If you work in an office, screen time is inevitable. In fact, you may regularly spend eight or nine hours a day at a screen — dealing with messages, appointments, calendars and software. But is this sustainable?
A recent study found that the average office worker spends around 1700 hours per year in front of a computer screen. (That’s more than 32 hours a week, on average.) That number doesn’t even include time spent checking a phone or commuting after work. Over time, so much screen exposure can contribute to tired eyes and poor posture. It can also lead to the feeling that your brain never rests.
Cutting back on screen time at work may seem impossible, but there are ways to do it. And the more you prioritize doing that, the better.
Notice where your screen time goes
Before you can cut back on screen time, you need to know where it’s going. Most office workers don’t spend all day doing deep work at a computer. A lot of screen time is wasted on small transitions. For example, you check your email or scroll through social media on your break.
Spend a few days paying attention to your screen habits. Note things like:
- How often do you check messages when you are not ready to reply?
- If only a few meetings could have been handled with a short phone call
- Whether you’re reading documents on screen that would be easier to review on paper
Find the parts of your day where the screen isn’t really helping you. Once you see those patterns, you can start replacing them with better patterns.
Choose different meeting types
Video meetings are useful, especially when teams are remote or when people need to share visuals. But not every conversation has to happen on Zoom or Teams.
Some meetings are really just conversations. If you’re checking with a colleague or clarifying a simple decision, a phone call may work best. It gives your eyes a break and often feels less draining because you don’t need to appear on camera.
Try a date-free day
If you’re not careful, your work day can be torn apart by meetings. You might spend thirty minutes in a meeting, then fifteen minutes catching up on email, then another meeting, then more texting. At the end of the day, you’ve been at the screen for hours, but haven’t actually been able to do any deep work.
A date-free day can help with this. If possible, try to have at least one day in the work week where there are no meetings. (It’s even better if you can consolidate all your appointments into just two or three days, leaving you with a few appointment-free days per week.)
This not only limits your screen time, but also affects your productivity and the quality of your work. This allows you to show up and get things done without interruption.
Use a physical journal
A physical notebook can be surprisingly useful in a digital office. When every thought goes to a computer, you become completely dependent on a screen for everything. But a journal creates a small division. You can use it for plan your day or describe a project. Some prefer it for keeping meeting notes or thinking about problems.
Handwriting slows you down in a good way. This helps you focus on what matters instead of jumping between apps. That doesn’t mean you have to abandon digital tools. You may still need project management software or shared documents. But a physical notebook can give you some healthy separation.
Build Eye Breaks in the day
Even if you cut back on your screen time, you’ll likely spend a large portion of your day on the computer. This is where eye breaks come into play.
The 20-20-20 rule it’s a simple place to start. Every 20 minutes, look at something about 20 meters away for at least 20 seconds. This gives your eyes a chance to relax from close focus.
Don’t ignore vision problems
Sometimes screen fatigue isn’t just a matter of screen time. It could be a vision issue.
If you find yourself squinting and squinting too much from the monitor, it may be time for an eye exam. Your prescription may have changed. Or you may need different lenses to do computer work.
For some people, LASIK it may be worth discussing with an eye doctor, especially if glasses or contacts are frustrating. LASIK is not a quick fix for every screen-related problem, and it is not right for everyone. However, it is a game changer for many people.
Adding it all up
Reducing screen time in an office job doesn’t mean rejecting technology. It seems like you use screens where they are useful and choose better options where they are not.
You may not be able to completely avoid screens, but you can build a workday that depends less on them. This can help your eyes feel better and give you a little more mental space to get valuable work done.
Photo by Vitaly Gariev: Unsplash
