WEBVTT - Second Cup: Green your space

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura, Welcome.

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<v Speaker 2>To the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's tip is to green

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<v Speaker 2>your space. Having a plant or two in your workspace

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<v Speaker 2>can reduce your stress, and greenery just looks pretty too.

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<v Speaker 2>I am writing this from my home office, where I

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<v Speaker 2>have three nice succulents on my window sill. I also

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<v Speaker 2>look out that window at lots of lovely trees. Whenever

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<v Speaker 2>I am feeling stressed, I look out the window and

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<v Speaker 2>feel at least a little bit more relaxed. There is

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<v Speaker 2>pretty good evidence that people do report feeling lower stress

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<v Speaker 2>levels when they have plants in their workplaces. Humans like

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<v Speaker 2>being outside, and given that a lot of our work

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<v Speaker 2>happens inside these days, having plants nearby is one of

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<v Speaker 2>the best ways to approximate the experience. Rooms with plants

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<v Speaker 2>are perceived as more cheerful, pleasant, and inviting. If you

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<v Speaker 2>work from home, this is easy enough to pull off.

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<v Speaker 2>Get a few easy houseplants. The upside of my succulence,

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<v Speaker 2>for instance, is that they really don't require a lot

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<v Speaker 2>of care. There is no need to water them frequently,

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<v Speaker 2>and they tend not to lose a lot of leaves.

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<v Speaker 2>Randomly or see the leaves go brown. But there are

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<v Speaker 2>plenty of others that can work too, like snake plants,

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<v Speaker 2>alo jade, cast iron plants and such. Just google easy houseplants. Also,

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<v Speaker 2>be mindful of what you see outside.

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<v Speaker 1>If possible, position your desk so you can look out

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<v Speaker 1>a window, then curate what you see out that window.

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<v Speaker 1>If you can move furniture or cans or kid bicycles

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<v Speaker 1>so you can see more greenery, you will probably be

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<v Speaker 1>happy about that. If you can plant something ever green

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<v Speaker 1>in your view so that even during winter you'll see

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<v Speaker 1>at least some green. Skip laurels and leyland cypresses are

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<v Speaker 1>two plants that are used a lot in landscaping because

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<v Speaker 1>they grow quickly, grow densely, and provide privacy even after

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<v Speaker 1>other plants lose their leaves. But of course you can

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<v Speaker 1>google options for this as well. If you work in

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<v Speaker 1>a corporate office, this is obviously a different matter, but

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<v Speaker 1>as long as you can have your own desks, you

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<v Speaker 1>can probably get away with at least one small plant.

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<v Speaker 1>Choose a tasteful container, and plants that don't have a

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<v Speaker 1>strong smell or tend to inspire allergies. It is much

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<v Speaker 1>like having a family photo. Most likely no one will

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<v Speaker 1>object if you and others in your organization do work

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<v Speaker 1>that doesn't involve desks. Maybe it would be possible to

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<v Speaker 1>green up and employee breakroom put a few pretty plants

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<v Speaker 1>in that communal space so people can enjoy the greenery

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<v Speaker 1>in between shifts. You might volunteer to care for the

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<v Speaker 1>plants if it would help make this happen, and if

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<v Speaker 1>you choose easy ones, they won't need watering more than

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<v Speaker 1>once a week or so. It truly is a big

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<v Speaker 1>payoff for not much effort. Sometimes we accept that work

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<v Speaker 1>is just what we have to do. People aren't necessarily

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<v Speaker 1>going to enjoy it, and maybe that's true, But we

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<v Speaker 1>enjoy everything more when a space is calming, and pretty

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<v Speaker 1>plants can make that happen while making very few demands

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<v Speaker 1>of the people caring for them. So green up your

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<v Speaker 1>space and work will feel a lot less dreary in

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<v Speaker 1>the meantime.

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<v Speaker 2>This is Laura.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of

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<v Speaker 1>our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.

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<v Speaker 1>You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.

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<v Speaker 1>Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast Pod that's b the number four then breakfast pod.

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<v Speaker 1>You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com that before Breakfast is spelled

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<v Speaker 1>out with all the letters. Thanks so much, should I

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<v Speaker 1>look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a

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<v Speaker 1>production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the

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