Green Micro Breaks: How staring at plants really could make you feel better.

Picture the scene. You have a spare five minutes at work. What do you do?

Scroll through Instagram?

Maybe take a break from checking your work emails by checking your personal emails?

Or perhaps you are avoiding both by reading the news online, such a calming place to spend your time…

Surely there is a better alternative. Those crucial, precious seconds dotted through the working day must be able to give us something more than digital noise.

Cue a green view.

It might sound like an odd suggestion, but researchers at the University of Melbourne found that even a brief glance at greenery could help restore attention and support better focus. In their study, a micro-break of just 40 seconds spent looking at a green roof scene helped participants sustain attention more effectively than looking at a concrete rooftop.

In the case of this particular study, the green view was specifically refering to outdoor spaces, such as concrete rooftops or blank walls. However this is not always the case. A green view could be as simple as looking at plants in an office space. It could even be looking at the colour green...

According to Attention Restoration Theory, focused work gradually depletes our ability to concentrate. Natural elements gently hold our attention without demanding effort, giving the brain space to recover. This response is primarily visual, which makes your immediate working environment incredibly important: when you look up from your screen, what do you see?

Strategically positioned office plants, whether small desktop succulents, floor standing Ficus trees or living grenn walls, can sit naturally within everyday sightlines.

They create consistent moments of visual relief throughout the day, without disrupting workflow or productivity.

Researchers at the University of Melbourne set out to test just how much of a difference even a brief glance at greenery could make to mental restoration. Their focus was on whether a short visual break featuring natural elements could help restore attention more effectively than an urban scene without planting.

In their study:

• 150 participants completed a sustained attention task

• They then took a 40 second micro-break

• During that break, they viewed either:

• A city scene with a flowering meadow green roof

• The same city scene with a bare concrete roof

• After the break, they repeated the attention task

• Participants also rated how restorative the view felt

The exposure time was tiny... just 40 seconds. But the results were significant. 

What changed after just 40 seconds

Participants who viewed the green roof maintained attention more effectively than those who viewed the concrete roof. They made fewer attention lapses and showed more consistent performance as the task continued. 

Those who looked at the concrete roof followed a familiar pattern. Attention declined as mental fatigue set in.

The key takeaway here is not the roof itself. It is that a brief green view was enough to support focus. If such a small visual intervention can help, it begs the question, what could everyday exposure to indoor planting achieve?

Most offices do not overlook green roofs or parks. Many desks face screens, walls, corridors, or neighbouring buildings (or colleagues...eek)

To combat the lack of green view outside, we can look to find one inside.

Interior planting is one of the most practical ways to introduce a green view where none exists naturally. Office plants positioned along sightlines can offer those same moments of visual restoration highlighted in the research.

Far from adding greenery simply as decoration, bringing plants inside is about creating a workplace that functionally supports focus, productivity, and wellbeing.

Unlike outdoor spaces, interior planting is always accessible. It does not depend on weather, time, or leaving the building.

A well designed interior planting scheme ensures that employees encounter greenery naturally throughout the day. Looking up from a screen, pausing between tasks, or taking a moment to think can all become opportunities for brief mental recovery.

This is how indoor plants move beyond aesthetics and become part of the working environment itself. The Melbourne study focused on a single micro-break, but working life is full of these moments.

A note on the evidence in the study.

It is important to be clear: The study used images rather than real planting, and participants were students rather than office workers.

With that in mind, we cannot directly extrapolate from this study to the wider working world.

Next time you find yourself taking a well deserved break from your busy working life, consider how you are spending those moments.

Are you scrolling?

Are you refreshing your inbox?

Or are you restoring your focus through a greener view?

Immersing yourself in workplace greenery does not interrupt your workflow in the same way that checking social media might. It does not demand additional time away from your responsibilities. Instead, professionally designed interior planting works quietly in the background, supporting attention restoration simply through presence and visibility within your office environment.

If you decide that you would like further assistance with your office planting process, you can get in contact with us, or head over to our office planting page to learn more about what Plant Plan can offer!
To read the full study, click here.