Yahoo Finance The $4, three-minute workplace ritual proven to cut stress
The first day back in the office can be anxiety-inducing, but according to a new study, there’s one simple way to destress.
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The Japanese study, published in the HortTechnology journal, found that workers who took three minutes to look at and care for a desk plant were less stressed than they were at the beginning of the trial.
To arrive at this conclusion, researchers asked the 63 participants who had a full-time desk job to take three-minute breaks when they felt tired.
Over the four weeks of the trial, participants took their pulse and filled out surveys before and after gazing at the plant.
The plants were generally small succulents and bonsai plants. Bunnings sells small plants like succulents from $3.98.
And, the more frequently workers took the three-minute breaks, the greater the stress reduction. The study also found that the type of plant made no difference on the results.
Around 27 per cent of participants saw a significant reduction in their pulse rate at the end of the three minutes, while most also recorded lower anxiety.
Participants also said seeing their plants grow was “fun”.
“Our study indicates that having opportunities to gaze intentionally at nearby plants on a daily basis in the work environment can reduce the psychological and physiological stress of office workers,” the researchers said.
However, the experiment also delivered a warning: plants at work can have a negative impact on stress levels if the plants were unhealthy.
The researchers collated positive and negative comments on the four-week trial, noting that participants who complained of unhealthy or “withered” plants were also more likely to have seen stress levels increase, albeit not in a profound manner.
The researchers said the minimal impact could be due to the fact that back-up plants were readily available.
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