How Lighting Affects Your Mood and Productivity
March 26, 2024
Lighting Expert, @lightsdotcom
The more we research the effects of lighting, the more we are discovering that lighting has a deep impact on our lives. Studies are suggesting that lighting affects numerous biological, mental, and emotional factors, and it even directly contributes to our mood and productivity.
Lighting At Home
We all know that poor lighting can cause eye damage especially when reading, but what other effects can poor lighting have on us in our homes?
Believe it or not, insufficient lighting has been found to contribute to depression and vitamin D deficiencies, while proper lighting is known to improve mood and energy levels.
Some studies also show that lighting can affect appetite. People were found to eat slower and lighter meals in rooms with bright lights, while they typically overate in spaces with dim lighting.
Most significantly, lighting is known to affect circadian rhythms. This means that lighting can contribute to your alertness and awakeness in the mornings, and it can either entice you to feel tired or keep you up all night. As you might expect, brighter lights are best for mornings and daytime, while dim lights are good in the evenings. The reverse of these can cause a confused circadian rhythm, mess with your sleep schedules, or make it difficult to find energy throughout the day.
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Lighting At the Office
There also has been a lot of research on what type of lighting should be used in offices in order to create the happiest, most productive work environment. Studies are finding that poor lighting can be detrimental to productivity at work, specifically dim lighting. Working in a room with lights that are too dim can cause the eyes to be strained and even results in headaches and/or migraines. Insufficient lighting can also lead to drowsiness at work and difficulty maintaining focus and motivation.
On the contrary, harsh lighting can be just as detrimental. Excessively bright, fluorescent lights can also trigger headaches and/or migraines, and employees working in these conditions are found to be less satisfied with their jobs.
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The Solution
With all of these discoveries on the effects of lighting, it is becoming more and more important to be able to control lighting.
They say that the most commonly recognized solution for avoiding the negative effects of insufficient lighting and harsh lighting is to provide natural light. Windows in your home and at work can fill rooms with the highest quality of light and provide a safe, natural solution. In fact, one study states that natural lighting directly and indirectly affects mood, behavior, and hormonal balances. The study claims that natural lighting can create fewer illnesses at home, better attendance rates at work, and happier environments all around.But installing more windows is not always an option, and even with windows certain geographic locations do not receive acceptable amounts of light year-round. The best solution when natural lighting isn’t an option is to install high-quality, flexible lighting.
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But installing more windows is not always an option, and even with windows certain geographic locations do not receive acceptable amounts of light year-round. The best solution when natural lighting isn’t an option is to install high-quality, flexible lighting.
Having a dimmer on the lighting systems in your home and in your office gives you the ability to adjust the intensity and brightness based upon the particular time of day and the specific task at hand.
Having the freedom to change the morning lighting and evening lighting in your home is the best way to support your circadian rhythm and increase happiness, and giving workers the ability to adjust lighting as it suits them is the best way to guarantee satisfaction and productivity in the office.
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