Health benefits of keeping a desk plant

Health benefits of keeping a desk plant
Having a plant on your desk is a pleasant decorative feature, but it turns out it has health benefits too.

Bringing a piece of nature into the office can significantly reduce stress in the workplace, according to a recent study.

Researchers from the University of Hyogo in Japan found workers who had the chance to “gaze intentionally at nearby plants on a daily basis in the work environment” were able to reduce their “psychological and physiological stress”.

Office workers at a Japanese electric company had their pulse rates measured during two three-minute breaks in the workday.

In the first break, no plant was present as workers sat at their desks.

The second break had workers looking at and/or caring for a plant on the desk.

The study found that workers’ pulse rates were significantly lower during the break with the plant than without.

Even if participants didn’t intentionally look at the plant during their break, its presence still provided a degree of stress reduction.

After a four-week period, approximately 27 per cent of employees had a lower pulse rate and decreased levels of anxiety.

Researchers saw an opportunity to study a real office setting, as previous studies on the psychological and physiological effects of indoor plants had mostly been conducted in laboratory or quasi-office settings.

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