Does Blue Light exposure affect your productivity?

Does Blue Light exposure affect your productivity?

Does Blue Light exposure affect your productivity? Christopher M. Barnes, a University of Washington Foster School of Business professor, asked himself this question in late 2020. With studies coming out proving Blue Light exposure at night can negatively affect your circadian rhythm (keeping you up longer, hurting your sleep schedule), Professor Barnes wanted to research the benefits of blocking Blue Light at night. In this article, we’ll dig into the surprising results of his research by summarizing his Harvard Business Review article.

The Study

Professor Barnes and his team examined the results 63 managers and 67 customer service representatives wearing Blue Light blocking glasses and “sham” Blue Light glasses for one week. A breakdown is below:

• The participants spent one week wearing Blue Light blocking glasses two hours before bed and one week wearing fake Blue Light blocking glasses two hours before bed.
• The participants did not know the difference between the real Blue Light blocking glasses and the fake ones.
• The week wearing the Blue Light blocking glasses and fake glasses were randomized, so participants did not know which were which.
• The study asked participants about:
• Sleep Quantity
• Sleep Quality
• The study then asked participants about:
• Work Engagement
• Helping Behavior
• Negative Work Behaviors
• Their own performance/Customer Service Ratings

The Outcomes

At the end of the study, participants self reported on the six outcomes above. The results were shocking. Participants wearing Blue Light blocking glasses as compared to the fake glasses reported:

• Sleep
• Duration
• 5% longer with the Managers
• 6% longer with the Customer Service Representatives
• Quality
• 14% higher quality with the Managers
• 11% higher quality with the Customer Service Representatives
• Work
• Work Engagement
• 8.51% higher with the Managers
• 8.25% higher with the Customer Service Representatives
• Helping Behavior
• 17.29% higher with the Managers
• 17.82% higher with the Customer Service Representatives
• Negative Work Behaviors
• 11.78% lower with the Managers
• 11.76% lower with the Customer Service Representatives
• Their Own Performance/Customer Service Ratings
• 7.11% higher with the Managers
• 9% better Customer Service Ratings with the Customer Service Representatives

The results were clear: all things held equal, Blue Light blocking glasses caused better sleep and better performance with workers.  

What does this mean for me?

While the results of the study were extraordinary, you may be asking: What does this mean for me? 

The implied results of the study mean that you could sleep better AND longer, be more engaged at work, help others at a higher rate, cut down on poor work behavior, and perform better, all with one simple change, blocking Blue Light before bed.

What if I don’t want to wear glasses every night?

That is where BlueBuffer can offer a solution. It’s our experience that the number one culprit of Blue Light exposure at night is from your phone screen, close to your face (likely inside of 2ft), while laying in bed. With a BlueBuffer, you don’t have to change any patterns because the screen protector filters out Blue Light (don’t take our word for it, here’s video proof that it works).

Conclusion

Blocking Blue Light before bed can lead to longer and better rest, resulting in better work performance (in the realm of +7%!). If you could make one change to your phone screen, without changing any of your behavior, to be +7% better at your job, would you?

Check us out if the answer is yes, and thank you so much for reading our article!