120: Can You Boost Productivity By Changing Your Office Light?

Welcome back to our special podcast series - The Neuroscience of Success

In this episode I’ll tell you about a famous psychology study involving changing the lighting in a building to boost productivity, plus, what this study taught us about some of our beliefs and default mental habits that can keep us stuck.

Stick around, at the end of the episode I’ll share one strategy to help turn off your inner perfectionist so you can get more done, and have energy left over at the end of the day for life outside of work.

Does Your Office Lighting Impact Your Productivity?

Ever wonder if the light in your office space changes your productivity?

There has been some research that certain colors of light or paint in our homes and offices can impact our mood, help us relax or energize us, and might impact how much we get done.

But the most interesting study in my opinion on the effects of lighting on productivity found something unexpected. Let me explain.

Like a lot of my favorite psychology and neuroscience studies, this one took place in the 1950s.

In 1955 Henry Landsberger did an experiment with factory workers and discovered what is now referred to as the Hawthorne Effect.

The factory owner was interested in ways to improve worker productivity. And Henry Landsberger had an idea that maybe the lighting in the building made a difference.

So he experimented with varying levels of light.

For part of the day the lighting would be brighter, and for part of the day the lighting would be more dim.

Here’s the really interesting part - productivity changed, but it had nothing to do with how bright the lights were.

What these researchers found was that whenever the light changed, productivity went up.

So when the lights were changed from dark to bright, productivity went up,
and when the lights went from bright to dark productivity went up.

What the heck, right? That doesn’t make sense. If the lighting was the variable that made a difference, it shouldn’t boost productivity when it gets brighter and darker right?

Because it wasn’t the level of light that mattered. What mattered was when workers thought they were being watched.

When the lights changed, the workers knew the factory owner and the experimenters were watching, so they started working harder whenever the lights were changed. Because they probably didn't want to lose their jobs. But also because of the Hawthorne Effect.

The Hawthorne Effect and How it Impacts Your Performance

The hawthorne effect is a psychological phenomenon that our behaviour changes when we’re being watched.

If you have kids you know what I’m talking about here…

My daughter will be doing the cutest thing, maybe singing a song to herself, or playing an adorable game with her toys. I get out my camera because I want to remember this forever, and I slowly creep closer trying not to make a noise, but as soon as she sees me she stops doing that super cute thing! If you’re a parent you’ve probably seen this before too.

The thing about the hawthorne effect is it goes both ways.

Sometimes when we know we’re being watched our performance improves, but sometimes it makes it worse.

Ever practice a presentation a million times and you’re super confident in your kitchen, but as soon as you get in front of that meeting at work it feels totally different right?

The point of this study is that our brains have a number of mental defaults. Sometimes those go-to responses are helpful, but at other times they can keep us stuck when it comes to how we use our time and energy.

Perfectionism is one of those mental defaults.

Why Perfectionism Makes you LESS Productive

In case you’re not sure if you struggle with perfectionism, here are some common signs:

you struggle to make decisions because you’re worried about picking the wrong option,
you double and triple check emails because it stings when you see a typo the next day,
it’s hard for you to delegate or let anyone else do stuff (including your spouse) because it’ll be done the right way if you just do it yourself…
any of that sound familiar?

Don’t worry, you’re not alone.And sometimes holding yourself to high standards is helpful.

I’m willing to bet my tendency towards perfectionism was one of the reasons I excelled in school. It helped me become successful in my job as a neuropsychologist where attention to detail matters. And it still helps me make sure some things run smoothly (you’re probably heard my story of giving my wedding party typed instructions on our wedding day - but the day did go pretty well).

But at other times I know that perfectionism holds me back. I feel stretched thin and overwhelmed when my brain goes into perfectionism mode. Because every task takes me longer than it probably needs to because I’m reviewing it a million times, or endlessly researching the perfect solution.

When I feel by brain slipping into perfectionism mode (whether I catch myself overthinking, procrastinating, going through all the ‘what if’s” or holding myself back), here’s a mantra I use:

Done is better than perfect. I even have it on my bookshelf in my office at home as a reminder.

Here’s the thing, if you’re stuck in a perfectionism loop of spending a ton of time and energy making sure everything is just perfect, you’re probably missing out on a lot of other stuff.

Maybe that project at work takes you an extra hour to review a second time to make sure there are no typos, you say to yourself well an hour isn’t that big of a deal. But an extra hour a week is 52 hours in a year, which is over two days of your life! What could you do with an extra two days a year right?

A lot of the time that drive for perfection comes from a fear of failure. That we’re going to mess up. So we do everything we can to make sure we don’t mess up.

But a lot of things are out of our control. You obsess on that client project and they still might not love it. Plus, you’re not working on those other two projects you need to get done…

Done is better than perfect. Put it on your phone as a reminder. Write it on your white board. And whenever you get stuck in perfectionism, say that mantra out loud to yourself.

Episode bonus resources:

Procrastination can be a sign of perfectionism. This episode is brought to you by my free workbook - Your Insider’s Guide to Stop Procrastinating. In this workbook I share 5 questions and 4 simple strategies you can start using today to get out of that cycle of waiting for the “perfect” time to start, and hesitating to take action towards your goals head to www.drnicolebyers.com/stopprocrastinating to get your free copy.

Remember - sometimes it’s not the level of the lighting that’s making a difference in your day, more often than not it’s what’s going on inside our own heads.

Perfectionism seems like it will help you reach your goals, but a lot of times it’s how your brain holds you back from taking action, and all that extra work is burning your time and energy.

Show Highlights

[01:44] - Ever wonder if the lighting in your office space changes your productivity?

[03:01] - This study showed that productivity changed when the light changed.

[03:45] - The Hawthorne Effect is all about how our behavior changes when we think we are being watched.

[05:02] - There are signs that your mental defaults could be keeping you stuck.

[06:19] - Done is better than perfect.

[07:09] - Sometimes that drive for perfection is a fear of failure.

[08:27] - It’s not the level of lighting that makes the difference.

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