7 tips to limit the impact of screens while working from home. Over the long term, heavy exposure to screens can cause eye problems. Screen reflections and brightness create glare, whether it’s reflected sunlight, room, and office lights, or light coming from the screen.
It is essential to limit this impact on the health of your eyes, especially when working from home. To help you, here are 7 tips to reduce the effect of screen glare when working remotely
1 – Move your computer according to the time of day
The sun moves throughout the day, which means the brightness of the room you’re working in changes over the hours. Logically, it is more complicated to work on your computer with daylight illuminating the screen behind you, rather than staying in a shady corner.
If you have the possibility, move your work desk according to the brightness, since very often, the workstation comes down to a laptop. However, if you do not have the possibility to move, or the will to do so, other solutions are available to you. Read on to know them.
2 – Use lower brightness bulbs
The brightness of the room should not dazzle the eyes, especially when this light is turned on in the evening. Prefer bulbs with 50 watts or less, or LED lamps whose brightness remains rather soft.
No one feels comfortable when the lighting is white and bright, and even less so in a home. This type of light may be suitable for waking up well or for light therapy, but for everyday light, it should be avoided. Also consider having several lamps with different intensities, so that you can turn them on and off as needed.
3 – Install a day-night roller blind
This advice is particularly suitable if you do not have the possibility of changing places with your computer. A roller blind is a great way to control the brightness of the room: you can open it halfway or fully depending on the position of the sun and the time of day.
If this is an option that interests you, note that it is very easy to install a roller blind at home. On Domondo.fr, for example, you can find made-to-measure day-night roller blinds, without having to drill the wall. In addition, the choice of colors gives you great freedom for decoration.
4 – Get anti-reflective filters
Anti-reflective filters are widely used to protect the eyes from screens. They exist for computer, laptop or tablet screens, but also for glasses. The objective is to push back the brightness in order to avoid glare due to screen reflections.
They are also considered essential for professionals working only on a computer, and this is generally the case in telework. You can easily get one online or in store, depending on the type of filter you are looking for (see here for a comparison).
5 – Adjust screen brightness
A detail that seems obvious, but which is still not a reflex for most of us. Whether with the mobile phone or the computer, it often happens to forget to decrease the brightness when the light around is weaker.
While most cell phones today offer automatic brightness adjustment, this is not often the case with computers. So remember to check regularly during the day if the brightness of the screen is suitable.
6 – Avoid using the phone during breaks
You spend your day in front of your computer screen, and regular breaks are essential to release the pressure of the eyes and the mind. Thus, in this perspective of relaxing break, it is wise to avoid the use of the mobile phone!
Indeed, the pause will have no beneficial effect on your eyes if you leave one screen to look at another. The ideal is to go out for some fresh air, listen to your favorite music or drink tea in the sun.
7 – Work early in the morning or in the evening
One last piece of advice that not everyone will necessarily be able to apply, but which may be suitable for some people: by working early in the morning, that is to say when the sun is barely rising, you will not be dazzled by the light of the day. Same thing when working in the evening, when the sun goes down.
In telework, you generally have the possibility of adapting your schedules and choosing your working times. This is not always the case, but if it is for you, working this way can be interesting!
