Rule 1: Sleep well at night
There are many studies indicating that if you turn off your screens (all of them – phones included) an hour or 2 before you go to sleep, you will sleep better… not necessarily longer but the quality will be better. (NB: Turning off your monitors when not in use can also save you a bundle in electricity.)
We’re not discussing eyestrain here although Michael Marmor, Ophthalmology professor at Stanford Medical School, posits that eyestrain is not necessarily caused by reading with either e-paper or back-lit screens but because people forget to take regular breaks & look away from their screens. (See Rule 2)
What we’re talking about is sleep.
If you have poor sleeping habits, you will be less alert during the day.
If you are less alert your perception is compromised and you can make mistakes.
The primal part of your brain needs light to fade gradually before you sleep. Exposure to light accelerates the brain and results in over-stimulation: you can’t fall asleep because you’re too wired; you’re worried about not being able to sleep; your mind starts racing even more and you’re in a sleepless loop. According to an article posted by the University of Maryland Medical Center, When it is dark, your body produces more melatonin; when it is light, the production of melatonin drops. Being exposed to bright lights in the evening can disrupt the body’s normal melatonin cycles.
The take-home lesson is that insomnia and electronic gadgets emitting light should not [be] mixed before bedtime, (from an email by Alon Avidan, UCLA Neurology Clinic).
This especially applies to e-readers: Because users hold those devices so close to their face, staring directly into the light, the effect is amplified compared with, say, a TV across the room or a bedside lamp, said Frisca Yan-Go, director of the UCLA Sleep Disorders Center in Santa Monica.
Rule 2: Be awake at work
Watch what you eat. For decades doctors and nutritionists have warned us about eating habits and falling asleep at your desk. If you have a heavy lunch that is high on the glycemic index you will feel lethargic afterward as your blood sugar dances off the scale.
Replace
- Salty (chips) or sweet snacks with nuts
- French fries with salad
- White rice with brown rice
- White bread with whole-grain
- Soda or fruit juice with 2% or soy milk
B. Take a break: move or nap. Continuously repeated motions or lack of motion can result in eyestrain and stiff muscles, which can be exhausting. Take 5 minute breaks when you can. Even if you walk just once around the office it can invigorate you. If you work for a company that has nap stations use them. Napping worked for Da Vinci, Einstein & Tesla.
C. Keep it cool. Overheated work areas are not good for your servers or you. A cooler temperature will help keep you alert. Drink cool water (never ice cold – that would make you crash). Run your wrists under a cold tap or keep a cool cloth handy to run over your forehead or the back of your neck.
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