Mumsnet users share with VELUX what think of the time they spend indoors and the "indoor generation"

[JustineBMumsnet]

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It’s no secret that spending time outside getting fresh air and daylight is beneficial for a variety of reasons. A new study by VELUX showed that people spend more time inside than they realise – often spending 90% of their time indoors, and they’d like to hear your thoughts on this.

Here’s what Grant Sneddon, Velux daylight expert has to say: “Whether we’re at home, in work or school or even commuting, we spend most of our time inside poorly lit and ventilated spaces. Why is this interesting? Well, if we’re spending most of our time indoors then it means we’re not getting enough fresh air and daylight, which can affect our sleep, mood and productivity. But there are simple ways to get the health benefits of natural daylight and fresh air in the home such as opening your windows three to four times a day to allow fresh air in."

How much time do you think you spend indoors? What do you think of the claims that we’ve become an indoor generation? Do you have tips for ensuring your family gets the benefits of daylight and fresh air while you’re spending time indoors?

All who post sharing their thoughts or tips below will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 John Lewis voucher.

Thanks and good luck!

Insight Terms and Conditions apply

I must admit I spend most of my day indoors! We live out in the middle of no where, my husband has the car most days for his work so I stay in, I sometimes feel stuck in a rut.
I do enjoy going out in the garden to cut the grass or to have picnics with my little ones
We also enjoy going for walks but find the bad weather to be a good excuse to stay in.

I work 24 hours a day so unfortunately I am indoors all day, most days. My bedroom and bathroom are a loft conversion so I have Velux windows in them but all my windows are open most days, I like the fresh air coming in

I work full time in an office, so personally, I spend a lot of time indoors. I dry and get outside with DD as much as possible though, especially during the summer months.

Rather too much with the recent wet weather unfortunately

I work from home so probably spend about 80% of my time indoors

I really do see the indoor generation thing, It is very hard to pry kids away from computers now, where we spent time out with friends, kids not spend time with their friends at the other side of a headset and yes, we are quite guilty of that in our house. I try and buy many vouchers for day trips etc when on a special deal so we have a reason to get them out

Try and be outdoor as much as we can, but always doing our house up so spare time is going on the house.

I am very aware of how much time I spend inside - so I make an effort to go out everyday for a walk, even if the weather is bad. I think its really important to do.

Sadly too much, at least 16 hours... although when i was in Turkey on holiday i was outside most of the waking hours

We like to get out as much as possible, especially when it's dry (but not too hot) or just light rain. Geocaching is a really great way to get everyone excited and feel like they are doing something fun whilst also getting exercise and fresh air!

I spend more time indoors than I would like to, but that's because of health issues. My best tip would be to open the windows if the weather allows!

Anxiety condition so 24/7 and as a ground floor flat that my neighbours like to walk past every window 3-4 times a day I have the curtains permanently closed.

id say in the summer we practically live outside..lucky enough to have a huge garden and play equipment and lots of den building spaces etc, seating areas and a pool so its perfect but come winter we hibernate into a cosy den x

I would love to say that I'm always outdoors but in actual fact, once I get in from work, I love nothing more than 'bra off, PJs on' and watching trashy TV. I feel perpetually tired!

To combat this I bought myself a fitness tracker watch and started up a dog-walking page for friends on social media.

In summer I'm out from early morning. I have my breakfast outside and stay in the garden, and afternoons when the garden is in shade, I go out to town or the park. I stay in most evenings, For me outdoors in daylight and indoors at night.

I think that we spend a lot of our time indoors. Though we do make a concerted effort to get out and about with the kids. But with work and school, that can be challenging. This does change in the summer, with the greater hours of daylight.

We try our best to get outdoors as often as possible but due to busy working lives, we just feel so tired by the time we have got home! However, when on annual leave, we always plan days out :)

we're quite an out doorsy family. We spend alot of time walking no matter what the weather is. But we do tend to try and stay indoors if the weather is too hot or too cold xx

We have three dogs which really helps to get us out and about. Even when it's chucking it down and freezing cold, we still venture out every day to walk the dogs.

Yes I do agree that we are becoming an indoor generation. The kids won't go out and just knock on their friends door to see if they want to came out like we did, in fact they look at me like I'm crazy when I suggest it. I try and take my girls to as many local events as possible just to get them out of the house. It's genuinely something that I worry about particularly for my eldest who'd spend all day laying down if it was up to her. Am loving some of the ideas on here.

We try to get time out of doors even if it is just in the garden. As we have health problems it does limit us. It doesn't surprise me that 90% of time is spent indoors. We are very much in a generation of being entertained. That is all of us. There is no time to get bored anymore because entertainment is provided

This summer I would estimate we've spent up to 80 % of our time outdoors because the weather has been so gorgeous. Normally though it's probably more like 50% inside and 50% out.

We get out every day!! We very rarely stay in all day, if we do we end up painting or baking!

Seeing as my fiancée passed away last year and now it’s just me and our 17 month son I find it hard going out as I’m trying to keep him a good routine but it seems to be taking over my life and we don’t get out which makes me feel bad!

I estimate on a typical working day less than 5% and on a typical non-working day perhaps as much as 30%.