Editor's Letter: A Natural Connection

When we were young, summer used to mean adopting a slower pace than we were accustomed to during the rest of the year. The days felt endless, and so did the summer season, as we enjoyed long bike rides, swimming until our skin wrinkled and catching fireflies after dusk.

As adults, slowing down during the summer and disengaging from the distractions our smart phones present isn’t easy. But I think it’s an important goal, especially when you live in Ohio and sunny, warm days are rare. Slowing down and interacting with nature, in particular, allows us to recharge and see things in new ways.

If you’re like me, summer typically flies past too fast. Labor Day arrives, and I realize that I haven’t done most of the things I’d hoped to with those long days filled with sunshine. I’ve come to realize that if I leave it up to spontaneity, most of the things I’d like to do, I won’t do. I have to rely on a schedule, just as I do at the office.

This summer, as the staff of the Recycling Today Media Group plans for the year ahead, I’m also going to pencil in time for outdoor fun and relaxation.

Whatever outdoor activities define summer for you, I hope you make the time to enjoy them, because doing so can improve your performance at work.  

In the Headcase column titled “The Brain’s Call of the Wild,” featured on Psychology Today’s website (www.psychologytoday.com), Eric Jaffe writes about the benefits of attention restoration theory (ART). According to ART, established by Stephen Kaplan of the University of Michigan, exposure to scenes depicting natural environments have a restorative effect on the brain’s ability to focus.

According to ART, people engage in voluntary and involuntary attention. Involuntary attention is an effortless form of engagement with the environment, and voluntary attention requires focus and energy. Voluntary attention plays a central role in problem solving, according to the essay, and is prone to fatigue.

“Voluntary attention can be restored through sleep, but it can also be restored during waking hours when a person’s involuntary attention becomes highly engaged, essentially giving direct attention a breather,” Jaffe writes.

According to Kaplan and his collaborators, nature is especially conducive to our involuntary engagement, which can improve our performance once we return to the office.

Hopefully, this information will prompt you to put down the smart phone, step away from the computer and head outdoors for the afternoon.