With growing awareness of the benefits of nature on our psychological, emotional and physical wellbeing, why aren’t we looking to integrate the outdoors more into working life?

Empty Office Day calls on companies and organisations to plan quality time outdoors this on 17 June each year, helping them to discover, value and promote the benefits of integrating the outdoors into the working day as an aid to creative thinking, problem solving and stress reduction. 

When you spend most of your day in an office, at a desk, in meetings, with a dash and grab lunch and glued to your smart devices, work morale, creative and productivity take a hit.

Getting outdoors can help to free us from day-to-day constraints, pressures and habitual ways of thinking and behaving.

Inspired by Empty Classroom Day, myself and fellow coach, Simon Hawtrey-Woore are launching Empty Office Day this Friday 17 June 2016, a new, yearly initiative that aims to celebrate and promote connection and wellbeing outside the office by spending time as an organisation or team outdoors, in natural green space.

Empty Office Day calls on organisations and companies from all sectors to plan quality time outdoors on 17 June as an organisation or team and to take part in at least one activity outdoors                                                 

Greenspace is good for us

Back in 2008, the University of Michigan showed that going outside, even in the cold, improved memory and attention and that in workplaces designed with nature in mind, employees were more productive and took less sick time.

The body of evidence* in support of getting outside more has grown thick and fast since then, indeed, as humans, we have a hard-wired disposition to connect with the natural world.

Nature – a catalyst for creative thinking and stress reduction

I’ve always been a keen advocate of bringing green space into a working day – or any day for that matter; it’s integral to how I work (coaching while walking in green space and team building workshops and mindfulness training outdoors). A dose of Vitamin ‘N’ (‘N’ for nature, as described by American Writer, Richard Louv), is not only ‘vital for our physical and mental health in our technology-dependent age’ but also a great catalyst for creative thinking, problem solving and stress reduction. 

Today, very few jobs involve moving around much anymore and what’s more, many work cultures don’t encourage taking breaks regularly despite official health recommendations suggesting that regular 5-10 minute breaks away from the screen sustain productivity and resourcefulness.

Did you know that on average, we spend 9.3 hours a day sitting down?
(Infographic: http://bit.ly/26qOobs))

By integrating green space into our working day, a walk in the park at lunchtime, walking part of the journey into or home from work, talking 1:1 meetings outdoors; we become more resilient, feel more positive, more content and reinvigorated. 

What can organisations do outdoors? There’s a whole host of activities organisations and teams can get involved in – independently or with facilitation, and there’s plenty of ideas for getting active outdoors on the Empty Office Day website. What organisations and teams do is up to them – from team building activities to conservation work, from treasure hunts to nature activities like guided walks and pond dipping, from team games (football, Frisbee, rounders baseball) to cycling or even canoeing –  the choice of activities is endless.

Get involved – become an Empty Office Day Champion 

We are looking to involve a wide range of organisations to support and champion Empty Office Day 2016.  To date we are delighted to have secured the support of: The Department of Human Geography at UCL, Action for Happiness, the Network of Wellbeing (NOW),  My Mental Health, The Museum of Happiness, LoveEast Magazine and The Canvas Cafe Creative Venue. As an Empty Office Day Champion, we will publicise your support on the Empty Office Day website, press notices and promotional materials (where possible) and case studies of your organisation/company activities for Empty Office Day 2016.

Who’s behind Empty Office Day: Inspired by Empty Classroom Day, myself and my coaching colleague Simon Hawtrey-Woore, came together to launch Empty Office Day. With our shared passion in helping people develop and grow through experiencing the benefits of being outdoors, we wanted to offer organisations inspiration as well as a range of facilitated activities outdoors. These activities include:

• Team development workshops in natural green space using the natural learning cycle and other methods to clarify purpose and shared values and activities to support the development of team spirit and connection
• Facilitated organisational away days outdoors in one of London's parks (eg Victoria Park, Hampstead Heath, Richmond Park, Ravenscourt Park Community Gardens)
• Guided walks with team activities in one of London parks
• 1:1 coaching while walking in London’s green space for leaders, managers and employees
• Two-day residential workshops for teams and leadership teams at Hazel Hill Woods Nature Reserve, Wiltshire or Green & Away in the Malvern Hills

Enjoy and let me know if you’d like to have a chat about Empty Office Day or activities you might like to do with your staff or team.

* Research references

Feel better outside, feel better inside, Mind, 2013
http://www.mind.org.uk/media/336359/Feel-better-outside-feel-better-inside-report.pdf

Personal Well-being and Interactions with Nature, Dr Louise Reid and Professor Colin Hunter, February 2011
http://www.esrc.ac.uk/my-esrc/grants/RES-355-25-0020/read

A walk a day keeps the doctor away, Professor Jules Pretty and Dr Jo Barton
of the University of Essex, 2010
 2010http://www.essex.ac.uk/news/event.aspx?e_id=1588

What is the best dose of nature and green exercise to improve mental health?
Pretty/Barton research report 2009/2010
http://www.julespretty.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/4.-Dose-of-Nature-EST-Barton-Pretty-May-2010.pdf

Let’s get outside, Karen Liebenguth in Coaching at Work, April 2015
http://www.coaching-at-work.com/2015/04/11/lets-get-outside/

How walking can foster creativity, Josh Jones, in Creativity, Life, Literature, Philosophy,
July 2015
http://www.openculture.com/2015/07/how-walking-fosters-creativity.html

Standford Study finds that walking improves creativity, April 2014
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/april/walking-vs-sitting-042414.html