I work with the lights on. This doesn’t sound like a revelatory statement, but our office has a distinct Dark Side and Light Side and early on in our new space there were real disputes about which overhead lights were on or off. My side of the office is the Light, of course, though I had to compromise with a few people and remove the lights directly above their desk resulting in a darker corner.
Sometimes people still don’t turn the lights on until I come into the office in the morning and flip them on the moment I’m in the door. It’s as good of a way as any to announce that I’ve arrived.
But I am powered by the light. I like my environment to reflect the state of mind I need and sitting in the dark with only a desk lamp makes me feel tired — not awake and focused. I confirmed this yesterday when we kept all the lights off for the Halloween party. For the day, I kept my office dark and my productivity noticeably tanked.
Sure, there are other factors after a busy week, but I couldn’t seem to rally myself in the half-light. I’m solar-powered. Or even fluorescent-powered.
This clearly isn’t universal — half of my coworkers can attest — but I do think it’s a good ‘know yourself better’ question. Or even to think a little more intentionally about how your environment makes you feel and how you want your environment to make you feel.
At work at least, I want to feel awake, focused, and seen. So the lights stay on.
With Love,
Natalie