Welcome to the first week of our summer challenge, which encourages you to “touch grass” — or in other words, to put down your phone and reconnect with the real world.
Every week in June, we’re sending you an evidence-based exercise that will encourage you to step away from your screen.
If you’re anything like me, you’re a little worried about the hours you while away indoors and on your phone. More than half of U.S. adults say that they are on their devices too much. We also spend around 90 percent of our time inside.
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Dr. John La Puma, an internist and author of “Indoor Epidemic,” calls these moments we’re on our phones “ultraprocessed time,” because they don’t replenish us. Much like ultraprocessed food, he told me, ultraprocessed time is “engineered for convenience, compulsion and stimulation, not for nourishment.”
But we don’t need to eliminate every second we pass scrolling on TikTok. Instead, we should add some leafy “greens” to our proverbial plates — by getting out into green spaces.
Research suggests that being outdoors, even for short periods, can improve your health in many ways, among them reduced stress, better mood and higher levels of focus and memory.
So let’s get outside, together. Here’s how to do it.
Swap in some green time.
For our first exercise, you’ll commit to spending 20 minutes a day in nature — not just this week but throughout the month of June.
Why? A landmark study of nearly 20,000 subjects found that when people spent at least 120 minutes in nature a week, they reported significantly higher levels of health and well-being. That’s 17 minutes a day.
Any quieter patch of green will do, such as a small park or a canopy of street trees, Dr. La Puma said. “You don’t need to be in a forest to get benefits,” he added.
Take a look at your schedule.
Check your calendar every morning and find two 10-minute slots of time that you can spend outside, said Manoush Zomorodi, author of “Body Electric: The Hidden Health Costs of the Digital Age and New Science to Reclaim Your Well-Being.” (Or find one 20-minute slot if that works better.)
You can step outdoors first thing in the morning and listen to the birds, said Megan Delaney, who studies the effects of nature on mental health at Monmouth University. If you live in a city, Dr. Delaney added, take a walk and notice nature in unlikely places, “such as ivy on the wall, a dandelion popping out of the sidewalk,” she said.
If you don’t think you can fit 20 minutes into your schedule, take a look at the amount of time you actually spend on your phone. (Here are instructions for iPhone and Android.)
Does the number surprise you? Mine shocked me: On a Sunday when I wasn’t working, I had somehow racked up four hours. If you have a similar reaction, you can probably find 20 minutes for a nature fix.
Leave your phone at home (if you can).
All the experts recommended heading out into green spaces without your phone, which delivers more health benefits. If you must bring your device, they said, try to keep it turned off.
If you are a caregiver or someone who cannot leave the house, Dr. La Puma said, stepping onto your front steps, a fire escape or into the backyard counts. “All you need is a patch of sky,” he said.
Heading outside without your phone or earbuds can be a mental reset, said Marc Berman, an environmental neuroscientist at the University of Chicago and author of “Nature and the Mind.”
Nature offers a sort of “soft fascination,” gently capturing your attention without depleting you, he said. You might, for example, watch tree leaves rustle or hear water flowing downstream. These sights and sounds, Dr. Berman said, free your mind and allow for reflection.
Even though abandoning your phone might make you anxious, Dr. Berman suggests giving it a try. People routinely underestimate how much they’re going to like being in a natural environment, he said.
“You very rarely hear somebody say, ‘You know, I really regret going for that walk in nature,’” he said.
So get out there, and tune into your senses — feel the wind, gaze at the curiously-shaped clouds drifting overhead, Dr. Delaney suggested.
If you’re able to keep up this habit through the end of the month, we’ll be cheering you on — and sending you three more exercises throughout June.
At the end of each day, notice how you feel after adding more “greens” and cutting back on “ultraprocessed time”: Are you less stressed than you normally would be? Do you feel better, physically or mentally? Tell us in the comments!
It’s almost summer. Put your phone down. Go outside.
To kick off Well’s Summer Challenge, we’re asking you to make a simple commitment that can improve your health.
For the next month, you’ll carve out 20 minutes daily to step away from your screen and head outdoors.
I’m in!
You’ve joined readers to pledge a total of
0
minutes of screen-free time. Congratulations!
