If you’re suffering from workplace stress, or you’re a manager and you can easily tell that several of your employees are feeling under pressure, you need a visit from Mother Nature!
Everyone knows that spending time outdoors, amongst nature, is one of the best natural heaters out there, but it’s entirely possible to bring those benefits indoors, by looking at the way your office is designed, and bringing elements of that into your space.
This is called ‘biophilic office design’ and it’s one of the best ways to reduce stress without even realising it!
There are many causes of stress in the workplace, including poor management, office conflicts, unfair workloads, unrealistic deadlines, and problems from home seeping into the time you spend sitting at your office desk. However, the good news is that workplace stress can be managed, you simply need to know what to do. This means talking about the issue at hand, exercising, focusing on self-care, and using time management techniques to make progress, rather than feeling stuck, which of course exacerbates the problem.
Biophilic design helps all of this without really having to do very much at all. This means bringing elements of the outdoors, indoors. So, we’re talking about office plants in the space, decorating in a neutral colour scheme, such as blues, greens, and beiges, and ensuring that lighting is as natural as possible. Throw open those windows and let the fresh air in!
Of course, you can go a step further and perhaps install a living wall into your office, but if you don’t have the budget to do so, it doesn’t have to be to this extreme. It’s simply about having as much nature in your office as you can. The benefits are far-reaching, including:
- Reduced stress
- Air purity
- Reduced allergens in the air
- Increased productivity
- Improved concentration and focus
- A better first impression for those entering the office
However, just because your office is designed with nature in mind, that doesn’t mean that it is a replacement for spending time outdoors. Stress relief is far easier to achieve if you make a regular effort to head outside and perhaps have some exercise in the Great Outdoors. For an office worker, however, taking regular breaks and going outside for some fresh air might be all you need to calm down and de-stress.
Many office workers believe that taking regular breaks is counterproductive. They believe that the time you’re on a break could be put to better use by sitting at your office chair and getting on with more work. However, that’s not the case. Not taking regular breaks makes it harder to focus, harder to concentrate, and you're more likely to make mistakes. This all contributes to stress if you’re already prone to it in the first place. So, be sure to take your breaks regularly and make sure you get up and away from your desk. A breakout space or heading to the office booths is a good idea, but as before, going outside is always the better option - weather permitting, of course!