Cubicle in shared office space is too bright; options?

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blackomen
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07 Jul 2019, 9:34 am

I tend to be a bit sensitive to bright light but I can somewhat cope. It's just that I'm a lot more productive and can concentrate a lot better if the lighting isn't so bright.

Unfortunately, I work in a cubicle in an office and it doesn't seem reasonable to dim the entire place just so that I can have my ideal level of lighting. I'm wondering what are some options if others prefer it bright but I like it dim. I've heard of people putting these umbrellas up in their cubicle places but I can't see how they'll help and I can't seem to find any area in my cubicle that can support an umbrella. Sunglasses? I'm already wearing glasses that automatically dim themselves in sunlight but I'm not sure why they don't work when indoor lighting is too bright.

Any other ideas?



darkwaver
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07 Jul 2019, 4:27 pm

I've had the same problem in my job. I do data entry and have a hard time focusing on the screen due to the harsh lighting. At first, I asked if I could wear a visor, but was told that hats are against the dress code. I finally got desperate and cut a small visor-like shield out of a piece of flat foam from a crafts store, and attached it to my glasses to shade my eyes. The site director even came by to talk to me when I did this, but I got away with it because it was literally not a hat. So I wore this and looked like a dork for a few months, until my supervisor took pity and moved me to the darkest cubicle in a corner facing the wall.



nick007
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09 Jul 2019, 9:28 am

There's clipon things you can put on your glasses so they'll be like sunglasses. Perhaps something like that would help.


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BTDT
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09 Jul 2019, 12:25 pm

Transitions lenses are activated by the ultraviolet in sunlight Indoor lightning has the UV filtered out for safety issues.

I have a pair of prescription sunglasses I could wear indoors. 8)



Darmok
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09 Jul 2019, 12:30 pm

Oldest and most effective method in the book -- so old there's even a wikipedia page:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_eyeshade

Image


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SpaceStace
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09 Jul 2019, 9:21 pm

I sometimes have trouble with the massive amounts of fluorescent lighting in my office/cubicle farm. So I bought a pair of non-prescription glasses that have a rose tint to them. It just reduces the amount of blue light and looks like you're wearing glasses that have pinkish lenses. You can find them in online stores as "migraine glasses" since the reduction in blue light to your eye also helps fend off migraines. I just wear them when I feel like the light is particularly bothering me. It blocks some blue light and since some of the light spectrum is blocked that also means the amount of photons overall that make it to your eyes is reduced... without wearing sunglasses and having people ask you if you are on your way to the beach (ha ha).

I have a co-worker who hung an umbrella over her desk to block the fluorescents - not something every office would be cool with. I also have a few co-workers who asked and had the bulbs from the bank of fluorescents over their desks removed by facility staff. If you have cool facility staff, they'll do it for you but with one important caveat: if those fluorescents over your desk also light anyone else's desk(s), lit you have to see if it's okay with those co-workers before asking it be removed. Or maybe see if there are others sensitive to the light and if your desks can be grouped together and lighting changed in your area.

ETA: the pink glasses I wear at work are easy to just slip on when needed because I wear contacts during the day. But ones that can fit over glasses are probably relatively easy to find too. For the last 1-2 hours of my day at home, I have a pair of "amber" glasses I put on over my precription glasses. The amber glasses completely block the blue tones though, so colors are hard to see. But blocking all blue light, especially that from computers / tablets / phones / TVs, helps you fall asleep more easily at night if you don't want to turn all your electronics off before bed.



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16 Jul 2019, 6:26 pm

Four people at my office (out of 100) are using cubicle shade leaves. Easy to google. Previously folks would have bulbs removed.



blackomen
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01 Nov 2019, 8:09 am

SharonB wrote:
Four people at my office (out of 100) are using cubicle shade leaves. Easy to google. Previously folks would have bulbs removed.


I bought some and put them up, but within a week, management made me take them down stating it's a fire hazard. I think I'll try the visor next



Fireblossom
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01 Nov 2019, 8:37 am

Could you ask if someone would switch working areas with you? You know, someone who sits at a corner that doesn't get as much light or something?



SharonB
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01 Nov 2019, 8:42 am

blackomen wrote:
SharonB wrote:
Four people at my office (out of 100) are using cubicle shade leaves. Easy to google. Previously folks would have bulbs removed.


I bought some and put them up, but within a week, management made me take them down stating it's a fire hazard. I think I'll try the visor next


Good try. I am sorry it didn't work out. I hope you can repurpose them --- teasing: or use them at your next less flammable job.

If our office catches on fire b/c of the leaves, I'll let you know. (HIGHLY unlikely as the bulbs are the energy efficient ones and not hot at all, and the ceilings are high enough. I assume your office has the old-fashioned hot bulbs and low ceilings, or else mgmt. is unaccommodating.)



blackomen
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01 Nov 2019, 10:32 am

Fireblossom wrote:
Could you ask if someone would switch working areas with you? You know, someone who sits at a corner that doesn't get as much light or something?


I wish but I'm already real close to a corner