Being in the outdoors can do wonders for your health, both physically and mentally. Benefits include alleviating stress and anxiety, boosting your immune system, and improving focus, clarity, and creativity. Who couldn’t use more of those?
With busy schedules, both at work and at home, however, it often seems impossible to get outdoors for any longer than a walk from your car to the front door. But there are ways to squeeze in more outdoor time.
Check out these unique and creative ways to add more outdoor time to your schedule.
Take 15-minute breaks
During your day, set the alarm on your phone to go off one to two times a day, alerting you that it’s time for a 15-minute outdoor break. You may not always be able to get away. That’s why scheduling one in the morning and one in the afternoon can help. If you can’t make the morning one, you still have the afternoon one to look forward to.
Hold meetings on the Golf Course
Golfing is known to be relaxing and is the perfect opportunity to spend time outdoors. Figure out which meetings can benefit from time out of the office and schedule them over a game of golf. Getting away from the office can often clear your mind and bring new ideas and solutions your way.
And since golf courses are often surrounded by natural beauty, they can be inspiring. For example, Plantation Golf and Country Club Fort Myers is surrounded by native trees and plants and also includes a beautiful lagoon.
If you can’t fit a golf game in, then at least meet for lunch on the outdoor patio or terrace of the golf course clubhouse.
Join a group for weekly outdoor activity
Seek out a meet-up group or local club for whatever it is you like to do. This can be walking, hiking, cycling, or even hula hooping on the beach. Joining a group will provide accountability partners to help ensure you are spending time outdoors.
Grow Your Own Salad
Gardening can be extremely time-consuming. However, if you narrow your focus, it can take less of your time than you think. For example, you can create a square-foot garden to grow numerous salad ingredients, or you can create a container garden for only those you truly love. If you prefer, grow an herb garden instead.
You’ll have a good excuse to slip outside to water your plants, remove any weeds, check for bugs, and eventually harvest your goods. This can also be something you share with your children, teaching them to enjoy the outdoors.
Try Geocaching
Billed as the world’s largest treasure hunt, Geocaching is something you can do on your own time. It’s also a great activity to do with your children.
Using GPS-enabled devices, you navigate to a certain set of GPS coordinates and search for a container(geocache) hidden in that location, which is usually outdoors.
Make it a Challenge
Many times, you may be more enticed by a challenge where you have to achieve something. If adventure is what you like, then you may want to consider The Rewild Your Life 30 Day Challenge. The goal of the challenge is to reconnect with nature and only takes thirty minutes a day.
These days it takes creative thinking and planning to find time in your schedule for the outdoors. It also takes commitment, even if that is only for 15-30 minutes a day. But with a little planning and a little variety, you can be well on your way to getting the outdoor time we need.