Surviving the British winter
A free daylight guide for people who work indoors.
The clocks go back on Sunday 25 October. After that, most people who work indoors will leave home in the dark and come home in the dark, and the only daylight on offer sits squarely in the middle of the working day.
This guide covers four things that actually work, and one very common mistake that wastes people's time every single winter.
Sort it now, while you still feel fine. It is much harder to build the habit in January when you already feel rough.
What is in it
What a winter day looks like
Hour by hour, where your daylight actually goes, and the half hour that carries the whole day.
Sorted by evidence
What is well established, what is real but indirect, and what is weaker than people claim.
Setting up your desk
Where the window goes, why facing it backfires, and why two metres from the glass is a different room.
The mistake almost everybody makes
Daylight and vitamin D are two separate jobs. Neither one substitutes for the other.
The dark half is free
Your clock reads the contrast between day and night. Almost everybody skips this part.
Light boxes, honestly
What the trials actually found, what to buy if you get one, and when to see your GP instead.
Your office is not a substitute for outside
Typical light levels, measured at the eye. Each full step is ten times more light.
Look at the gap. Everything indoors sits in the bottom half of this scale. Everything outdoors sits in the top. There is no lighting scheme and no window seat that closes it. You have to physically go outside.
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Pari Mistry-Patel is a qualified nutritionist and a UK-qualified architect, ARB and RIBA registered, and a WELL Accredited Professional. She teaches annually on the Postgraduate Diploma in Architecture (RIBA Part 3) at Cardiff University, and is a regular guest tutor on the Master of Architecture programme. She works across the UK and Australia.
General information, not individual medical advice. If winter consistently affects your mental health, if you work night shifts, or if you are managing a health condition, please speak to your GP. The picture is more complicated than any guide can cover.