Ever get a nasty headache in the middle of a workday? Do your eyes start watering while binge-watching your favourite series? Team Viva is here with some helpful suggestions to help your sore eyeballs

Since the pandemic has taken over, most of our lives have been consumed by the digital world. Be it work, entertainment or socialising, digital screens have become an indispensable part of everyday life.

Excessive screen time is putting an enormous strain on your eyes, which can be really harmful in the long run.

Want to combat increased screen time in easy and effective ways? Read on for five ways to give your eyes a protective detox from digital screens.

Use eyeglasses with BLU-cut lenses

This one is a must-have if you are part of the WFH team. If excessive screen time is absolutely unavoidable for you because of work, this is the solution for you. Eyeglasses with BLU-cut or computer lenses are an easy and effective way to protect your eyes. These lenses keep at bay the harmful effects of blue rays emanating from digital screens. These not only add protection and functionality to your work life but also undeniable style for the virtual meetings you attend throughout the day. Check out John Jacobs’ high-quality yet affordable BLU eyeglasses range to balance out excessive screen time. Give your eyes the digital detox they deserve.

Reduce screen brightness on all devices

Adjusting screen brightness to suit the time of the day and your lifestyle is an easy way to reduce eye strain. Almost every digital device available today has settings for night mode and yellow light. These can be automated to custom timings and aligned with your schedule seamlessly. Lux is an interesting app available for android devices that allows you to customise and adjust your screen brightness. It has features like renowned blue light filtering with easy navigation guides and a smooth, simple interface.

Take frequent breaks from the screen

Sometimes, there is nothing more effective and relaxing for your eyes than a good ol’ fashioned coffee break! Give your eyes rest in between work meetings and assignments and chill with a cuppa. Listen to calming music or simply meditate on your day — but keep the phone down and let your laptop go to sleep for a 15-minute periodic break every now and then. This will not only boost your productivity but also combat watering or burning eyes that occur due to continuous and uninterrupted screen exposure. We love Country Bean’s aromatic and innovative flavours for our much needed coffee breaks!

Increase the font size on your devices

A lot of what we do on our screens involves reading. Almost every digital device today has settings that allow you to adjust font size. Larger font size is essential to ensure that all the other measures you take for protecting your eyes work together in harmony. This helps you relax your eyesight and reduce the strain.

Techlicious’ guide on how to increase text size on phones, tablets and computers is a handy read for this purpose.

Use The 20-20-20 rule

Here’s a recommendation straight from the ophthalmologist's office! You must be wondering, what is the 20-20-20 rule? It recommends that digital screen users divert their attention from screens every 20 minutes and look at objects 20 feet away for 20 seconds. This one really works and is advised as an add-on even when you wear computer eyeglasses and switch the night mode on in your devices. Download the Eye Care 20 20 20 app, it automates the process for you when you are working or watching something and makes it super easy to follow this useful tip.

Balancing work, entertainment and social life are essential. However, it's equally important, if not more, to take care of our health. Luckily, these simple hacks can help us all effectively combat the negative effects of increased screen exposure. Go on, give your eyes a better chance to last in the long run.