For those who spend all day at screens, how to protect your eyes, by Celine Roque at Web Worker Daily.
One of the more common risks of extensive computer use is eye strain. You know you’re experiencing this when your eyes feel sore or tired, sometimes to the point of causing pain. Sometimes your eyes may end up being watery, or they may feel too dried out; the symptoms vary from person to person. If your eyes feel discomfort after a visual task, such as reading or watching TV, then you’re experiencing eye strain.
When eye strain is ignored and you don’t take care of your eyes in general, you may increase your risk of having more serious eye problems, such as myopia (nearsightedness) or glaucoma.
The key to preventing eye strain is to take breaks throughout your workday. This can be difficult, especially during stressful days with heavy workload or even those days where we feel very motivated to work and we simply want to take advantage of the burst of inspiration; it’s hard to pull ourselves away from our computers. This is where reminders come in. You can use a simple kitchen timer or even install break reminder apps. As long as you step away from the screen every hour or so, you can minimize your risk for eye strain.
The best thing to do during this break is to spend some time outdoors. This allows us to focus our eyes on far objects. Natural light also helps children prevent myopia, but it’s unclear how beneficial sunlight is to adult eyes.
If you want to protect your eyes and prevent long term damage, the first place you should look at is your home office. Whether it’s just a desk in the kitchen or a separate room, you should start by making sure your workspace is properly lit. Any glare and harsh contrasts in your environment can contribute to your eye strain.
Photo by rickfurb.