restore deficits’ in our attention skills arising from overwork and overconcentration.