Tips To Take Care Of Your Eyes When You WFH

10 Jul 2020

blue light Eye eye health

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Remember the times we cursed the traffic and over-crowded public modes of transport every morning while commuting, and how we could give anything to avoid it? The universe heard us, and well, gave us what we desired for years, work-from-home (WFH)! But it seems less than favorable right now, doesn’t it?

The thought of working from home seemed like an elite idea before it became a necessity, thanks to the pandemic. Besides managing distractions and establishing a work-life balance, WFH also takes a toll on your health. It’s been bad news for your neck and back, but if you haven’t realized it yet, your eyes have it much worse. The rise in screen time, due to video conferences, online meetings, chats, etc., has increased your exposure to the harmful blue light making them weaker.

Though this is a new reality, at least for some time, there’s no reason for you to be alarmed. With basic precautions and simple care-techniques, you can maintain your eye health and even improve it. Here we tell you how to take care of eyes during work from home situations.

Screens & Eyes: What’s The Connect?

If your work demands you to spend endless hours sitting in front of your computer, you may have noticed some troubles like blurry vision, double vision, headaches, dry eyes, itchy or red eyes. These are often referred to as computer vision syndrome or digital eye strain . Yes, it is a thing now and it has its own terminology!

This happens because the light, flickers and screen contrast demand much more from your vision as compared to reading a book or going about any other mundane activity. Additionally, there is a constant emission of harmful blue rays from screens that can severely affect ocular health.

Almost all visible blue rays pass through the cornea and lens to reach the retina. Excess exposure to such lights can damage the retinal cells, affect your vision, and can prematurely age the eyes leading to more vision problems like age-related macular degeneration .

While blue light exposure is common, constant exposure to them without breaks and the negligible distance between the device and your eyes make it extremely harmful.

Pro Tips To Take Care Of Your Eyes While You WFH

1. The Bedtime Habit

Simple lifestyle changes can go a long way in protecting your eyes from short and long term damage. One of the easiest is to try and cut down on your screen time, especially an hour before bedtime. It has been proven that using gadgets at night tricks our brain into delaying the natural body clock, thereby affecting the quality of sleep and the rest that your eyes need. You might want to grab that book that’s been lying on your nightstand instead.

2. Keep Safe Distance

If the computer is too close to your face or too far there will be a greater strain on your eyes to stay focused. You should ensure that the monitor is at or just below your eye level and at a distance of about 20 to 40 inches away from your eyes. This setting is considered optimal by researchers.

3. Get Rid Of Reflection Glare

If your workstation is situated in a corner with an excessive amount of light coming in through a window, you should try and relocate to another place or simply close the blinds. This reduces the external light reflection or glare on the screens. The other cause of glare may be the overhead lights that are too bright, in which case you might want to shut them off temporarily. If nothing else, you can simply get a glare filter for your computer, or a pair of anti-glare glasses. Having said that, you do want to make sure that your workplace isn’t too dark and there’s an adequate amount of light in the room .

4. Play With The Brightness Settings

If you are one of those people who like to have an obnoxious amount of brightness on all their devices, whether too bright or too dim, you might want to reconsider that. Along with the brightness, the text size and contrast of your screen can strain your eyes too. Just play around with your settings a little and try to find a display option that is just right for you without increasing the brightness or contrast too much .

5. Take A Break

It is essential for your eyes to take some time off, even if there is a deadline coming up. Try following a simple 20-20-20 rule – for every 20 minutes you work, take a 20-second break to look at an object 20 feet away. If you’re wondering why 20 seconds, it is because it takes approximately that much time for your eyes to completely relax and reset their focus. While you’re at it, sip some water to keep yourself hydrated .

6. Be Smart & Supplement

Loading up on vitamins and other essential nutrients in the concentrated form of dietary supplements can strengthen the eyes from within. For instance, Setu Eye Max and Setu Lutein and Zeaxanthin are potent and 100% safe supplements that help provide superior eye protection from blue light, moisturize tired eyes, reduce oxidative stress, and improve sleep quality. You can even opt for Setu Lutein Gummies that are a fun and delicious alternative to these supplements, with equal potency.

Hope we have given you some effective answers to your question of how to look after eyes during work from home. Try these hacks and protect your eyes even whether you are working from home or an office.

Elizabeth Bangera

Armed with an MSc. in Food, Nutrition, and Dietetics, Elizabeth wears many hats and is skilled in everything from weight loss to diabetes and cardiac care management.