Work Better at Home: How to Choose the Best Lighting For Productivity

Lighting affects how you work. Research suggests that having control over lighting in your home office can significantly enhance your focus, mood, and overall well-being, so choosing the best lighting for your workspace is a must if you want to boost productivity and lessen stress. 

With so many light colors and fixtures available, determining the best type of lighting for your needs can be challenging. Below, we delve deeper into choosing the right lighting so you can find the ones that can help you become more productive and engaged.

Assess your Lighting Needs

Before you start adding smart lights to your online shopping cart, you must first assess your unique lighting concern. For example, the availability of natural light is crucial in helping productivity. If you already have plenty of access to natural light during work hours, don’t let it clash with artificial lighting. 

However, depending on your workspace setup or regular working hours, access to natural light may not always be available. To address this, smart lights with adjustable lighting temperatures, brightness, and colors are your best option.

Choosing the Right Light Temperature

Why would you need different temperatures and colors for your lights? Light temperatures play a crucial role in influencing our productivity and mood. Also known as correlated color temperature (CCT), it is often described as the “color” of white light and is categorized into three: warm, natural, and cool. 

Screenshot from Crabtek / Courtesy JR Carag

Natural white light, around 4000-4500 kelvins, is ideal for tasks requiring focus and alertness. It mimics daylight and has been seen in several studies to improve alertness, mood, and productivity. 

Screenshot from Crabtek / Courtesy JR Carag

Cool white light, which is above 5000 kelvins, adds a blue tone to white light and is best utilized for huge workspaces and open areas. 

Screenshot from Crabtek / Courtesy JR Carag

Meanwhile, warm white light, those with lower kelvins, creates a sense of comfort and relaxation thanks to its yellowish appearance. By utilizing the adjustable light temperature feature of your smart lights, you can choose the right light temperature to make your working hours and break times more effective.

Better Productivity with the Right Brightness Levels

Light temperature isn’t the only factor to consider—brightness also plays a part in productivity. Unlike light temperature, brightness is measured in lumens or the total calculated output of light. 

Though light temperature does have a slight effect on lumen output, it’s not considered a major factor in brightness. So don’t mistake light temperature for how bright your light is.

Screenshot from Crabtek / Courtesy JR Carag

Finding the sweet spot of light brightness has been found to give workers an extra boost in productivity. We say ‘sweet spot’ because settling for extremes in brightness levels does not always provide positive benefits. 

Unlike in light temperatures where warm white light can help you relax or where cool white light can help with alertness, lights being too dim or too bright can make it harder to focus. However, perception of brightness isn’t universal, so adjust your light's brightness levels according to your personal preference.

A Splash of Color to Increase Productivity

Screenshot from Crabtek / Courtesy JR Carag

A change in lighting color isn’t just for aesthetics. Certain hues have been found to have different effects on one’s productivity. 

For example, red hues have been found to have a more relaxing effect when used in a working environment. Blues and greens have been found to increase focus while also instilling a sense of well-being. Yellows induce a more energized state of mind. Mixing this knowledge of light colors and splashing color into your workspace’s lighting fixtures, depending on your needs throughout the workday should help boost your productivity.

Grab the best smart lighting options with the Next Upgrade Shop!

With your newfound knowledge about boosting productivity with lighting, take advantage of the great deals on smart lights and add to cart at the Next Upgrade Shop today!