A few years ago I began working in the wild. No, not just my coaching and team facilitation. I began to take other areas of my work into Nature.
What I now, today, fondly call my ‘woodmin’ (aka Admin in the woods, ‘wood-min’). I can remember the day I created the shift for myself. I was swinging on my office chair, being in some era of our lock-down-easing days. I felt stuck, my facial skin stretched & tight. Procrastination had reached self-sabotage scale.
Vacant stares had taken me into some sort of 6th dimension where nothing quite seemed to reside. I felt heavy in my skin.
The attempts to work through a reasonable to-do list just hadn’t happened. Despite me loving and valuing what I do and feeling everything had some place or meaning on my task list. A weird sense of being locked in and out of myself all at once was present.
Fed up with myself – or as I say ‘doing my own head in’. I stepped away from the screen, grabbed my boots and a notebook and pen and shouted to my husband – I was off for a walk.
I headed up to a local place, where one of my favourite trees is. On the way I paused to see new plum trees with fruit for the first time. I picked a few for my pocket.
Arriving at the local woods; It was lush, green, fresh, still. It made my body feel awake again and the endorphins, dopamine and serotonin I’d created from a reasonable-pace-mooch up there, spotting various intrigues along the way, were offering reviving & relaxing energy. Laying my jacket out on the forest floor, I leant against a fallen branch and sat with my notebook.
About to write. I paused. Without intention, just a natural calling. The birds, the breeze, the lightness of air and the rich depth of forest floors fresh soil in my nostrils. (possibly in my soul too!)
From a deep breath in, I began to write, order my thoughts, complete many of the to do list tasks (in draft form) and most importantly of all. I felt my inner and outer body shift. Energy, enthusiasm, purpose and focus returned. I returned.
From there it was a no brainer. I designed a workshop called the Oxygen Hour inspired by my time in the woods, to help people overcome the practical and emotional/belief barriers of finding your own work-spot in the wild. Highlighting the benefits this time in nature has for ourselves and our businesses too.
‘Woodmin’ has become a non-negotiable in my week now, especially since beginning to lease my own woodland since 2023, where I coach, deliver team days and retreats and of course, sit amongst the bird song to plough through those ever-ranging ‘admin’ tasks.
Three years ago I launched Wild Workspaces – a co-working pop up event in the wild, where people could share and explore this experience for themselves too. A space to figure out how (and if) Wild Working could be part of their own wellness and business strategy.
This year we offer the event as a 2.5 day retreat for people to work and rest in the wild. Because I believe both can happen in a beautiful natural flow.
Since making a promise to myself to work regularly in the wild. I’ve had some magic experiences. Writing a blog, just as a deer appeared right in front of me. Creating social content only to be upstaged by a stoat and editing a client report as my key-strokes became the bass beat to a woodpeckers tree pecking.
My most focused moments rarely come swinging on my desk chair. Flow states happen more easily immersed in the trees, snuggled up by the stream with a blanket or with my laptop around the log-fire in the birch clearing.
This time is not only purposeful in the sense of progress & ticking off tasks. The time in the woods, offers deep appreciation and bonding time with the natural, wild world. A biophilic response to my surroundings, which allows the cause and intention of my regenerative work to swell inside, even on days with the most hopeless of news headlines. I recognise, in these moments; Nature can only be described as a mentor for me, to remind me why I am doing, what I am doing, the way I do it.
And all this emerged, from that initial walk in the woods on a stifled day!
If you’d like to come and experience working in the wild you can join us for a 2.5 day ‘work-away’ retreat (9th-11th July, North Yorkshire) use “WILD_ASP” for 10% before 30th June 25. More info here or Tickets here
JK’s Wild Working Tips!
Here are five things that help me work deeply immersed with Nature:
- Creating a kit list and set-aside bag ‘ready to go’ for those moments the wild calls.
- Planning and chunking tasks that can be adapted into my ‘wild working’time. So the focus becomes possibilities, not limitations fo this adaptive way of working.
- Purchased a laptop battery charger to ensure I can power my minimal tech when I do need it.
- Tether my phone to internet for tasks that require it, and choose to stay off line as much as possible for tasks that don’t!
- Allow the natural pause before ‘just doing’ that Nature invites us so gently to explore for ourselves.
Thanks for reading.
JK (Jennie-Kate) McQuinn– Where the Mind Grows
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