As a writer or creative, a lot of our time is spent indoors, hunched over a computer. While this is a necessary part of the job, it isn’t so great for our creativity (or our health!) I’ve found that one of the best ways to recharge is to get outside—whether it’s going for a walk or simply reading on a park bench. Turns out, science supports this! Not only is being in nature good for your physical health, it can help stimulate creativity and productivity as well.
being in nature…
Decreases your stress hormones and heart rate
Being stressed is a common hamper on creativity, but time spent outside has been proven over and over to decrease stress levels. Japanese researchers at Chiba University found that participants who walked through a forest for just fifteen minutes showed a 16% decrease in the stress hormone cortisol, a 2% decrease in blood pressure, and a 4% decrease in heart rate. You don’t have to give up indoor plumbing and become a hermit in the woods to reap the benefits of nature; a short walk each day will get the job done!
Replenishes your directed attention
Much of our day is consumed by tasks that require directed attention. This is when we choose where to focus our attention and ignore distractions. Directed attention is what enables us to get things done, but it is also a finite resource. If you push your brain too far, it can lead to mental fatigue, loss of effectiveness, and stress. The best, most direct way to restore directed attention is involuntary attention. When you’re walking through nature, there are lots of distractions and inconsequential things to focus on: the sound of water and wind, the movement of birds and plants, the way the light shifts. This doesn’t require you to focus on one single task or thing for a long time, which allows your brain to relax and restore that directed attention that you used up earlier.
Allows your prefrontal cortex to rest and restore
The brain isn’t a machine that can function for hours or days on end without rest. In fact, it gets fatigued rather easily. The part that gets the most use is the prefrontal cortex, which is like the command center of the brain. With everything clamoring for our attention these days, it’s often more like an overworked muscle. But being in nature, just like going to sleep, allows the prefrontal cortex to relax and take a break, which can significantly improve mental performance. According to the Journal of Environmental Psychology, even spending twenty minutes outside each day might be all we need in to let our brains rest and get these benefits.
Makes you nicer to yourself
Sometimes the hardest part about creating is turning off that inner critic. It turns out that nature can help with that too. Greg Bratman of Stanford University conducted a study using 38 volunteers. He scanned their brains before and after they took an hour and a half walk. Half the group walked through a large park, and the other half walked down a busy street in Palo Alto. The group that walked through nature showed decreased activity in the subgenual prefrontal cortex, which is a part of the brain connected to depressive rumination, and self-reported that they beat themselves up less. Bratman theorizes that being outside in nature takes us out of ourselves in the best way possible.
Increases your creative problem solving
There is a famous Agatha Christie quote that goes, “The best time for planning a book is while you’re doing the dishes.” Indeed, many people have experienced the phenomenon of having a brilliant idea while doing a mindless task. In 2012, the support for this grew beyond just anecdotal tales when researchers at University of California, Santa Barbara created an experiment that showed participants who returned to an intellectually challenging task after completing an undemanding task outperformed those who did nothing during a break, worked on a different rigorous task, or those who didn’t take a break at all. Nature is one of the best places to have this mind-wandering effect, and psychologists from the University of Utah and the University of Kansas found that participants who took a test that measures creative potential performed 50% higher after spending four days in nature compared to their scores before their foray into the outdoors.
What’s your favorite place to relax outdoors? Do you find that it helps your creativity? Let me know in the comments!
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Featured image by Max van den Oetelaar
Wow, this is super interesting! I will definitely try it!
I’m glad you found it helpful!