How Nature Could Unlock Your Best Work
By: Alexandra Sutton
Tags: Business, Focus, Mindful Work, Productivity, Creativity

Have you ever returned to work after a lunchbreak stroll in the park feeling refreshed? Maybe you suddenly came up with the solution to a problem you’d been worrying about all day? There’s an excellent reason for that. Research shows that merely looking at nature can make you more creative and boost your problem-solving skills.

Of course, modern work culture doesn’t quite support that logic — we’re expected to function at full capacity after spending the day staring at a computer screen. And we’re so drained after replying to emails and fixing small problems that the important stuff gets pushed to the wayside. It’s time this changed.

According to a study published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology, being in nature encourages mind wandering, increasing your chances of having ‘aha’ moments. Another study links it to enhanced focus, with authors arguing, “Research indicates that exposure to natural settings seems to replenish some lower-level modules of the executive attentional system.”

Along with that, going outdoors can make you feel better and more able to handle your workload. “Nature enhances our mood, reduces our stress levels, and enhances our recovery,” believes postdoctoral researcher Cecilia Stenfors.

To show this, Stenfors worked on ‘The 72 Hour Cabin’ case study. The project saw 5 people leave their high-stress jobs and lifestyles to stay in custom-built cabins in the Swedish wilderness. The walls and roofs of the dwellings were transparent, allowing visitors to go to sleep and wake up with the sun.

Participants had their blood-pressure levels, heart rates, and thought processes measured.

How did they feel after 3 days? They were calmer, less stressed (their blood pressure levels dropped) and not as worried.

Yep, what New York City-based event coordinator Baqer Keshwani thought was going to be a holiday turned out to be “a life-changing experience.”

With research-backed benefits like these, going into the wilderness should not be an escape — it should be a way of life.

Perhaps one day, sending employees into nature to give them ‘untouchable’ experiences will be a go-to technique for encouraging deep work. After all, the wilderness is like rocket-fuel for creativity.

Which is something that founder of outdoor apparel brand Patagonia (and every marketer’s hero), Yvon Chouinard, has known for years. Yvon regularly immerses himself in nature. He prioritises surfing, fishing — you name it.

“From June to October, I’m in Wyoming getting my mountain fix. I call into the company about twice a week to keep up with what’s going on.” — Yvon Couinard.

And he tells his employees to do the same. As long as the work gets done, Yvon encourages everybody who works for him to go live their lives outdoors. In fact, when they start, he hands out a copy of his first book, ‘Let My People Go Surfing.’

And the results speak for themselves. While their profits continue to grow, Patagonia also enjoys extremely high employee retention. In 2017, they reported that in the history of their company, every single mother that had taken maternity leave has decided to return to work.

So, do you want to enjoy happier staff and better work? Perhaps it’s time you encouraged these changes in your workplace. You could start small by pitching a wilderness workshop for staff, and if you notice results, develop these woodland reprieves into something more permanent.

After all, if a lunchbreak stroll in the park is enough to help you solve little problems, imagine what immersing yourself — or your staff — in the wilderness for days might do? Perhaps after a 72 hours or better sleep and clearer thoughts, you, too, could produce a Patagonia-style body of work?