Winter Blues
If the growing darkness of the winter months is all feeling rather gloomy at home, the light levels in the space you’re working in are probably insufficient for your eyes and your mental wellbeing.
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) or ‘winter blues’ is well known. Scientists believe the problem relates to the way the body and hormones respond to daylight.
Natural light stops the production of the sleep hormone melatonin which makes us wake up.
In winter, hormones are affected by shorter daylight hours. They produce higher melatonin causing lethargy and symptoms of depression.
It can feel as though the world is pressing in and there’s no end in sight.
To give them credit, many modern offices incorporate lighting which mimics daylight to enable staff to focus and work even on the shortest of days.
Home is another matter. In a ‘normal’ year, when we get home from work we’re ready to relax. The body is winding down towards sleep and the more muted ‘warm’ light tones of regular bulbs help prepare the brain to switch off.
This year it’s different. Home is office, schoolroom, studio and sanctuary. As we rumble on into Lockdown, in order to maintain equilibrium, concentration and emotional stability in a much more confined space, it’s essential for your mood to boost light levels throughout the hours you are expected to work.
It’s not enough to sit by a window with the ceiling light on and assume it’s enough to stay at your best. It’s like driving in fog in comparison to spring sunshine. You have to try harder to see and it’s impossible to maintain a reasonable pace.
A daylight bulb is the least you can do for yourself.
If a company is switched on (pardon the pun) they will send every home-based employee a high lumen ‘Daylight Lamp’ to use during working hours.
This will assist valuable staff in working at their best and help maintain high standards of efficiency, profitability and professionalism.
For those working for less enlightened employers, you deserve the best working environment you can create for yourself.
There are many ways to enhance your space through Interiors Therapy, and I can talk to you in person about that if you wish. For now, as a bare minimum invest in a daylight lamp and use it for your working hours.
Then at the end of the working day switch it off.
You’ll see the benefits almost immediately. Your mood and capacity to work will increase and your sleep quality will improve.
Why? Because you are giving your body the stimulation it needs to function well during the day and then by switching the daylight lamp off, you allow melatonin levels to increase naturally and help you drop off to sleep.
And this doesn’t just make a difference to those working from home. If your teens or elderly relatives are feeling the pressure and struggling to cope or feel positive about the coming months, a daylight lamp will help them too.
Daylight bulbs to insert into regular light fittings are available at Homebase and all good DIY Stores
High lumen desk lamps are available from many retailers and online – choose carefully though; the desk lights we bought from a major online retailer somehow manage to stop our DAB radios from working!
