Drop in productivity? The lighting conditions at your work environment might have an answer.
Ever since the pandemic we have been accustomed to spending more of our time indoors. However, despite spending more time working and being available online, there’s been a drop in productivity levels. There are multiple reasons associated to this drop in productivity, some are intrinsic whereas some extrinsic. Looking at one such external factor, we are going to be focusing one how there’s a direct correlation between drop in productivity and poorly lit work environments.
American Society of Interior Design conducted a study which indicated that 68% of employees complained about the lighting situation at their respective work environment. Companies usually want to extract the maximum efficiency from their employees, but the fact that such a significant number of employees disliked their lighting in their work environment implies that employers are making similar mistakes.
Understanding the different types of lighting in LEDs !
Temperature of light is measured in Kelvin (K), you will find this feature mentioned while purchasing any LED, this unit of measurement determines on how hot, warm or cool the lighting will be, a breakdown on how color temperatures are perceived is given below.
0 K – 3000 K – Everything from the glow of fire to a yellowish white color fall under this category of color temperatures and are usually considered to be warm colors.
3100 K – 4600 K - To describe lighting belonging to this category the most apt example for it would be lighting during sunset which is about 4000 K, these appear to be cool white in color.
4700 K – Infinity & Beyond K – A bright sunny day to a completely overcast winter day, everything is covered in this range, the appearance of color is typically blue-white and are called as cool or day light colors.
How to select the perfect lighting for different moods ?
Natural Lighting – There is no debate to how good natural lighting is, it’s considered to be the better alternative to extremely bright or dim lighting for a work environment. Starting off your day with working under natural lighting has been shown to result in happier workers, less procrastination and also fewer illnesses.
Cool Lighting – Well not every office or work environment is blessed with access to daylight, LEDs that are greater than 4800K tend to mimic some features of natural light, they actually increase quality of work performance by supporting mental acuity and alertness. Another cool feature of these lights is that they help lower melatonin levels, which regulate sleep cycles.
Dim Lighting – Warmer lights usually tend to create a sense of comfort; this type of lighting can be used for intimate settings where workers want to feel calm and relaxed. Conference rooms should ideally contain both cool and dim lighting depending on the mood
In conclusion, light needs to change throughout the day like a working organism. The early parts of the day should consist of natural lighting or cool lighting and later on transition to warmer color tones as the day progresses.
