Is Nature the Missing Ingredient in Your Workplace Wellness Strategy?

Welcome to Love Mondays More the weekly LinkedIn newsletter that delves deeper into the ideas and concepts driving my Love Mondays email newsletter series.

Why ‘Love Mondays’? Mondays are often the low part of the week, earning the title of “worst day of the week” by the Guinness World Records. So I aim to provide a 4-minute caffeine hit of content to fire up the other 10,076 minutes of your week and stave off the Monday malaise. Don’t just live Mondays, love Mondays!

How often do you venture outdoors, away from the glow of electronic devices? It's a pertinent question in today's digital age, where screens seem to dominate our waking hours. With the average global screen time nearing seven hours per day per person, it's clear that many of us spend a significant chunk of our time glued to screens.

For those, like me, who have iPhones it’s often confronting to see the Screentime notification pop onto your screen on a Sunday and realise the average number of hours you spent on your devices…!?

Now, compare that to time spent outdoors each day, breathing in fresh air, feeling the sun's warmth on your skin (or perhaps the chill of a cool breeze), and marvelling at the wonders of the natural world. How does it measure up?

Our daily routines are often a whirlwind of tasks and responsibilities, and with our lives bustling with busyness unsurprisingly we’ve tailored our environments for convenience and efficiency, often sidelining our connection to the great outdoors.?

Yet, exposure to nature has been linked to a multitude of benefits, including enhanced attention, reduced stress levels, improved mood, and decreased risk of psychiatric disorders. Moreover, it fosters increases in concentration and creativity.

So, how can we better design our lives and work to incorporate more nature and outdoor time to harness these benefits?

Nature: A Prescription for Wellbeing at Work

According to the 2024 Global Talent Trends report from Mercer, more than 80% of employees are at risk of experiencing burnout this year. What’s more, the report highlights a disparity -? fewer than half of employers prioritise designing work environments with employee well-being in mind.?

This is particularly relevant as many workers are being urged to return to office spaces characterised by hot desks or even booths, often lacking natural elements crucial for enhancing well-being and productivity.

At a time when healthcare professionals are increasingly prescribing nature for its well-documented physical and mental health benefits—including lowering blood pressure, easing depression, and reducing anxiety—it's worth considering if leaders should adopt a similar approach.

Integrating small doses of nature into workplace design and routines could be a powerful way to address burnout and other challenges commonly faced in the workplace.

“Time spent in nature is the most cost-effective and powerful way to counteract the burnout and sort of depression that we feel when we sit in front of a computer all day” - Richard Louv, author of The Nature Principle: Reconnecting with Life in a Virtual Age

Implementing Change: From Goal to Action

Setting goals is merely the starting point; it's the systems we build that ignite real change.?

Here are three actionable nudges for your teams to infuse more nature into their daily routines and workspaces:

1. Design Opportunities for Movement: Why not shake up the traditional meeting format and take your discussions outdoors? Walking meetings or outdoor meetings provide a refreshing change of scenery while allowing employees to get a breath of fresh air and a dose of movement.
2. Introduce Automated Break Prompts: Sustained productivity doesn't last for a full 8-hour workday; it typically peaks at 90-minute intervals after which our brain craves a break. Consider encouraging workers to implement a default interruption setting that gently prompts them to step away from their desks for micro-moments in or viewing nature. This could be as simple as a notification encouraging a brief walk or breathing exercise. One oil and gas company I know of locks people out of their computers for the last 5 minutes of every hour.
3. Embrace Nature in the Workplace: According to a study by the University of Exeter, employees in offices with greenery were found to be 15% more productive compared to those in environments lacking aspects of nature. Even artificial plants can have a positive impact on mood and productivity. A separate study suggests that integrating nature-inspired elements in workplaces can slash absenteeism by up to 10%. Take a moment to evaluate your workspace—how might you redesign workspaces to incorporate more greenery, natural light, and nature-inspired scenes?

1. Be more intentional: About the design of the space around you. Can a small amount of budget go towards bringing some green in? When you next redesign your fitout or layout,? how can you integrate more biophilic elements to foster a healthier and more productive environment?
2. Be more micro-break oriented: Just 120 minutes spent outside over the course of a week can yield remarkable benefits for your well-being. That's just 17 minutes each day, or two brief outings of 8.5 minutes, or even three short breaks of 6.7 minutes each. The point is, that it doesn't require a significant time commitment.?
3. Be more attuned: Whether it's taking a moment to feel the sun on your face, observing the sway of trees outside your window, or pausing to listen to birdsong, prioritise and pay attention to these brief connections with the natural world to enhance your well-being and productivity.
4. Be more nudge-able: Design your systems to support getting the recharge you need- use nature sounds (available YouTubeon or the Calm app) to give yourself five minutes of quiet or set your screen backdrop to a beautiful naturescape. Even if you can't physically get outside, studies indicate that simply gazing at (or listening to) nature can have a profound effect on lowering stress levels.?

P.S. It’s been 6 years since I interviewed the incredible Barack Obama and last week I reflected on that unforgettable experience.? Curious about the behind-the-scenes details? Watch as I answer some questions I’ve received about the experience since here.