Get your daily dose of nature at work
Did you know that just 20 minutes can boost your mental wellbeing?
When we feel better, we work better
When we feel better, we work better
Nature is a powerful ally in protecting our mental health, yet making time for nature in our everyday lives can be tricky - especially when many of us spend half our waking hours at work.
Even getting just a 20-minute dose of nature during the working day can be incredibly powerful for our wellbeing and improve how we perform at our jobs.
We’ve put together a wealth of ideas to help you get 20 minutes each day, wherever you work.
Plus, to help people in workplaces of all shapes and sizes get their daily dose of nature, we’ve created a downloadable guide. This can be shared with your Internal Comms or People and Culture teams to help all your colleagues get access to nature during office hours.
To get started, here are our top tips to help you feel closer to nature and look after your wellbeing while at work.
Ways to get your daily dose of nature at work
The good news is that we can experience pockets of nature in urban environments, even when we’re short of time. Here are some ideas on how to get started.
Take your next meeting outside
- Got an afternoon of meetings? Grab your headphones and take one of your calls outside.
- If you’re working from home, step outside your front door and feel the sun’s rays on your face for a few moments or take a walk in the fresh air to boost your spirits.
- Take a break and spend your lunchtime outdoors. Make use of office balconies, local gardens or any outside area near you.
Use your volunteer days
- Many organisations offer volunteer days to their staff, so don’t let these slide. See what your local nature charity has available to help with local conservation work.
- Speak with HR and see if you can rewild unused areas around your workplace with native wild plants and flowers. Find out from local wildlife groups what was there before you moved in.
- Organise a litter pick at a local waterway or green space near you. When we restore nature, it restores us too.
Bring the outside in
- Ask your organisation if you can create an office den with plants and imagery to help colleagues relax while at work. Make this nature oasis one that is accessible to all colleagues.
- Host a movie, share a book about nature, start a gardening club or seasonal cooking club to talk about nature at work and help bring like-minded people together.
- Use nature imagery around your workplace to help your colleagues understand the benefits of nature time each day.
Small actions, big impacts
Sometimes it’s tricky to balance work and home life, and sometimes we may find it challenging to find time for a daily dose of nature. Here are a few simple ideas to make nature as accessible as possible. Don’t forget to share these actions with your work colleagues to inspire them to get their daily dose of nature too.
Looking for nature
- Watch the sun rise or set if you wake up early enough, can you catch the sunrise to start your day off on a good note? Or if you are in a high-rise office, check which way you face and watch the sunset over the skyline. Or grab your coat and head outside.
- If you can’t make it outside, even spending a couple of minutes looking for nature out of a window close by can make a real difference.
- When you head outside your place of work, what nature can you spot? If you’re in an urban area, it might seem challenging to find nature at first, but even in towns and cities it’s all around us - from tree-lined streets or flower beds and planters, to birds on rooftops and in the sky.
Making space for nature
- Update your desktop, laptop or mobile phone background to a stunning nature image.
- Add a plant to your workspace, at home or in the office. (Remember to pot use peat-free compost).
Connecting with nature
- Listen to birdsongs or other nature sounds while working from home, at your desk or on your commute. Have a listen to one we like here.
- Note down a daily gratitude about what you have seen in nature that made you feel content. Keep a journal or add a note on your phone. Maybe you notice the changes of the season, or birds that nest in your area?
- Read a nature themed book or listen to a podcast on your commute or during your break.
- Reading recommendations: Wild World: Nature Through an Autistic Eye by Alfie Bowen; An Atlas of Endangered Species by Megan McCubbin; Flock Together by Nadeem Perera and Ollie Olanipekun; Around the World in 80 Trees by Jonathan Droriand Losing Eden: Why Our Minds Need the Wild by Lucy Jones.
- Don’t have time to read? Listen to a podcast instead: Call of the Wild - WWF, Ramblings - BBC Radio 4, Forest 404 - BBC Sounds, Forestry England - podcast.
Employee engagement toolkit
Employee engagement toolkit
Are you feeling inspired to get your daily dose of nature and do you think colleagues in your organisation could benefit too?
Share this guide with colleagues in your Internal Comms, People & Culture or HR teams so they can encourage the entire workforce to get a daily dose of nature and boost wellbeing at work.
Other resources
Watch the Save Our Wild Isles Business Films
Join Nature’s Workforce
The One Planet Business Newsletter
