Why you should think about sending an out-of-office email DAILY, according to scientists

Leading optician Dhruvin Patel specializes in the effects on eye health of blue light – the light produced by phone and computer screens.

Blue light can make it difficult to fall asleep and negatively impact eye health

Researchers say exposure to blue light could increase the risk of vision damage and make it harder to fall asleep.

Patel shared his tips for minimizing the effects of blue light when working from home or using screens.

1. Work at arm’s length from the screen

Fully extend your arm and work remotely—from your eyes to your fingertips.

Use this minimum distance to reduce the strain on your eyeballs.

2. 20.20.20

Simply put, every 20 minutes, look away from the screen for at least 20 seconds from a distance of at least 20 feet.

This will help restore your visual system and eye from prolonged screen work.

3. Screen height

The height and height of your work screen can have a major impact on eye strain.

Research has shown that it is better to place the screen higher than the user’s viewing plane – the center point should be 5 to 6 inches below the user’s straight line of sight.

This opens up the space between the upper and lower eyelids, which often leads to dry eyes.

4. Lighting

Position the computer screen so that it is not exposed to glare, especially from overhead lights or windows.

Use blinds or curtains on the windows and replace the light bulbs in desk lamps with light bulbs of lower wattage and intensity.

If there is no way to minimize glare from light sources, consider using an anti-glare filter.

5. Put a sticky note on your screen with the heading “BLINK”.

We typically blink up to 20 times in a minute. This is automatically controlled by our central nervous system, so we are unaware of blinking.

In fact, with screens, this is reduced to 3-5 times per minute, which means that our tear film cannot be maintained and the eye does not remain moist.

A Post-it on your monitor that says “Blink” is designed to help you make a conscious effort to blink. It’s simple, but it definitely works.

6) Look at your device

Usually the biggest and newest phone is the best, but not for your eyes. An iPhone X is 20 percent brighter than an iPhone 6 and emits more blue light.

That’s the difference of a 100 percent increase in harmful blue light exposure!

7. Remember to switch off

I would recommend not using digital devices or artificial lighting after sunset. If you’re like most people, you probably end up sending a last-minute email or finishing your favorite Netflix show before bed.

Try reading a book or start that meditation you promised yourself to do in the new year.

Dhruvin Patel says don’t assume that “night mode” or “blue tint” on devices is enough to counteract the effects of blue light.

He said that this is “proven not to promote sleep compared to normal screen output” and that one should avoid the screen after sunset if possible, even when the feature is on.

Patel started a company called Ocushield that makes screen protectors to filter out blue light based on his research into the effects of the light source.

Source: Dhruvin Patel (Ocushield)