Open eyes by converting your office to a red light district

It is 3.25 pm in the afternoon…………..you can’t keep your eyes open But YOU MUST ! The boss is looking ! The post-lunch dip could see you earning a pink slip.

Time for a nap

The post-lunch snooze attack can flatten you. The flat as a pancake feeling, is brought on by too little sleep and/or fuelling up with THE WRONG fuel. Both of which can and should be fixed. But, these fixes will help tomorrow, you need help right NOW ? You could try

A double espresso which will jolt you awake but may leave you frazzled.
A protein snack which should stop you from hitting the snooze button.
Or flicking the light switch, so you SEE RED.

The see red effect

It is no accident that warning lights flash red. Red is one of those colours that humans find inherently sexy and exciting, so SEEING the colour RED, is pretty stimulating. But up until now, red light has been considered to be sleep inducing, not sleep dissuading – think fireside glow. Blue light is what lights up the brain. But the red S-T-O-P signal which turns off the brain lights, depends on the technophobic melatonin, who is only around AT NIGHT.

The red brain trail

Researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute found that mid-afternoon red light blazes a new trail inside the brain. The team discovered, stratgically beaming red light into the eye, is one way to pry open tired eyes. When the team exposed participants to red light (?max = 630 nanometers), they perked up. This perkiness could be seen on electroencephalogram (EEG) graphs and subjective sleepiness ratings (KSS scale). Exposure to the red light reduced the alpha, alpha theta and theta brain waves. These are the brain waves most active during sleep.

Hit the red light switch in the afternoon

Could a red light improve office productivity ? I am pretty sure a flashing red light will get everyone’s attention. It is doubtful that this would increase productivity – people in a panic seldom think clearly. But research like this is shedding light on the subject. Who knows, maybe all future office blocks will have red lights dangling from the ceiling and workers will be working in a red light district, during the afternoon. Afternoon fatigue really is a sign you have an out of control sugar gremlin.

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Alerting effects of short-wavelength (blue) and long-wavelength (red) lights in the afternoon. Physiology & Behavior (2013) 1: 116-117 Levent Sahin, Mariana G. Figueiro.

BBC

Small things can make a big difference to your health