I Realized Bad Lighting Is Quietly Hurting Productivity (and No One Measures It)

We spend a lot of time optimizing tools: keyboards, monitors, IDEs, latency, ergonomics.

But recently I noticed something odd — lighting almost never gets the same level of attention, even though it directly affects focus, fatigue, and decision-making.

I ran a small personal experiment while working long hours:

Removed the main overhead light

Used fewer, lower-intensity, indirect light sources

Let some areas stay intentionally dark

The result wasn’t just “more comfortable” — my working behavior changed:

Less eye fatigue late at night

Longer uninterrupted focus blocks

Fewer impulsive context switches

What surprised me is that most productivity advice assumes “more visibility = better”, while human perception seems to work the opposite way: contrast, shadow, and restraint improve clarity.

It made me wonder:

Why don’t we treat lighting like we treat typography or UI hierarchy?

Why are there almost no tools that measure lighting quality for work, beyond raw lux?

Is lighting an invisible variable in productivity that startups are ignoring?

Curious if others here have noticed similar effects — or if this is just a placebo I’m falling for.