A spacious working area with a comfortable desk and chair is not all you need for your home office. It is also important to consider other aspects, such as the type of lighting to use in this space. Lighting can have a significant impact on your productivity so it’s important to ensure that you get your lighting just right for your home office environment.
For instance, good lighting tends to boost productivity levels and reduce eye strain, making it easier for you to handle your tasks comfortably. Poor lighting on the other hand can cause headaches, eye strain, and increased glare, which may negatively affect your output. Working under proper lighting is just one of the many useful ways to gain maximum productivity at home when you are working. Therefore, to derive the most out of your home office lighting, there are certain aspects you might want to consider.
Do’s Of Home Office Lighting
Take advantage of natural lighting
If you have natural light coming through your home office, it can be useful to make the most of it. If you’re just starting out creating a dedicated office space in your home, you may even want to consider designing your office with a large window to accommodate more natural light. The natural shine of daylight produces a warm and bright light that stimulates your mood and helps make you more productive. Additionally, the use of natural light replaces artificial lights, which eventually saves you money on energy bills.
Think about your different lighting needs
Another important factor to consider for your home office is that different lights are suitable for different tasks. For example, if you need to do close desk work then a desk lamp might suffice. However, if you need to search your filing cabinets or have a Zoom meeting, a desk lamp may still be too dark. When choosing the right lighting you need it is always useful to consider what tasks you will need it for to ensure you pick the right ones. While ceiling lights may help in some cases, it might also not be suitable for other types of work.
Consider using eco-friendly lighting
One of the most popular lighting trends in 2020 was eco-friendly lighting to help reduce impact on the environment. While the concept isn’t new, utilising eco-friendly lighting methods in your home office in 2021 can help you cut down on your electricity bills. If your office is dark and needs lighting up all the time, eco-friendly lights like LEDs are durable, energy-efficient, and can help save you money.
Don’ts Of Home Office Lighting
Avoid working directly in the glare of natural & artificial lighting
While natural and artificial lighting are useful to light up your office space, you don’t want to be sitting in it directly. When you are working with computers and electronics all day, the last thing you want to be doing on a Zoom call at home is squinting because of the harsh light coming from your overhead lighting or window. With your lighting you need to ensure that there is no glare that could affect your day-to-day work. Whether it’s harsh sunlight or bright home lighting, it can hurt your eyesight and distract you from your work.
Avoid using the wrong placement for your light fixtures
Installing ceiling lights or using desk lamps is all good and well, but do they actually improve the office lighting? Sometimes it’s not clear right away where shadows or items could block your lighting. The last thing you want is for a bright overhead light to glare on your desktop or a new desk lamp to still make your workspace look gloomy. It can take a while to get the right lighting placement, but it’s good to experiment to see what works best.
Try to avoid flickering lights
Your home office is your own, so you can decorate it how you want. If you want a quirky Zoom background or more laid-back office space, fairy lights can be a great accessory to use. They’re not best to use for primary sources of lights, but can help add a warm and cosy feeling to a home office. However, it’s best to avoid fairy lights, or any other types of lighting, that flickers. They’re not best to use for work spaces as they can be distracting and negatively affect productivity.
