I’m 23, a recent college grad, who’s navigating the challenges of my first real job. I spend 40 hours a week are spent at my computer, answering emails, writing reports, and in Zoom calls. After work, it’s often hard to find the motivation to do anything, even just stepping outside for some air.
When I have time to relax and unwind, I typically settle in for some scrolling or gaming. I know that I spend too much time looking at a screen and too little time exercising. I don’t consider myself a classically lazy person, though. I love to ski, play football and golf, and go camping. But I don’t do those things enough.
Then my mom issued me a challenge: For one month, spend 20 minutes a day, rain or shine, outside moving my body. I would have to track my outdoor time using the NatureDose app, which tallies up my time spent in the fresh air, but also quantifies the quality of that outdoor time based on my GPS location and exposure to beneficial elements like tree cover, distance from roads and buildings, and air quality.
If I’m being honest, I didn’t really think that a daily dose of nature would have…
