Glancing out of the window at a roof garden, covered in flowers and grass, for a 40-second “micro-break” can transform workers’ flagging concentration, according to a study.
It is the first evidence that a glimpse of nature among the skyscrapers can rejuvenate people’s concentration. Academics at the University of Melbourne in Australia split 150 psychology students into two groups to take a five-minute “sustained attention” test in which 108 digits flashed up on their computer screens. They were told to press the left arrow key for every number except three. The sets of students did equally well in the test but when they repeated it after being shown for 40 seconds a picture of either a roof garden planted with tall grass and yellow flowers or a concrete roof devoid of plants, those who had seen the flowers fared better. The researchers suggested in the Journal of Environmental Psychology that urban workers could take “frequent micro-breaks” to keep up the intellectual energy, and that they would benefit significantly from being able to see more green roofs. Moody, O. (2015, May) Roof Gardens Help Office Staff to Concentrate. The Times.
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