If you’ve spent any part of your life working in a traditional office, then it’s likely you’ve experienced the effects of poor lighting on your mood and productivity. Gloomy cubicles with strobing, fluorescent lighting have been a staple of many corporate work environments for years. If you’ve finally taken the leap to escape corporate confinement however, then you’ve also discovered that finding the right space to work in dramatically impacts your effectiveness.
One of the blessings and curses for many entrepreneurs is that you have the flexibility to work from anywhere, but working in your gloomy, basement office or tiny extra bedroom isn’t much of an improvement over your corporate cube.
Many times hiring an interior designer or feng shui expert can be a great investment to add pops of color and make your office feel more beautiful and inviting. However, if that’s not quite in your budget yet, then here’s the one change I would make asap: lighting.
Studies have shown how lighting can decrease depression, improve energy, mood, alertness, and over all make you more productive. We’ve even studied how different color temperatures of lights (from bluer/cooler to redder/warmer light) can affect productivity. Bottom line: the lighting of your work environment matters and natural light is best.
While we all might wish to invest lots of money in renovating our space to build an amazing, light-filled home office, what can we do in the meantime to improve the lighting in our workspaces? Let’s explore a few options:
Move Your Home Office
Just because your finished basement has space doesn’t mean that it’s the best place for you to set up shop. Consider all other options first. Do you have a four-season sunroom? That might be a GREAT option for a home office. What about a dining room that’s underused? For over a decade as an entrepreneur in multiple home spaces these have been my go-to office solutions. People are frequently astonished to find my office in my dining room, but big windows and the view of the garden make it the perfect place to work. (And I’m organized enough that it’s not an eyesore.)
Maybe you have a guest bedroom that only gets used a few times a year. Wouldn’t it be much better to enjoy it daily as your home office rather than reserving it for the three or four times a year you have guests in town? Give yourself permission to make your workspace a priority and claim prime, beautiful space for it in your home. You don’t need to work from a squished corner desk in a dark corner of your bedroom or basement.
Upgrade Your Lighting & Light Bulbs
At minimum, consider how you can add enough of the two key types of lighting: ambient and task lighting. Ambient lighting affects the general brightness of a space. Task lighting is directed at your specific work area to reduce eye strain and headaches.
Just picking up a couple of halogen lights that point up toward the ceiling could dramatically improve the ambient lighting in your space (if you can get the ones with an adjustable dimmer switch, then all the better.) Similarly, a new downward-facing lamp for on or near your desk might be a great small investment.
You could also simply upgrade your light bulbs to use more “natural light” or “cooler” color ranges which have been shown to improve productivity, focus, and energy. It’s surprising to think that for the price of a couple light bulbs your workspace experience might be significantly changed.
Find a New Office Space
If simply moving to a new room or adding a few lamps won’t do it for you, then you may want to figure out how to include payments for a co-working or private office space in your business’ budget. Just because you’re working for yourself don’t mean that you can’t have an attractive office space to be creative.
There are a plethora of amazing co-working spaces being created all over the world. Try googling “co-working spaces near me,” and you might be astonished to discover the options available. You’ll want to be discriminating and only choose a place that can offer you the bright, sunny, and focused environment that will help you become more productive and effective.
Since the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that 40% of the American workforce will be freelancers, temps, independent contractors, or solopreneurs by 2020 you can bet that these spaces are growing and will become the new evolution of beautiful work environments in the future.
If you’re not quite ready to dive for the co-working space investment, then exploring your local coffee shops, libraries, and parks can be a great alternative. After all, sometimes you just want to escape your desk entirely and work on the beach for a while. Nothing wrong with that! I often get my best creative thinking done sitting next to the ocean in the sunshine.
Next Actions
Take a moment and consider if it’s time for a workspace upgrade in your world. Maybe just a new lamp or some “natural light” bulbs will make a difference. Maybe it’s time to relocate your workspace to a brighter, more central location in your home. Or maybe it’s time to research a new co-working space to get productive in.
What’s one thing that you could do to brighten up your work environment today?
Investing in your workspace can definitely improve your productivity. So, go for it!
Image used under License Agreement: ©Iriana Shiyan / Stockfresh
