5 Ways Changing Your Lighting Can Enhance Your WFH Productivity
We're all hitting a wall WFH. Did you know the lighting in your home office— or sliver of dining room table real estate — can help boost your productivity? Here, we'll offer expert tips for updating your lighting situation with Array's smart bulbs and general advice for how tweaking your lighting throughout the day can help you maximize your efficiency for school or work.
"The first thing I say at the beginning of any project, whether it's an upgraded home office or a brand-new kitchen, is 'you get out what you put in.' Invest in good materials and items that will bring value to your space. Anything that will help you stay productive, save time, and stay organized while WFH is going to be worth the investment," says Megan Dufresne, ASID, principal designer at MC Design. That's why Dufresne — and countless other interior designers and HGTV-obsessive laymen alike — have started to incorporate smart lighting into WFH setups "to enable clients to control their work stations and set themselves up for success." Below, five ways smart lighting can help you blaze through your to-do list.
1. Smart lights can help boost your creativity.
Adjusting the light temperature throughout the day will help enhance productivity by enhancing mood and creativity. Different hues and intensities of light affect the brain in different ways," says Dufresne. "Choose a cooler light temperature when you need to focus on a certain task. Opt for warmer temperature light when needing to be more creative." Over time, you'll figure out what works best for you and schedule your lighting accordingly.
Speaking of scheduling, all of Array By Hampton's lighting options are programmable, so you don't have to get up throughout the day to futz with your lighting and risk losing your work momentum. Array lights also sync with smart sensors and plugs to respond to activity, and they help create an ambiance in full color or through an adjustable white color temperature palette.
2. You'll get an energy boost.
"Smart lighting can help with our energy levels. Especially in the wintertime, we can literally feel a shorter day," says productivity coach Sarah Ohanesian. "And often less sun means less energy. Lighting can help us feel more alert even as the sun starts to set." With the right lighting, that mid-afternoon slump is a lot easier to bear.
3. Smart lighting can save you money.
"Smart lighting can help you save money by automatically turning off lights in rooms that you're not in at certain times," notes Dufresne. With Array, you can look forward to putting your lighting routine on autopilot, and even watch your electric bill decrease while you save yourself time and effort.
4. You'll look better on Zoom calls.
Beyond making your office digs more appealing and functional for your personal use, smart lighting can help you look better on video conferences. "Lighting plays a critical component in making us look professional on Zoom," Ohanesian notes. If you've ever seen someone in a too-dim room or with a big TV glaring in the background, you know exactly what we mean.
5. Smart lighting can help you create better work-life balance.
"One of my biggest tips for working from home is to make a deliberate distinction between the work zone and the non-work zones, including work and play time," offers Dufresne, emphasizing the importance of setting boundaries. "Smart lighting is a great way to create that separation and make it automated, so you don't get distracted or forget." Dufresne likes to set a timer to dim the lights at a certain time of evening during the work week: "This becomes a visual reminder to shut down and helps prevent burnout while working from home. Setting limits is just as important as setting goals."
Ohanesian adds that certain light colors can also be signals to your household members that you're working and not to disrupt you, allowing you to cruise through your workday more efficiently.
And, Array can help with other routines to get us through the day as frictionlessly as possible? Programming the coffee pot for that first rush of caffeine to start your day, auto-adjusting the lights to slowly wake up and programming a toe kick heater to go on in the morning after the alarm sounds to make it easier to pry yourself out of bed in cooler months (Dufresne's go-to move).