Second Cup: Green your space

Plants make people happier

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
This is Laura, Welcome.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
To the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's tip is to green
your space. Having a plant or two in your workspace
can reduce your stress, and greenery just looks pretty too.
I am writing this from my home office, where I

(00:35):
have three nice succulents on my window sill. I also
look out that window at lots of lovely trees. Whenever
I am feeling stressed, I look out the window and
feel at least a little bit more relaxed. There is
pretty good evidence that people do report feeling lower stress

(00:57):
levels when they have plants in their workplaces. Humans like
being outside, and given that a lot of our work
happens inside these days, having plants nearby is one of
the best ways to approximate the experience. Rooms with plants

(01:17):
are perceived as more cheerful, pleasant, and inviting. If you
work from home, this is easy enough to pull off.
Get a few easy houseplants. The upside of my succulence,
for instance, is that they really don't require a lot
of care. There is no need to water them frequently,

(01:41):
and they tend not to lose a lot of leaves.
Randomly or see the leaves go brown. But there are
plenty of others that can work too, like snake plants,
alo jade, cast iron plants and such. Just google easy houseplants. Also,
be mindful of what you see outside.

Speaker 1 (02:04):
If possible, position your desk so you can look out
a window, then curate what you see out that window.
If you can move furniture or cans or kid bicycles
so you can see more greenery, you will probably be
happy about that. If you can plant something ever green

(02:26):
in your view so that even during winter you'll see
at least some green. Skip laurels and leyland cypresses are
two plants that are used a lot in landscaping because
they grow quickly, grow densely, and provide privacy even after
other plants lose their leaves. But of course you can

(02:48):
google options for this as well. If you work in
a corporate office, this is obviously a different matter, but
as long as you can have your own desks, you
can probably get away with at least one small plant.
Choose a tasteful container, and plants that don't have a

(03:10):
strong smell or tend to inspire allergies. It is much
like having a family photo. Most likely no one will
object if you and others in your organization do work
that doesn't involve desks. Maybe it would be possible to
green up and employee breakroom put a few pretty plants

(03:35):
in that communal space so people can enjoy the greenery
in between shifts. You might volunteer to care for the
plants if it would help make this happen, and if
you choose easy ones, they won't need watering more than
once a week or so. It truly is a big

(03:56):
payoff for not much effort. Sometimes we accept that work
is just what we have to do. People aren't necessarily
going to enjoy it, and maybe that's true, But we
enjoy everything more when a space is calming, and pretty

(04:17):
plants can make that happen while making very few demands
of the people caring for them. So green up your
space and work will feel a lot less dreary in
the meantime.

Speaker 2 (04:34):
This is Laura.

Speaker 1 (04:36):
Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.
You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at

(04:57):
Before Breakfast Pod that's b the number four then breakfast pod.
You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com that before Breakfast is spelled
out with all the letters. Thanks so much, should I
look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a

(05:21):
production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.