WEBVTT - 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 to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is to green your space. Having a plant or

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<v Speaker 1>two in your workspace can reduce your stress, and greenery

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<v Speaker 1>just looks pretty too. I am writing this from my

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<v Speaker 1>home office, where I have three nice succulents on my

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<v Speaker 1>window sill. I also look out that window at lots

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<v Speaker 1>of lovely trees. Whenever I am feeling stressed, I look

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<v Speaker 1>out the window and feel at least a little bit

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<v Speaker 1>more relaxed. There is pretty good evidence that people do

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<v Speaker 1>report feeling lower stress levels when they have plants in

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<v Speaker 1>their workplaces. Humans like being outside, and given that a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of our work happens inside these days, having plants

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<v Speaker 1>nearby is one of the best ways to approximate the experience.

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<v Speaker 1>Rooms with plants are perceived as more cheerful, pleasant, and inviting.

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<v Speaker 1>If you work from home, this is easy enough to

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<v Speaker 1>pull off. Get a few easy houseplants. The upside of

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<v Speaker 1>my succulence, for instance, is that they really don't require

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of care. There is no need to water

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<v Speaker 1>them frequently, and they tend not to lose a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of leaves. Randomly or see the leaves go brown. But

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<v Speaker 1>there are plenty of others that can work too, like

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<v Speaker 1>snake plants, alo jade, cast iron plants and such. Just

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<v Speaker 1>google easy houseplants. Also, 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. This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's

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<v Speaker 1>to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd

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<v Speaker 1>love to hear from you. You can send me your tips,

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<v Speaker 1>your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter,

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<v Speaker 1>Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's b the

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<v Speaker 1>number four then breakfast pod. You can also shoot me

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<v Speaker 1>an email at Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com

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<v Speaker 1>that before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much, should I look forward to staying in touch.

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts

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