Why green spaces at work are key to better productivity

Businesses that have already embraced green spaces are reaping the benefits of improved cognition, mood, mental health, emotional wellbeing, and productivity in their employees, writes Dr Jenny Brockis.

With all the concerns being expressed about the impact of too much stress on employee health and wellbeing, you’ve probably been exploring all avenues to discover what will work best.

With mental health first aid courses and workplace wellbeing programs on leadership, resilience building, and psychological safety, there’s an abundance of help on offer to strengthen mental health and boost morale. But do any of these translate into better productivity, creativity, and innovation?

What if there was a simple, inexpensive (read free) strategy evidenced by the research that can? There is, and those businesses that have already embraced the concept are reaping the benefits of improved cognition, mood, mental health, emotional wellbeing, and productivity in their employees.

Throughout our history, nature has inspired countless poets, artists, authors, architects, and philosophers. If you’ve ever taken yourself off for a walk to clear your head, you know you come back feeling better, less stressed, and in a better mood. And now the evidence is in to explain why.

1. Time in nature alleviates mental fatigue

Many of us spend many hours sitting at work in front of a screen. It’s mentally exhausting. Stepping outside into a green or blue space quickly and easily reduces brain strain and broadens perspective by shifting you into “soft focus”. This improves short-term memory by up to 20 per cent in a way that doesn’t happen by walking along an urban street. A recent study also showed how a 40-minute nature walk produced significantly improved cognitive function, improved alertness and a feeling of being restored, beyond that achieved by exercise alone.

Not everyone has forty minutes, but 15–20 is very doable. Now everyone can take a proper lunch break, i.e. leave their desk and go outside. Even 10 minutes will help.

If time is short, taking a green break can occur indoors by opening a window to look out onto a green space or moving into a green nook that includes living plants or pictures of nature. Forty seconds (not a typo!) of gazing at grass or water provides a microbreak for the mind, restoring attention and focus.

Less mental fatigue means more headspace for more effective work. Tasks don’t feel as hard, and more gets done with less effort. Bonus!

2. Nature boosts creativity

There is something about the colour green. Glimpsing green before attempting a creative task improves creative performance by evoking curiosity, enhancing flexible thinking and directing attention. Even small doses of green promotes more new ideas, prosocial behaviour and higher task performance.

3. Regular time outdoors boosts productivity the next day

Going for a walk after work can be a great way to alleviate stress, improve mood and reduce the depletion associated with a busy day at work. The bonus being you’re now better prepared for tomorrow.

4. Natural light increases productivity

Access to natural light is a must in every office to reduce eye strain from too much time in unnatural lighting and screen time, and to boost mood, job satisfaction and workplace happiness. Oh, and it improves sleep patterns, too. And you thought it was having a barista that made the difference?

A survey by IQ Projects reported participants preferred views of the outdoors, with 41 per cent saying they felt more relaxed, 68 per cent felt it enhanced their mood, 18 per cent felt they were more productive, and 47 per cent felt more energised working near a window.

5. Working outside makes for better conversations

A walk in a green space with a colleague or client has been shown to make those difficult conversations easier, promotes greater depth and meaning, and strengthens working relationships thanks to an extra dose of dopamine, endorphins, serotonin, and oxytocin derived from being outside.

The biggest productivity boost from time in nature is lower stress. Encouraging this as a regular activity during the workday is a simple, cost-effective way to alleviate some of the stresses associated with modern workplaces, along with the protective effect in safeguarding against the risk of stress-related chronic illness, mental health challenges or burnout.

Happier, healthier employees gain greater job satisfaction and fulfilment, take less sick or stress leave, and stay in their jobs longer.

Is time in nature a productivity strategy in your workplace?

Dr Jenny Brockis is a board-certified lifestyle medicine physician, workplace health and wellbeing consultant, and author.