Nowadays, we are increasingly subjected to varying types of stimuli, whether it be at work, in the city or at home. Urban spaces are filled with luminous panels, advertisements and other displays that both capture our attention and saturate our cognitive space. Work and school require us to be able to direct our attention in order to stay focused, retain information and perform the tasks required. Even our eisure time requires a certain amount of concentration, be it through mobile phone apps, games or videos. These constant pleas for our attention can lead to real fatigue, which can result in a greater propensity for getting distracted, poorer self-control, irritability, stress and increased difficulty in decision-making, amongst other things. [1] We can therefore ask ourselves how we can avoid being overwhelmed and successfully take care of our attention span in a day-to-day life that constantly puts it to the test.
In order to address this question, Kaplan (1995) put forward the attention restoration theory. [2] This theory highlights contact and immersion effects in nature on cognitive recovery. According to Kaplan, this recovery results from the way nature incites indirect and therefore less constraining attention on individuals. Nature has a purified composition and makes for weak stimuli, making it possible to not focus on specific elements and though this to restore direct attention. Thus spending time in nature, even if it is just in a park or a garden, improves general well-being.
So why not try and change our habits by taking a little more time to be in contact with nature? This could be achieved through walking through the park rather than the street to get home, even if this lengthens the trip a little, or allowing ourselves more “natural” breaks. But even if you find it difficult to get into direct contact with nature, simply looking at it can have positive effects. [3] So no more excuses, you can get better !
References
[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4287696/
[2] Kaplan, S. (1995). THE RESTORATIVE BENEFITS OF NATURE : TOWARD AN INTEGRATIVE FRAMEWORK. (1995), 169–182. https://doi.org/10.1016/0272-4944(95)90001-2
[3] Staats, H., Kiviet, A., and Hartig, T. 2003. “Where to Recover from Attentional Fatigue: An Expectancy-Value Analysis of Environmental Preference.” Journal of Environmental Psychology 23 (2): 147-157.