Why Brits should consider taking their work outdoors

From humble shrubberies to outdoor offices, how the modern garden is inspiring one in three of us to work, rest and play outdoors

There’s nothing better than a summer’s afternoon spent pottering around in the backyard, but now it seems our gardens have an even more important role to play in our lives than first thought.

New research released today shows over a quarter of us use our gardens as a retreat from the world, more so than any other area of our homes, while over a third say their outdoor oasis is where they find the opportunity to refresh and revive their spirits. Just under half de-stress best by enjoying the tranquillity  in  their garden as opposed to unwinding with a drink or chatting to friends and family

It seems that as well as improving our mental well-being many of us are now treating our garden as a hot bed of creative and business inspiration with 29% saying they use their garden to get their creative juices flowing and to inspire new ideas.

Far from being a space for a bit of backyard cricket and a cider on a summer’s day, portable technology is allowing a growing number of us to turn our gardens into an office extension, meaning the term ‘out of office’ no longer means being out of touch. Indeed, 15% of those surveyed claim that they now prefer to use their laptop outdoors instead of in their more traditional home offices.

Landscape gardener Kathryn Hibberd, fresh from collecting her Silver Gilt Medal award from this year’s Hampton Court flower show for designing Sadolin’s innovative Refresh and Revive Garden, says: “I am absolutely delighted with winning the Silver Gilt medal. People seem to really love the garden, and it is lovely to see people smiling and enjoying it. At Hampton Court, where many of the visitors are real gardeners, it is important to create a beautiful garden which people can envision in their own space, and I believe that is what we have created.”

And it seems we’re still a nation intent on keeping up with Jones’s, with just under a third claiming they are envious of their neighbours gardens, with nearly one in 10 making changes to their garden as a direct result.

How to turn your garden into a home office

Listen to the following podcast for top tips from life coach Honey Langcaster James on creating an outdoor office space

There’s nothing better than a summer’s afternoon spent pottering around in the garden, and wouldn’t it be great if, on those lovely hot days you didn’t have to head back inside to finish off your work.

Well for those of us who do work from home, the temptation to delay our work commitments for the chance for an extra few minutes of hours outdoors can be too hard to resist – leaving us refreshed from some outside time, but also feeling guilty that we have put off important tasks

So what if you could do both? Enjoy the ambience of a lovely summer’s day in the garden, while getting your work done as well.

Well, it can definitely be done, and in the following podcast Life Coach Honey Langcaster James gives you her top tips for taking your home office outside for summer.

Click here to listen

For more information visit www.sadolin.co.uk