This morning, I attended a 4 hour zoom workshop on systems thinking from Elisabeth Hendrickson. They did all the things right to a zoom workshop manageable – regular breaks, really interactive, and still, at the end, I was ready to lie down on the floor and be a log for a day or two. My brain and body felt pounded. (I do, by the way, recommend the workshop. I learned several new and useful tools for thinking about systemic challenges an organization faced. It was a great workshop. But it was still a zoom workshop, which is exhausting).

I got some food, and then I went outside and gardened. After an hour or two outside, drawing with chalk with my kid, and weeding the cracks in the sidewalk (and then sweeping them up), my back ached, my body felt tired and calm, and my brain was spinning with new ideas, and excited to jump back to work.

Outdoors time for kids

We* talk a lot about the importance of outdoors time, movement, and nature for kids. All kids need it, or their mental health and their school work (and many other metrics of wellbeing) suffer.** But some kids can’t cope without them, or with reduced amounts at all. Without enough outdoor and active play time, all kids will be less focused, less interested, more unhappy, and having a harder time. However, some kids (most notably many kids with ADHD, among others), absolutely can’t cope without this outdoor time, and lots of it. Like the canary in the coal mine, the lack of something that all kids need shows up in explosive and loud ways for these kids.

Furthermore, many kids think and learn better when they’re moving. For some kids, this is a requirement. They cannot focus or think or learn while still, only while moving.

Outdoors time for adults

And yet, once kids grow up into adults, the conversation drops off. Who is talking about the movement, outdoors and nature needs of adults? We expect adult knowledge workers to work 8+ ish hour days, and keep their butt in the seat most of those hours. Isn’t that what the “back to the office” movement is about? The fear that at home, adults aren’t keeping their butts in their seat all day, and thus aren’t working enough?

5 years after the start of the pandemic, more companies are continuing to issue new return to office mandates.*** Anecdotally, from conversations with other engineers, a significant portion of jobs recruiters are reaching out for are hybrid or in-office.

And yet, this “butts in seats” thinking is entirely backwards. I will admit that there are also upsides to in-person work, and indeed, I’m planning to talk about that in the future. However, focusing on how many hours employees are sitting (or standing) at their desks is counter-productive. Adults who keep their butts in seats all day are less healthy, less happy, and also, I believe, less productive.

The essential restorative nature of outdoor movement

When our mental tanks are depleted, pushing through and continuing to attempt to work on a non-rote task is just more draining. This is true whether you are frustrated and stuck on a problem, or exhausted from too many or too long meetings, or upset about something or someone at work. You aren’t going to do quality work by forcing an exhausted brain to try, IF you even get anything done at all. Your brain won’t be rested and restored by scrolling on your phone, or mindlessly checking email, slack, and Jira on repeat either. It may let you look like you’re working while your brain is dog tired, but it isn’t productive and it’s actually harmful.

Restoring your brain and synthesizing information

When I first started consulting, I paused my timer every time I got up to go to the bathroom, or refill my water. I don’t do that anymore, and I don’t pause the timer when I go for a walk or garden during the workday, either. You aren’t paying me for my time with my butt glued to a seat. You are paying me for the time that my brain works on the complex problems you hired me to work on, and the solutions I deliver.

Those complex problems will be better, faster, and more creatively solved if I spend a portion of my workday moving, outside, and with my fingers in the dirt. It might seem like I’m stepping away from work. Certainly, my butt is not in a seat. However, during outside movement time, my brain rests, and recharges. Emotions like anxiety or frustration are felt and then melt away. Information is synthesized, and I create a better understanding of the problem. Whether I was actively working through the problem or “just taking a break”, I come back with new energy and insights that are essential to quality knowledge work.

Of course, if I substantially step away from work, and focus on other things, then I stop the timer. Transparent honesty is one of my highest values, both in business and as a person. If I’m not working on your project, then I won’t bill you.

However, you can’t get my best problem solving and creativity and best intellectual work without the time spent moving my body outside. One doesn’t come without the other.

This may sound like a diatribe against in-office work, and it is, a little bit, but I am thinking about another newsletter about the things I really miss about in-office work, and how to regain those things without taking on a huge commute again.

For now, I have a couple of suggestions to try, to increase movement and outdoors time in your workday, wherever you work. 1, Pick one zoom meeting a week and ask the person to call you on the phone instead, and go for a walk. 2. Take the time to move your body outside, in a way you enjoy, during your workday. Try to think of it as part of your work. Then reflect on what came of it. Was it a distraction? Or did you find that things were clearer, and more organized and easier to understand when you sat your butt back in your seat?

What was the impact on your productivity and well being? I would strongly guess that both will be improved.

Finally, I’d love if you let me know what you think! You can reply to this email, or email me at caroline@taymor.io.

*We in this case means some parents and teachers who care deeply about the success of neurodivergent kids, and all kids, at school. ** One of many review papers on the topic: The Benefits of School Recess *** McKinsey research on return to office

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b'vracha, Caroline Taymor