How Using A Simple Light Bulb Can Improve Your Productivity

How Using A Simple Light Bulb Can Improve Your Productivity

Generating productivity in the workplace is like the Holy Grail to employers. It doesn’t matter if you work from home or if you’re based in a multi-storey office block; harnessing your zest, your creativity and your efficiency is always at the forefront of your bosses mind. Companies spend fortunes on one day courses, promotional leaflets and hiring motivational speakers but office design, lighting and color can actually have more of an impact on productivity than a rousing speech at the monthly company meeting. The lighting tricks and tips described below can be applied in the home, as well as at the office, so give them a try and see your productivity soar!

Like a Rainbow
Color can have a massive impact on our state of mind, and that goes for our productivity levels, tool Studies show that most people work best in a space that uses blue as an accent colour, and blue light has been proven to make men and women more alert. Surprisingly, yellow and white are considered to be the most physically stressful colors and can strain the eyes – which is exactly the color that most strip lights and light bulbs emit. If you can’t afford to kit your office out with mood changing LED lights (installed in the ceiling and controlled by the click of a button), opt for a mood lamp to place on your desk so can personalize the color of light you use.

The Importance Of Ambience
Endless rows of harsh, fluorescent strip lights will sap your energy before lunchtime, and by the time the afternoon rolls round, these lights, combined with starring at a bright white computer screen for hours on end, will strain your eyes, leaving you prone to headaches and that productivity-sucking 3pm slump. New developments in lighting technology allow businesses to dim their lighting when daylight is available, and motion sensors can be installed to automatically switching overhead lighting off when a desk or cubicle is unoccupied.

Wonderful Windows
Light deprivation can have a huge emotional impact on us – hence why some people suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) in the winter months – and this can also impact our productivity. If you have the option, choose a workspace next to a window, or with as much natural light as possible. The best way to generate a sense of daylight with artificial equipment is to buy special light bulbs, or a LED desk lamp (designed for SAD suffers) which offers a full spectrum of light., as opposed to fluorescent lighting generated by standard light bulbs.

Computer Lighting
Adjusting the light around your workspace is great, but there’s another light source that needs to change to maximise your productivity: your computer. Laptops, desktops, tablets and multi-monitor covered desks all have the power to slow you down if you don’t get the lighting just right. The brighter the screen, the more strain it puts on your eyes and this can lead to Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS). Tweak your monitor’s lighting settings, place table lamps either side of your desk and make sure the screen is 20-30 inches away from you. Take regular breaks from your computer should also help to ease the strain on your eyes.

Use these tips and tricks in your workplace and watch your productivity increase today!

Author Bio: James Duval works in IT and in his spare time he blogs about office design and demountable partitions for appliedworkplace.co.uk. He has an interest in technology and business, and aspires to owning his own media empire one day.