While you want to be able to see what you are working on at your desk, you don’t need a light that is bright enough to light up an entire room. As such, most desk lamps usually have a brightness level in the 400-800 lumen range. This amount of light will provide enough light to see what you are doing at your desk without blinding you. You might want to stick closer to the lower end of the lumen range provided here to make sure it isn’t too bright, especially if you are someone that is sensitive to light while you work.