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Now that we've spent almost a year doing most, if not all, of our academic tasks from home, we are spending a lot of time every day staring at screens. Add in social media, socializing, and other work on top of that and it can feel like our whole lives have been moved online. Knowing how to manage our use of technology is more important than ever. As part of my series as a Career Peer Educator with the Career Centre, this month I am bringing you tips on how to look after yourself and your devices so that both can function well.
Tip 1: Be aware of screen fatigue and take steps to prevent it
Screen fatigue is a type of eye strain that is caused by staring at screens for long periods of time. According to the Mayo Clinic, common signs of screen fatigue include:
- Sore, tired, dry, itchy, or otherwise strained eyes
- Blurred or double vision
- Headaches
- Sore neck, shoulder or back muscles
- Increased sensitivity to light
- Difficulty concentrating
These signs can be subtle at first, sneaking up on you over the course of the day until you have a pounding headache and can't keep your eyes open at 5:00 pm. While screen fatigue isn't dangerous, it is an unpleasant experience that can affect your ability to do important tasks.
Thankfully, there are a number of easy ways you can prevent screen fatigue, or make the symptoms less severe.
- Take breaks from looking at your screen. One strategy you can use is the 20-20-20 rule: every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds. If you'd rather take a less formal approach, pausing to close your eyes for a few moments each day can also help. The important thing is that your eyes aren't staring at the screen for hours on end without interruption.
- Improve the air quality of your workspace. Blowing air from fans, or hot air from heating vents, can dry out your eyes and make eye strain worse. Turning off fans (if possible), using a humidifier, and moving your chair to a different position away from vents can all help with this problem.
- Blink often. It's easy to not notice, but many people blink less often than usual when using a computer, and this contributes to tired eyes. If you notice that your eyes feel itchy or sore, try a few hard blinks to moisten them. For those who feel that this isn't enough, most drugstores carry eye drops that you can use to refresh your eyes.
[Editor's note: Laura also has some advice for coping with screen fatigue.]
Tip 2: Develop focusing strategies for long online lectures and meetings
Long lectures can already be tiring in person. A three hour lecture online can feel endless. The good news is that there are a number of ways to make focusing during these meetings easier.
Take advantage of breaks during long meetings. Even a short time to step away from the screen can help you refocus and prevent screen fatigue. If there's a break in your long lecture, take the opportunity to stretch your legs and drink some water. Try to avoid just scrolling through your phone if screen fatigue is a concern for you.
If you are allowed to switch off your camera, you can try standing up and stretching periodically during the meeting (while still paying attention, of course!). This can help prevent muscle pain and stiffness, and a quick physical reset can help your mind stay on task as well. It may also help to change up the physical setting where you attend meetings, if possible. Try attending meetings in a different room from where you usually work and see how the new scenery makes you feel. If nothing else, the variety of settings can help make a long day working from home seem less monotonous.
You can also make yourself a more active participant in the meeting by taking notes. This way, you will have to listen and record important information. Even if you end up not using the notes after, taking them will still help you pay attention and keep track of everything.
Tip 3: Avoid wasting long stretches of time on your phone
We've all been there: you go to take a "quick five minute break" on your phone, and before you know it, an hour has gone by. For a lot of us, getting off our phones and going back to work is tough, especially in a home office environment with minimal supervision and structure. If this is something you're having trouble with, there are a few things you can try:
- Schedule "phone breaks" throughout the day and set alarms to remind you. It might feel a bit weird to put Instagram scrolling into your calendar, but making it part of your daily routine can help establish better social media habits.
- Try staying off your phone during the day altogether. The simplest way to do this is by just putting your phone somewhere out of sight before your work day starts and taking it back out later. Simply being in a different room from one's phone can be enough for some of us.
- There's an app for that. There are a number of apps for IOS and Android that are built to help you stay off your phone. For example, Offtime works well for blocking specific apps at user-set times of day, and Flipd is a great choice for those who need to be blocked from unlocking their phones altogether. If you'd rather go for a more reward-based approach, Forest is an app that has you planting virtual trees and growing them by staying off your phone. If you stay on task, your tree grows; if you're on your phone instead, your tree dies.
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Managing one's technology is a challenge that takes time and practice to overcome. But it's worth working on, especially right now. I hope that these pieces of advice are useful to you as we all adjust to working from home!
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About Christine
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Christine McManus is a fifth-year psychology student. She is a Career Peer Educator at the U of A Career Centre, where she gives general career management advice, helps students write resumes and cover letters, and conducts career-related workshops. When she's not studying or at work, she enjoys hanging out with her cat, Scotty.