When parents start planning the décor of a new room or study area for their children, or when students plan the same space at home, they usually overlook one crucial factor in creating the right learning environment.
That factor is proper lighting.
Parents and students willingly invest thousands of euros in computers, furniture, desks and back-to-school preparation, yet they often fail to recognise the influence lighting has on studying.
Poor lighting in the work area can cause eye strain and, as a result, severe fatigue.
Here are a few tips for getting the results you want:
• Choose products that produce full-spectrum light, which comes close to natural daylight and helps reduce eye fatigue when reading.
• Fluorescent lamps provide better light for reading than incandescent lamps. Today’s fluorescent lamps are available in a wide range of colours, use up to 80% less energy and last 20 times longer.
• A desk lamp provides additional light on the work surface. Position it so that it is not reflected in the computer screen.
• The lamp should be placed where the shadows of your hands do not fall on your work surface. If you are right-handed, place the light source on the left side of your desk.
• When choosing a desk lamp, make sure the arm is long and flexible enough to light wherever you need it, and that you can move it out of the way when it is not in use.
• If you don’t want a lamp to take up valuable desk space, choose another type of luminaire (such as a floor lamp) that can focus the light on the areas you want.
• Finally, let’s not forget that our goal should be an even level of illumination throughout the room, because fluctuations cause pronounced symptoms of eye strain.
