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As the modern workplace rapidly changes, the home office is becoming a staple of the modern workforce. Whether you are self-employed, working in the gig economy, or just like to telecommute some days, there is no escaping the home office. If you are lucky, you have the space to dedicate a room just to your home office. For many workers, a second bedroom or basement bonus room does a double shift. Wherever you make your home office, you need to optimize the space for maximum productivity. One area where many home offices fail is in adequate lighting. Most home office lighting solutions just aren’t what they should be. But Octo Lights is working to make a difference.

The Problem with the Home Office

The home office should be a sanctuary of quiet and cleanliness, a haven of productivity. Of course, for many workers, that kind of space is just a dream. Whether you have a dedicated office space or make use of a room for two (or more) purposes, the home office poses many challenges.

Often, a home office is placed in the room that has the least promise for any other purpose. Bigger rooms become living rooms, playrooms, or even home theaters. Rooms with windows become second, third, or guest bedrooms. When all is said and done, the room with the most cramped space and the least light is too often dedicated as the home office.

If you work in a cramped, windowless home office, you’re not alone. But spending any significant time there has its challenges. Artificial light—and especially fluorescent light—can wreak havoc with your body’s natural cycles. Like almost every living thing, human biology works in cycles. We sleep at times and wake at times. Sometimes we’re hungry and sometimes we’re energetic. While it may seem like those moods are random or triggered by outside causes, scientists have shown that much of our physical and psychological state is regulated by an internal clock on a 24-hour schedule. Too much artificial light confuses that schedule and can damage our health and wellbeing. But with the right home office lighting solutions, you can overcome the lighting dilemma.

Setting Off Your Internal Clock

Although the internal clock—what scientists call a circadian rhythm—is created internally, it is usually calibrated by the changing light of the sun. We experience sunlight as basically the same all day long, but the light of the sun actually changes somewhat based on its position in the sky. At midday on a clear day, the sun shines with a lot of blue-ish short wavelength light. It doesn’t appear blue, but the presence of that short wavelength light signals the body to release hormones that wake us up, make us feel hungry, and trigger other important daytime functions.

The effects of blue light are great when they occur at midday, but not so great when they are happening in the morning, evening, and night. However, light in a typical home office can trigger those midday biological responses at all the wrong times. That’s because fluorescent light, a standard in many home offices, produces a lot of short wavelength blue light. The blue light tricks the brain into thinking it is midday when it’s not, flooding the body with all the wrong hormones and neurotransmitters.  That’s why you need the right home office lighting solutions to set your clock back to normal.

LEDs Create Problems, Too

Even if you don’t have fluorescent lights in your home office, you could still be confusing your internal clock. Many homeowners have switched to LED bulbs to light their homes, including their home offices. They are great for reducing your electric bills and your carbon footprint but have some of the same drawbacks as fluorescent light. In fact, much of what we think of as white LED light is actually partly the result of fluorescence.

The LED lights use in consumer light bulbs can’t actually produce white light. Instead, LED bulbs create the impression of white light by using a blue LED that also triggers fluorescent materials inside the bulb that shine with a yellow light. When the blue and the yellow combine, you perceive white light. But the blue is there, and it is telling your body it’s noon when it’s not.

Octo Lights and Home Office Lighting Solutions

If the lights in your home office are telling your body it’s midday all day long, you may start to feel hungry at the wrong times or have trouble sleeping. The light in your home office can also make it harder to do your work if it is too bright or too blue. To help with your office lighting, Octo Lights has created decorative light filters that are the perfect home office lighting solutions. They work by filtering out much of the short wavelength blue light. The light that makes it through the Octo Lights decorative light filter is much more well balanced between all parts of the spectrum and doesn’t throw off your natural internal clock.

In addition to their light filtering properties, Octo Lights decorative light filters solve another common home office problem. Many home offices are small, cramped spaces. They can feel dull at best and oppressive at worst. Working for hours in a small room with little outside light can make you feel stressed and anxious. So why not try an Octo Lights decorative light filter? Our covers are not just filters, they are also decorative. They feature stunning full-color images inspired by nature to inspire you.

Our most popular decorative light filters are in our cloud-themed collection. These beautiful light covers feature blue skies and white, fluffy clouds. Installing one of these light covers in your home office is almost like installing a skylight on a beautiful day. It can make your room feel more open and less like a jail cell.

Another favorite set of images is our beach collection. These decorative light filters feature warm tropical beaches and clear turquoise seas. Just glance at one of these light covers, and you will be instantly transported to your dream vacation spot.

Lighting Other Parts of Your Home

Once you’ve seen how easy-to-install decorative light covers are perfect home office lighting solutions, you may want to see what it can do for other rooms in your home. One of the most popular locations for our decorative light covers is in customers’ kitchens. That’s another room where you may spend a lot of time, and where lighting fixtures are often inadequate. Whether your kitchen has fluorescent lights, LED lights, or even traditional incandescent bulbs, a decorative light cover can transform your kitchen.

Think of how much we love to hang interesting pictures, inspirational art, and fun images around our kitchens. Imagine if you could turn your kitchen light fixture into its own work of art. With Octo Lights decorative light covers, it’s easy. You can choose from our wide selection of images, or upload your own. You could even upload photos of your family! The choices are endless. A decorative light cover is a unique design element for any home.

Home Lighting Solutions for Kids

Kids are especially sensitive to blue light from fluorescents and LEDs. That’s why it’s so important to make sure that they have access to good, healthy light. Octo Lights decorative light filters can help. Many of our designs are especially kid-friendly. For the undersea adventurer, we have an ocean collection with sea life, brightly colored fish, and beautiful coral reefs. For the space explorer, we have a whole series of deep space images, ranging from far off galaxies to brilliant nebulae. And if you are looking for something specific, our custom option lets you upload anything you can dream of.

Take a look at our full collection and order your home office lighting solutions today!