Productivity and Plants

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Productivity and Plants

If you’re looking for a low-cost solution to bring productivity to the workspace look no further than plants. Whether for an office or a work from home space, plants add organic décor and wellbeing to work environments. According to some studies, plants may also contribute to a higher satisfaction with the workspace and create a more positive mood amongst coworkers. Studies have also shown that people who work around plants have less stress.

People who work around plants have more positive moods and less stress

Plants also provide people with the ability to concentrate better and add to their overall physical health. When plants are in the workspace, there are fewer health-related complaints such as dry eyes, sore throat, and headaches. Because plants play a major role in increasing mood and lowering stress, colleagues are much more likely to interact with each other positively when working around indoor plants. There is likely to be low turnover and less absences when people perceive their environment as pleasurable.

Offices with plants are more likely to have employees that interact with each other and enjoy their work environment

People who work in biophilic environments are also less likely to have the desire to “recover” after a workday. Most individuals who experience their work environment as stressful are less focused at work and are prone to “waiting for the workday to be over” so that they can leave and recover from the stress. This need to rush out of the office can be minimized with the addition of plants. Humans have a natural inclination to want to be around nature and organic spaces. By adding plants to the office or a work from home space, this natural desire is fulfilled which will lessen work anxiety and improve overall productivity.

Plants support our natural need to be in organic spaces making us more relaxed and productive

Noise in the office can be distracting and another source of stress. Mental discomfort from a loud work environment can make getting a task done much harder, make most work feel burdensome, and have a stark negative effect on productivity. Because offices generally have high ceilings and hard angular surfaces, sound is not easily absorbed which makes the noises in the environment seem much louder. Plants offer the benefit of canceling out noisy environments through deflection of sounds, sound absorption, and refraction of sounds. Put simply, plants absorb and dampen noises making the office quieter for everyone. Working in a calm environment with less noise will heighten job satisfaction and lessen mental health stress thus resulting in less sick leave and more productivity.

Loud spaces can benefit greatly from the noise absorption and dampening effects of plants

HousePlantSitter Tips for Productivity and Plants

Snake Plant

An office wouldn’t be an office without Sansevieria, also known as Mother-in-Laws Tongue, but generally sold as Snake Plants. These plants can be found in many commercial buildings and are popular due to their low maintenance qualities. Snake plants can range from 6 inches to 12 feet tall. It’s best to decide how large you want your snake plants to be early in the decision process since they grow very slowly and will last for many years. Sansevieria’s make excellent office plants because they are particularly good at filtering out formaldehyde traces, which can be produced by white paper and many cleaning products. They thrive in bathroom conditions and are perfect for wash areas both at the office and at home.

Spider Plant

Chlorophytum comosum, or the Spider Plant, is a very resilient plant. It’s a great plant to place on shelves or hang from baskets. Spider plants are definitely the superheroes of the plant world. They have been proven to remove around 95% of toxins from the air around them within 24 hours. Spider plants are tolerant of many room conditions and self-replicate, with most plants producing mini spider plants at a rapid rate. It is known for removing common toxins found in the air in workspaces such as formaldehyde, carbon monoxide and xylene.

Peace Lily

Peace Lilies, also known as Spathiphyllum, are a great way to reduce work sick days. They can destroy pathogenic viruses and bacteria by absorbing them through the soil and root system. Peace lilies are also a great way to add florals to the workspace. They have wonderful dark glossy foliage and produce big white flowers. Peace Lilies are a fan favorite because they work well in places with minimal lighting. Some of the common volatile organic compounds that Peace Lilies help eliminate are formaldehyde, benzene, and trichloroethylene.

There are many other plants that work well for indoor spaces.

Some plants require more care than others and even low maintenance plants still require consistent care to last long.
Contact Houseplantsitter today to help with your office plant purchasing and maintenance needs

References

Alessandro, F., Asdrubali, F., Mencarelli, N. (2015) ‘Experimental Evaluation and Modelling of the Sound Absorption Properties of Plants for Indoor Acoustic applications’, Building and Environment, 94 (2), 913-923.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10346441/
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249624229_Plants_in_the_WorkplaceThe_Effects_of_Plant_Density_on_Productivity_Attitudes_and_Perceptions
https://eml.berkeley.edu/~schoefer/schoefer_files/Regional_Productivity_2022.pdf