The New Year celebrations are long over and Christmas is well behind us. We’re right in the middle of winter, there are no cute holidays to distract us, and it seems like the only thing we have to look forward to is summer, which isn’t going to be here anytime soon… welcome to yet another Blue Monday!
Why is it dubbed Blue Monday? It’s Monday, so that automatically makes it depressing, plus our Vitamin D levels are at an all-time low at this time of year. Many people are still broke from the holidays, and we’re about half way between Valentine’s Day and the day you’re most likely to be dumped (December 11th).
Fret not, lighting technology can help boost your mood and productivity.
At Cisco, we’ve been using technology to create working environments that allow people to be more productive, efficient and in turn happier – and yes blue is the colour!
There is a science behind making people happier…and more creative.
Our understanding of the impact of light on human behaviour has advanced rapidly, at the same time as lighting technology has undergone a major evolution. It is now possible to use the principles of bio-adaptive lighting easily and cost-effectively in the workplace, at home and especially in sensitive environments such as schools and hospitals, meaning that lighting can help you learn and heal! It’s not just about feeling better either; the right type and level of lighting can dramatically improve our performance of tasks and increase productivity and creativity. Lighting technology like Cisco® Digital Ceiling provides the means for everyone to realise the benefits of bio-adaptive lighting. This means people will be able to tune their lights to match their mood or needs. Cisco’s solution is able to give the control back to people within buildings, whereas traditional lighting control systems usually take control away. The evidence shows that by giving people this control of their environment, you can make people happier and more productive. Imagine the impact that could have in your workplace!
What if you could subtly change the colour of a room through the day to make you feel warmer, and mimic the outside light? Or what if you wanted a colour to put you in a better mood or to calm you down? And how about if this means an organisation could slash its lighting bill by 60%? There are also potential cost savings associated with reduced absenteeism from the workplace, and increased productivity. Research found that blue light strengthens and stimulates connections between areas of your brain that process emotion and language. This means that blue light may, in turn, help people to better handle emotional challenges and regulate mood over time.
Blue light is prevalent in sunlight, so your body absorbs the most during the summer and much less in the winter. Because of this, the researchers suggested that adding blue light to indoor atmospheres, as opposed to the standard yellow lights typically used, may help boost mood and productivity year-round, and especially during the UK and Ireland’s long winter months.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that we should all now have lots of different coloured lighting since blue is often in white light and having the ability to vary the colour of white light, or the colour temperature as it is known, is a critical factor in effective bio-adaptive lighting. Studies show that this will have positive effects on various physical, psychological and performance outcomes of children, such as dental health, physical growth and development, attendance, alertness and academic achievement. Changing the lighting in your office/building really could lead your organisation to a brighter future!
And this is something we’ve deployed at Cisco. By digitising our lighting systems, our employees can adjust the temperature, colour, and intensity of the light in their workspace or meeting room from their smartphones. With the ability to approximate natural light, employees feel better and are more productive (by up to 16%, according to some studies). At the same time, the digital ceiling lowers our energy consumption and power costs, and it puts high-resolution sensor data at our fingertips, so we can gain deeper insight into our environment to make better business decisions.
Don’t feel blue this Monday, digital disruption is coming to a ceiling near you!
There’s never been a better time to digitise your workplace.
For more information visit: http://www.cisco.com/c/en_uk/solutions/enterprise-networks/index.html
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