Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
Speaker 1: This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to green your space. Having a plant or
Speaker 1: two in your workspace can reduce your stress, and greenery
Speaker 1: just looks pretty too. I am writing this from my
Speaker 1: home office, where I have three nice succulents on my
Speaker 1: window sill. I also look out that window at lots
Speaker 1: of lovely trees. Whenever I am feeling stressed, I look
Speaker 1: out the window and feel at least a little bit
Speaker 1: more relaxed. There is pretty good evidence that people do
Speaker 1: report feeling lower stress levels when they have plants in
Speaker 1: their workplaces. Humans like being outside, and given that a
Speaker 1: lot of our work happens inside these days, having plants
Speaker 1: nearby is one of the best ways to approximate the experience.
Speaker 1: Rooms with plants are perceived as more cheerful, pleasant, and inviting.
Speaker 1: If you work from home, this is easy enough to
Speaker 1: pull off. Get a few easy houseplants. The upside of
Speaker 1: my succulence, for instance, is that they really don't require
Speaker 1: a lot of care. There is no need to water
Speaker 1: them frequently, and they tend not to lose a lot
Speaker 1: of leaves. Randomly or see the leaves go brown. But
Speaker 1: there are plenty of others that can work too, like
Speaker 1: snake plants, alo jade, cast iron plants and such. Just
Speaker 1: google easy houseplants. Also, be mindful of what you see outside.
Speaker 1: If possible, position your desk so you can look out
Speaker 1: a window, then curate what you see out that window.
Speaker 1: If you can move furniture or cans or kid bicycles
Speaker 1: so you can see more greenery, you will probably be
Speaker 1: happy about that. If you can plant something ever green
Speaker 1: in your view so that even during winter you'll see
Speaker 1: at least some green. Skip laurels and leyland cypresses are
Speaker 1: two plants that are used a lot in landscaping because
Speaker 1: they grow quickly, grow densely, and provide privacy even after
Speaker 1: other plants lose their leaves. But of course you can
Speaker 1: google options for this as well. If you work in
Speaker 1: a corporate office, this is obviously a different matter, but
Speaker 1: as long as you can have your own desks, you
Speaker 1: can probably get away with at least one small plant.
Speaker 1: Choose a tasteful container, and plants that don't have a
Speaker 1: strong smell or tend to inspire allergies. It is much
Speaker 1: like having a family photo. Most likely no one will
Speaker 1: object if you and others in your organization do work
Speaker 1: that doesn't involve desks. Maybe it would be possible to
Speaker 1: green up and employee breakroom put a few pretty plants
Speaker 1: in that communal space so people can enjoy the greenery
Speaker 1: in between shifts. You might volunteer to care for the
Speaker 1: plants if it would help make this happen, and if
Speaker 1: you choose easy ones, they won't need watering more than
Speaker 1: once a week or so. It truly is a big
Speaker 1: payoff for not much effort. Sometimes we accept that work
Speaker 1: is just what we have to do. People aren't necessarily
Speaker 1: going to enjoy it, and maybe that's true, But we
Speaker 1: enjoy everything more when a space is calming, and pretty
Speaker 1: plants can make that happen while making very few demands
Speaker 1: of the people caring for them. So green up your
Speaker 1: space and work will feel a lot less dreary in
Speaker 1: the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's
Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd
Speaker 1: love to hear from you. You can send me your tips,
Speaker 1: your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter,
Speaker 1: Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's b the
Speaker 1: number four then breakfast pod. You can also shoot me
Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com
Speaker 1: that before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, should I look forward to staying in touch.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts
Speaker 1: from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.