M·09
Mind & Body
Green Restores Attention
Time in natural settings restores directed attention; equivalent time in urban settings does not.
- Evidence
- shaky
- Topic
- Mind
- Things to do
- 3
- Read
- 1 min
shakyHow strong is the evidence?
Real, but smaller and shakier than the story you have probably heard.
- Berman, Jonides & Kaplan, Psychological Science, 2008 — 20% memory improvement after a nature walk
- Kaplan, attention restoration theory
Check it yourself: doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02225.x
A correction to this entry
Downgraded from solid. Attention-restoration theory has had mixed support, and the widely repeated 20% figure comes from one small study. That time outdoors helps is not in doubt; the size and the mechanism are.
Why it works
Natural environments hold attention softly and involuntarily, which lets the voluntary-attention system recover. Streets demand the same system you are trying to rest.
What to do about it
- A 20-minute walk somewhere green, without a podcast. The input is the point.
- Take it before the hard second half of the day, not as a reward at the end.
- Even a window view and plants produce a smaller version of the effect.
Where people go wrong
Walking while on a call. That is a meeting with worse ergonomics.
Read next
- Close the Day ExplicitlyA defined end-of-day ritual releases work thoughts far better than trying to stop thinking about them.untested
- Exercise Is the Strongest Single InterventionNothing else improves mood, attention, memory and long-term cognition on as much evidence as regular aerobic exercise.proven
- Sleep Sets the Emotional BaselineOne night of deprivation raises amygdala reactivity to negative images by about 60% and weakens the prefrontal control over it.proven
- Name It to Tame ItPutting a feeling into words reduces amygdala activity and recruits the regulating prefrontal regions.solid