Healthy Daily Habits for Computer Users

You know you should exercise, but did you know you need to exercise your eye muscles too? Just like other muscles in your body, when your eyes are held in a position too long, they get stiff and tired, causing them to feel strained. Eye strain can lead to lowered productivity, work errors, and sometimes headaches, eye twitches, or dry, red eyes. Want to relieve eye strain but don’t know how to work those muscles? Here are some simple exercises that will work your eye muscles and help stimulate the vision center of the brain. Spending many hours staring at up-close objects on a screen causes focusing fatigue. To prevent tiring your eyes, try practicing the 20-20-20 rule when using a computer. Every 20 minutes, look at a distant object roughly 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds. You can also try focusing on something close up for 10 seconds, then something far away for 10 seconds, and repeating this 10 times. To work the muscles that move your eyes, try rolling your eyes. Close your eyes and roll your eyes up, down, and around a few times to give them a break. Repeat 3 times and then reverse sides. Alternatively, you might try tracing a Figure 8 with your eyes. To do this, look about 10 feet in front of you and draw a horizontal figure 8 with your eyes. To relax your eyes, allow yourself a face-palm. Rub your palms together to generate heat, then close your eyes and gently press your palms against your eyelids. Keep them closed for a few minutes. Most importantly, don’t forget to blink. You tend to blink less often when using a computer screen, which can cause eye dryness and irritation. Every 20 minutes, blink your eyes very slowly 10 times to moisten them. Sound simple enough? Give your eyes some relief by practicing a few of these exercises daily!