Spending time outdoors can restore your attention and boost your problem-solving abilities.
Thanks to drawn-out workdays, dismal weather, and the appeal of a relaxing day on the couch, you’re likely spending more time nestled indoors than out exploring nature. In fact, 42 percent of U.S. adults spend less than 30 minutes a day outside, according to a 2021 survey of 1,000 Americans from the National Recreation and Park Association.But traversing the outdoors may give you the mental boost you need to perform your best. Spending time outside can help improve your ability to focus, critical thinking skills, and working memory, says Dennis Kiley, MCP, a psychotherapist and the founder of the EcoPsychology Initiative, which offers classes and trainings on ecotherapy, climate psychology, and other mental health topics.
Here, Kiley breaks down why immersing yourself in nature — whether you’re camping for a week or sitting in a local park for a few hours — can enhance your cognitive well-being, plus how you can score those benefits.
Why nature improves cognitive functioning
There’s no shortage of research supporting nature’s positive impacts on cognitive functioning, attention, and problem-solving abilities.
Specifically, a 2019 study found that cognitive performance, determined by the results of a demanding executive-functioning test, improved significantly more after interacting with nature than after interacting with urban environments. Similarly, researchers have found significant evidence that individuals who are exposed to natural settings later have better attention scores than folks who are exposed to non-natural settings, according to a 2016 systematic review. And another study on 56 backpackers found that spending four days immersed in nature, completely disconnected from media and technology, improved performance on a creative problem-solving task by 50 percent.
There are a few possible explanations for nature’s brain-boosting effect. First, being outdoors naturally promotes mindfulness and activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which relaxes your body, says Kiley. “When our brains are a little less stimulated and stressed, they can function better,” he notes.
There’s also the Attention Restoration Theory (ART). When you need to focus on a specific, mundane task and tune out all distractions that are naturally more interesting (known as directed attention), you may develop attention fatigue, which is linked with poor decision-making and less self-control, per the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health. But according to ART, spending time in nature — so long as you feel immersed in the environment and removed from your daily activities, your focus is being held easily, and you actually want to be there — encourages a more effortless or “indirect” type of attention. In turn, your brain is able to restore its directed attention capacity, which improves mental fatigue and concentration, per the European Centre for Environment & Human Health.
Essentially, “the more effort your brain exerts, it depletes a cumulative bank that we have available each day,” says Kiley. “When you’re outdoors, your attention and your senses are engaged, but it doesn't require added focus or energy, thereby it doesn't deplete you, and you're able to recover and restore more easily.”
How to harness the power of nature
To get the baseline mental and cognitive benefits nature has to offer, aim to spend at least two hours a week outdoors, says Kiley. A 2019 survey of more than 19,800 people found that respondents who spent more than 120 minutes in contact with nature each week had significantly greater odds of reporting good health or high well-being compared to respondents who didn’t have any contact with nature.
You’re best off meeting this recommendation by spending a few long periods outside each week rather than a dozen quick recesses. “Just stepping outside for some fresh air has a benefit, but it's generally not as long-lasting,” says Kiley. “It’s not as complete of an attention reset.” Still, you shouldn’t let that dissuade you from heading outdoors for a short work break. “Get in however much you can and in whatever ways you can do it,” he suggests. To increase your time in nature and revive your focus, try taking any activity you usually do indoors — a meeting, an afternoon work break, a family dinner, a workout — outside, recommends Kiley.
Incorporating some mindfulness into your usual outdoor activities can enhance nature’s restorative effect on your mind, says Kiley. You might try a mindful walk, staying aware of your body, mind, and surroundings as you move, or practice forest bathing, connecting with the environment around you as you hike, he suggests.
While any outdoor location can be restorative, the fewer distractions, the better for your cognitive functioning, says Kiley. Sitting in a noisy spot in Central Park that’s packed with people may not allow for that effortless, indirect attention that helps restore your directed attention capacity, he notes. And it may make it difficult to fully relax and tune into the environment around you.
But that’s not to say you won’t get any benefits from spending time in a location right on the beaten path, he says. Even if you don’t have access to an empty park or remote forest, says Kiley, any calm outdoor area that makes you feel immersed in nature and gives you an escape from your daily life may help improve your cognitive functioning and attention.