Friday, July 25, 2014

Reduce Digital Eye-Strain with the 20-20-20 Rule


If you spend a good part of your day using the computer, the 20-20-20 rule could help reduce digital eye-strain.

What is digital eye-strain?

Well, often the computer screen is bright, and if you don’t blink your eyes as often as you should while working at the computer for long hours, you can have dry eyes sometimes even followed by redness.

To help you deal with this problem, the 20-20-20 rule suggests that after every 20 minutes, you should take a break for at least 20 seconds and look at objects that are 20 feet away.

Most of us are very busy at work, so we aren’t likely to remember to take a break every 20 minutes. Here are some options to remind you to take breaks!

Eye Defender - after a fixed interval, Eye Defender will auto-run a visual training for the eyes on the desktop screen. You are supposed to follow the pointer on the to help you relax your eyes.


WorkRave - reminds you to take breaks at regular intervals to prevent computer related stress (including eyestrain). This one offers two kinds of breaks – micro-breaks, which are short and meant to relax your eyes, and rest-breaks, which are a little longer and give you time to walk or stretch. Workrave also has a built-in wizard that demonstrates the various types of stretching exercises that you can do during these breaks. 

F.lux - reduces eye strain by adjusting your computer screen light to mimic the sun. By using your geographical location, the software will automatically adjust as the sun rises and sets, allowing your eyes to relax as well as reduce your exposure to blue light – a risk factor for the onset of age-related macular degeneration

Google chrome add-on - that reminds you to take a break every 20 minutes 

Eye gymnastics – If you don’t want to download an application, or your computer restrictions won’t allow it, check out protectyourvision.org to start a timer that will remind you to rest your eyes every 20 minutes, and even has an eye gymnastics function to relax and rest your tired eyes.