Last week I posed a question: Do you make time for a green hour? As promised, I’m going to be sharing our real-world experiences at trying to do so here. And I’ve given this new series of posts a catchy name: “Your Green Hour Survival Guide.”
Here’s what you can expect from the series:
- Our challenges and how we’re trying to overcome them
- More helpful ideas for connecting with nature
- Real-world tips for favorite ways to connect with nature
- Book and product reviews
- And more!
Without further ado, here’s Your Green Hour Survival Guide tip of the week.
Challenge: You don’t have enough time in your schedule for a full green hour.
Solution: Set a smaller, more realistic goal instead.
Our goal is humble: To spend 15 minutes outside connecting with the natural world every day. Why just 15 minutes? Because it’s a goal we can achieve. And success is important – it’ll keep you motivated to stick with it.
Here’s an example of just how simple making a nature connection can be. The big explorer and I spotted this flock of seagulls from the parking lot of his elementary school.
We watched for several minutes, in awe of the unusual sighting. By the time we got home, we were eager to head outside and discover more.
What challenges do you face trying to get in your daily dose of nature?
@Mel: I couldn't agree more about transitions. In the month since we've really become conscious of our outdoor time, the biggest challenge has been just getting out the door!
Looking forward to this series! When we need to get out, but don't have time, I usually insist on a walk around the block (or two or three blocks). Kids seem to have a hard time with transitions (or at least mine do), but once we get out they are so glad to be there.
@Anne: I'm learning that the hardest part is the getting out, so aiming for just 15 minutes feels a little easier to do. <br /><br />BTW, I actually just received my copy of Rebecca's "15 Minutes Outside" & am loving it. Thanks for stopping by!
Baby steps is the way to go! So funny you chose 15 minutes as your time increment. We talk about the "Green 15" here at NWF — we can't take an entire hour break to go outside, but we try to do shorter breaks. We're lucky because we have a pond in front of our building and a large woods in back!<br /><br />Also — one of NWF's good friends, Rebecca Cohen, just published a