Look out the window for better thinking and writing

5 reasons why window gazing helps thinking and writing

I love looking out the window when I am working on my computer: it helps me think better and write better. In the northern hemisphere where I live, summer is upon us, bringing regular thundershowers and lush green foliage. The picture you see to the left is what I see when I look out the window. It always felt good, but now I know a bit more about why. Let me give you 5 reasons I have discovered, and maybe you will find that short window gazing breaks can help you, too.

On the Sharecare website, Dr. Mehmet Oz and Jeff Arnold note that “workers who can look out of a window have greater job satisfaction than those who cannot.” But what you look at is important, too. Looking at nature…“is more beneficial than looking at roads, parking lots and buildings.”

Professor William Sullivan, a landscape architect at the University of Illinois did some experiments with students using three different kinds of classrooms, windowless, window looking out over “built space” and windows overlooking green space. They did various exercises, took a 10-minute break to stare out the window, and did another series of exercises. Result: No difference at all for students doing the first set of tasks, but those looking at greenery performed 13% better than the others during the second set of exercises.

2. Many doctors, hospitals, assisted living and rehabilitation facilities have experimented with providing more green areas to assist in maintaining health, including window views of trees and shrubs. There is a hospital in my area that has created a labyrinth that patients can view from their windows if they are unable to actually walk it. And some patients there have reported walking it “with their minds” as a way of escaping the reality of a hospital room.

Ruth Kjærsti Raanaas and her colleagues at the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway studied 278 recovering coronary and pulmonary patients in a double-blind study and found that patients looking at outdoor greenery fared far better in recovery than those staring at walls.
Scientific American reported in 2012 that “hospital gardens are back in style.” Esther Sternberg, a physician, and neuroimmunologist at the National Institute of Mental Health noted just three to five minutes looking at views dominated by trees, flowers or water significantly reduces stress, anger, anxiety and pain. This, in turn, boosts your immune system.
Roger Ulrich’s 1984 landmark study, “View through a Window May Influence Recovery from Surgery,” published in Science (1984) is still cited because later research by others upheld his own conclusions.
Stressed hospital workers use gardens and window views at least as much as their patients. Those few moments spent looking out a window can be effective as meditation for clearing the brain.

3. It works for writers, too:

Children’s author Lois Lowry stares out the window from her1769 house and sees a meadow and a garden with apple trees. As she looks she lets her mind wander, and comes back to the page she is working on refreshed.
Writer Shelia Heti looks out her window as a break from her computer to let “the emptiness fill in.”
Would you believe there is an entire book devoted to this topic? Well, there is. Titled Windows on the World: 50 Writers, 50 Views (2014) by Matteo Pericoli, it addresses this exact topic. Lorin Stein notes in the preface the many ways writers use and describe their “windowscapes” from giving their eyes a literal rest from the computer, allowing their brains to rest and provide space for new ideas, or even to simply clear out “unnecessary words” (attributed to the late Elmore Leonard).

4. As I discussed last month, daydreaming is actually a form of productivity for the brain, so we need to stop labeling it a waste of time. Paradoxically, staring out the window can increase productivity. It can take us momentarily away from the hectic pace and immediate pressure of our work, and allow a different form of knowledge to emerge. Gazing out the window can actually increase deeper wisdom. And isn’t that something the world needs now?Rachel and Stephan Kaplan, professors from the University of Michigan specializing in environmental psychology, have demonstrated that employees who stare at trees and flowers from their offices are less stressed and more satisfied at work.

5. If you can’t gaze out the window, or live as an “office mole” in a completely enclosed space without a view, don’t despair. Adding plants to the work area has been shown to:

Reduce headaches by 19%
Reduce fatigue 30%
Reduce coughs 37%
Increase creativity 15%
Increase productivity 15%

Like the importance of a “nature” view, having plants in the office is not enough. You have to actually interact with them. Not in the sense of Doonesbury character Zonker talking to his plants to coax them to grow, but simply connecting with nature itself by tending to the plants: watering them, removing dry or damaged leaves, or deadheading flowers to promote growth. This acts like staring out the window, giving the mind time to disconnect in order to tackle with renewed energy whatever project looms over you.

So, go ahead. Stare out the window if you have one with a green view, and notice what happens to you. You may find that your breathing slows, your brain expands, your thinking and writing improve, and your productivity actually increases.

Tags: better writing, clear brain, productivity