How nature refuels our mental capacity

There comes a point when a person simply cannot focus anymore, when eyes glaze over, when thinking is just too great a burden. It’s like a car that’s run out of gas; we’ve run out of whatever strength powered our mind before.

 

Though mental exhaustion will certainly never be erased, behavioural scientists have nailed down certain behaviours that both drain our attention capacity, and restore it. As the research progresses, it becomes more and more clear that exposure to nature is good for more than just recreation; it is vital for anyone who desires a vibrant mental capacity, reports health.abc4.com.

 

 

Everything we care about in this world depends on our capacity to pay attention,” says Dr William Sullivan,  University of Illinois, who studies how environments influence health and well-being. 

 

Relationships, work, parenting, education and a million other things demand focus for a successful outcome, but our focus is finite. For example, after a long day at work, say you come home and your spouse wants to talk about something important. You just don’t have the mental energy to listen effectively, your spouse gets angry. 

According to Sullivan, when we wear out our capacity to focus attention we are more likely to:

 

 

Try to recall the last time you looked at a crackling fire, forest or waterfall. They most likely captured your attention without any exertion on your part. Humans by nature are drawn to natural occurrences, and sometimes we even spend hours observing.

 

Exposing ourselves to something that absorbs our effortless attention (instead of having to consciously focus on it) is essential for restoring focused attention. Nature has the power to grab our attention and maintain it, giving our focus a chance  to relax and rebuild.

 

“Directed attention fatigues people through overuse,” explains Stephen Kaplan, an influential attention researcher. “If you can find an environment where the attention is automatic, you allow directed attention to rest.”

 

A host of studies support the claims that exposure to nature drastically improves one’s ability to focus. For example, researchers from the University of Michigan had study participants perform a cognitive task with numbers, after which the participants went on a walk and were retested. Half of the participants walked in green areas, such as gardens, and half walked in the city. The nature walker’s scores improved significantly, and the city walker’s scores did not.

 

 

Exerting focused attention for too long can literally make us worse employees, spouses and humans. In fact, depleted focus is what many people will call “stress.” Regular breaks from our daily tasks — take a walk in the park, or even look out the window — can do wonders for our productivity.

 

Bear in mind that regularity is key. Some live for vacation days, and some vacation activities do indeed have a restorative effect, but mental fatigue will set in again on your first day back at work.

 

You don’t have to go to a forest reserve every week. Finding some source of effortless attention every day, even if it is a bonsai tree in your office, will make you feel more cooperative, more capable of listening and more in control of your behavior.