AllTrails and Unyoked study finds time outdoors reduces burnout

A landmark new study from Australian nature stay startup Unyoked and outdoor adventure app AllTrails has found 95% of participants reported improved wellbeing after time spent outdoors.

As a rising tide of burnout affects more than six in ten of Australian workers, the study – featuring more than 400 survey participants internationally – sought to measure the impact of time spent outdoors on wellbeing, feelings of burnout and connectedness to nature.

How does time offline tackle burnout?

Most knowledge workers intrinsically understand that being connected to a screen for 40-plus hours a week is neither healthy nor natural.

Until a few decades ago we mostly left work at the office, before the late 20th century there were no computers in workplaces, and for hundreds of thousands of years before that humans spent all our time outdoors.

Study participants stayed in Unyoked’s remote cabins – typically situated an hour or two outside major cities – and were provided with AllTrails routes to walk or run.

Improvements to mental wellbeing, burnout, and connectedness to nature were found to be on par with or greater than the impact of well-established wellness interventions, with 95% of participants reporting improved wellbeing.

The study found that measured burnout decreased by 16.1%, higher than the effect of interventions such as mindfulness, meditation, yoga and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.

Overall wellbeing saw a statistically significant 12.7% improvement, as measured by the Short Warwick – Edinburgh Mental wellbeing scale (yes, this is a thing, with the snappiest acronym ever: SWEMWBS).

Those with lower initial wellbeing scores reported the greatest benefits, demonstrating the restorative power of nature for those suffering from mental health challenges.

As SmartCompany reported last week, a combination of dynamic workplace and cost-of-living pressures are leading to record numbers of employees reporting burnout.

The AllTrails x Unyoked study shows that one of the most effective solutions to reduce stress and improve wellbeing is also one of the simplest to undertake.

Why does time outdoors help with burnout?

“The results from AllTrails and Unyoked are encouraging as an initial investigation into the benefits of sustained time outside,” Dr Suzanne Hackenmiller, chief medical advisor at AllTrails told SmartCompany.

“Burnout is rising worldwide since Covid. There are all kinds of hypotheses, including the fact that many people are working from home, which on the one hand is very positive, but which also blurs the lines between work and home: the delineation has gone.”

“Just being on a screen all day long is exhausting,” said Dr Hackenmiller.

“Being on devices is proven to impact mental health conditions. There are also financial concerns, a sense of uncertainty about the future, companies are struggling, inflation issues add to the strain and stress relating to the factors of burnout.”

“When we are under threat [the fight or flight response to work pressures] one way to address is to widen your gaze in a stressful environment. That automatically reduces the relaxation response and breaks the fight or flight cycle. Being outdoors in nature expands your gaze.”

For the study, 407 study participants stayed in Unyoked cabins for a cumulative total of 718 nights — in locations ranging from the Australian bush to the Welsh mountains – and immersed themselves in their natural surroundings.

In partnership with Corus, an impact consultancy for the wellbeing industry, a longitudinal mixed-methods study measured the impact this experience had on participants, using three established wellbeing frameworks to quantify the results: the aforementioned SWEMWBS, plus the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) and the Connectedness to Nature Scale (CNS). How good are acronyms?!

They demonstrated that nature had a profound impact on participants’ wellbeing.

Why are Unyoked so into scientific studies?!

“Our goal at Unyoked is to make the outdoors more accessible to everyone, so more people can reap these benefits and develop a stronger connection to nature,” said Cam Grant, co-founder of Unyoked.

“We want people to consider time in nature the same way they might consider going to the gym or checking in with a friend. It should be a daily priority for their wellness and something they allocate time for within their busy schedules.”

“What impact could making time to get outside more regularly have on your mental health?”

Editor’s note: in my sample size of one, getting into nature regularly is really helping me tackle my burnout.