Whether the last year has found you working in a home office, at the kitchen table, in a corner of your sitting-room or your bedroom, the benefits of having plants in your work environment are indisputable.
People have been bringing plants into their homes for thousands of years and certainly not just for decoration. The presence of plants produces intangible benefits for us. Here three very important reasons to incorporate plants in your workspace:
1 Physical Health
Plants provide cleaner, healthier air for us to breathe, thus improving our well-being and comfort. As well as transforming carbon dioxide into oxygen, a NASA study found that plants can help purify the air by filtering out toxins like benzene from plastics and fabrics, or formaldehyde found in things like cleaning products, beauty products, carpets and furniture.
2 Mental Health
Plants make our surroundings more pleasant, and they make us feel calmer. An article published by the International Society for Horticultural Science states that interior plants are associated with reduced stress and even increased pain tolerance. Results of a study in Japan indicated that plant installations in office spaces have mental health‐care effects, namely, relaxation of visual fatigue and the feelings of drowsiness of five groups of work‐related fatigue feelings.
3) Improved Productivity
A study published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology found that indoor plants in an office can prevent fatigue during attention-demanding work. This research studied possible benefits of indoor plants on attention capacity. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: an office setting with four indoor plants, both flowering and foliage, or the same setting without plants. Participants in the plant condition improved their performance from one task to the next, whereas this was not the case in the no-plant condition.
