Office Lighting and It's Effect on your Health

Wednesday May 28, 2025

The quality and intensity of your office lighting can have a significant effect on your ability to focus, concentrate, and live a healthy life. That’s why it’s so important to work under the proper amount and intensity of lighting at all times.

Here, we explore the various ways your office lighting is affecting your professional life and general wellbeing—and how to optimize your office lighting to improve your productivity and health.

1. Your Productivity

Bright lighting significantly improves your ability to focus, concentrate, and stay alert. This explains why you’re able to get more done when working in bright open spaces than dark spaces. Thus, your office should be well lit to enable you to achieve maximum productivity.

According to lighting experts, the best office lighting systems combine natural and artificial lighting. And ideally, the intensity and position of the artificial light should be adjustable. That way, you can personalize your lighting, taking into account the time of day and your individual preference.
Note that proper morning lighting is extremely important, as it can help start you off on the right foot and help you maintain maximum productivity throughout the day. Because your day at the office often starts in the kitchen, it’s ideal that your kitchen is ALSO well lit!

2. Your Health

Poor lighting can also do havoc to your health. Artificial lighting, in particular, has many negative effects on your wellbeing when uncontrolled. For starters, too much artificial light can cause eye damage in the long run. This also holds true for your computer’s light; sitting in front of a too-bright monitor for too long can cause headaches, fatigue, and stress.

On the other hand, dim lighting can cause frustration, especially when an employee is forced to strain their eyes for long. 

3. Your Sleep

According to some studies, people who aren’t exposed to direct sunlight lose an average of 46 minutes of sleep each night. Thus, given that most people work full days indoors, the need for office windows that bring in natural light is highly important.

So, if you work at home, make sure your workspace is near a window.

And if you work at an office, make sure your company is investing in ways—such as open plan offices—to expose all employees, including you, to natural light.

Call us today to help improve your workspace lighting!