The typical American office worker spends more than 50 hours per week in an office. This is a ridiculously high number, and it’s actually detrimental to productivity. To be productive, you need time to recharge your mental batteries. Outdoor time at the office is one of the best ways to do this. We’ve compiled five tips to increase outdoor time at the office. It will encourage employees to take time out of their busy days and go for a walk or even just sit outside and appreciate nature — all while getting paid!
1. Provide a space for employees to relax and get away from the office
It’s important for employees to feel like they have a place to relax at work. This space can be a deck or patio, or even just a corner of the office where people can get away from the office and relax. This will encourage outdoor time at the office helping to prevent burnout, which can be a serious problem in high stress jobs. Try out these ideas and start having a little more fun at work! We need to encourage workers to take an extra 30 minutes or so each day to refresh and recharge.
2. Encourage employees to take lunch breaks outside and allow more breaks during the work hours to get some outdoor time
If possible, encourage your employees to take lunch breaks outside and allow more breaks during the work hours to get some fresh air. Fresh air and sunlight can improve your mood and energy levels, as well as help you to focus better. Take a look at your company’s policies and see if an after-work policy for employees to go for a walk or bike ride is a good idea. Again, be creative and find creative solutions for your business to make sure proper help is available if employees need it.
Relieve stress through exercise and good old-fashioned breathing. For many, exercise is a stressful activity with no upsides or downsides. However, exercise can be healthy and even promote happiness. This stress release helps you remain calm and clear. How does it work? Aerobic exercise releases endorphins, also called happy hormones. Although peaceful, endorphin release can also help you deal with anger and sadness, which is a huge problem for many employees. To increase employee happiness, try implementing a happy hour or competing on an exercise bike at the end of your work day.
From playing outside to walking up and down the stairs to enjoying time with your family and pet, there are countless ways to recharge your mental batteries. Ultimately, life is about finding ways to enjoy our time on this planet and getting more outdoor time at the office will help!
3. Build an outdoor area with comfortable seating
It’s important to build an outdoor space that feels comfortable and inviting. The most important thing to focus on is seating. When you’re designing your outdoor area, think about what kind of seating you want to include. What types of plants and flowers can complement your seating?
Whether you call them patio pillows, chairs, or sun loungers, these are the items you need to add to your outdoor settings. Feel free to experiment with different flowers, too. Try some lemongrass or sumac. These small tropical plants provide a more rustic look and spread their canopy far and wide.
Lights are an underrated element that can bring life to your space. However, you can use other natural light sources to get some additional bursts of energy.
Your office works well enough, but there are also benefits to working from home. For example, family is far more important than work in the modern-day society. Therefore, you can rest assured knowing your email will get to you. In addition, you aren’t tied to the office clock. Taking time to go for a walk each day is crucial to your health. Being able to be a productive employee without scheduling is imperative, and when you have extra time to recharge your senses, you’ll be more likely to perform throughout the day. Check out our article on “How to Stay Happy Working from Home?” for more helpful tips.
4. Give employees flexible work hours and encourage them to take breaks
Employees are most productive when they’re in a good work-life balance. Listen to what your employees need and provide flexible work hours and encourage them to take breaks to ensure they’re performing at their best.
Ways to help you help your employees:
- Write down your goals and review them every single day.
- Recognize when you’re not communicating effectively with your team.
- Involve others in your decision-making process
- Have quality days and nights
- Embrace break and lunchtime
- It’s important to constantly evaluate your performance and be willing to adjust when necessary.
Getting outdoor time is a critical productivity boost. It’s important to adjust the way you work if you find you’re struggling with your job. While going for a walk is a simple way to sustain your health and boost your mental health, it’s also a fantastic way to land that dream job.
5. Make your office environment more inviting to those who want to go outside and add plants to your office space
If you want to get the most from your employees, it’s vital that they are happy and productive in the workplace. With that in mind, you want to create an office environment that inspires creativity and productivity. To increase outdoor time at the office use plants and fresh air. Fresh air opens up cortisol production, and it helps improve productivity by lowering anxiety, according to science. Studies show that people with higher amounts of aridity are worse at focusing and performing at a high level.
Netherlands-based company WiderOaks created a program called “20 Minuten” which encourages employees to spend 10 minutes on a walk or even just a short meeting in nature. The brand knows people need a little help to get out of the office, and these simple strategies have helped put it on the map.
Studies show that once you start working in nature, it’s easier to maintain that focus for the rest of the day. It takes 90 minutes of exposure to fresh air to make a difference, even if it’s just for 10 minutes. Being out in nature has other benefits. Being in nature also helps you sleep better, which has a massive influence on your mental state and productivity.
Office workers need the benefits of nature, but so do all of us. We can be enjoying the outdoors and still receive important information from work. Hence, it’s helpful to schedule meetings in a simple setting before going out and programming your device to receive your work emails. this way you can be quick to conduct yourself both professionally and refreshed.
Obviously when you’re working from home, you always have your phone with you. But thinking about meaningful and engaging meetings during the workday will encourage people to remain concentrated and at work. It might just turn a simple meeting into an interesting and productive one.
Conclusion:
Either you are working from home or increasing outdoor time at the office, the outdoors and the workplace can be beneficial. Enjoy these ways in which the outdoors and the workplace can combine and boost both productivity and happiness resulting in happier and more productive employees.
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