Windowless Offices Could Destroy Sleep and Productivity

Date Posted: April 11, 2016

Posted In: Ideas,

From Sourceable:  Research in workplace design shows that having a windowed office does more than signal status, it also means you’re getting a better night’s rest – and with rest comes productivity.

A growing body of research shows that getting enough sleep speeds your decision-making and learning ability, while sleep deprivation does the opposite. Did you know the human body’s highest alertness is at 10:00 a.m. and it’s fastest reaction time is at 3:30 p.m.? However, most people are still refilling their coffee mug, fighting to stay awake in the boardroom or napping in their secret hiding spot due to irregularities in their circadian rhythm.

According to Northwestern researcher Ivy Cheung, working next to a window by day could have a profound effect on your night.

In a pilot study presented last June at the annual SLEEP meeting, Cheung and her colleagues tracked the behavior and light exposure of 49 day-shift office workers. Of these, 27 worked in windowless workplaces and 22 worked in workspaces with windows.

“Compared to the group with no windows, workers with windows in the workplace had 173% more white light exposure during the workday and slept an average of 47 minutes more per night,” Cheung and her colleagues wrote.

While the study is preliminary and only found a correlation between sleep and natural light exposure during the day, the findings seem to make sense.

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