How to reduce the time we spend in front of screens?

Tips on how to spend less time in front of screens and make healthier use of them.

We need to use new technologies to be able to study and work in today's world, especially now that the pandemic has made telecommuting the norm.

Working for several hours at a time in front of a computer, as well as abusing other electronic devices such as cell phones, affects our eyes in a very negative way. The blue light given off by these devices induces eye health problems, sleep problems and even depression.

Knowing how to reduce the time we spend in front of screens has become extremely necessary to know in order to prevent our health from being affected. to know to be able to avoid that our health suffers and next we are going to see some types to be able to obtain it.

How to reduce the time we spend in front of screens

It has been known for a long time that abusing screens is harmful to our health. Spending long hours in front of an electronic device causes visual health problems, such as red eyes, eye fatigue, itching, blurred vision and headaches, symptoms of computer vision syndrome.

Added to this the continuous exposure to light from the screen influences our circadian cycle, resulting in difficulties in sleeping and sleeping disorders.This results in sleeping difficulties and, indirectly, depression and other mood problems.

Taking into account all these health problems associated with the abuse of electronic devices, it is necessary to acquire strategies to reduce the time we are exposed to screens. It is true that the way we work and study forces us to spend more hours than we would like in front of the computer and cell phone, something that seems to be difficult to reduce, however, it is possible to apply changes and new daily habits that help us to have a healthier relationship with new technologies.

Here are a few strategies that we can apply to learn how to reduce the time we spend in front of screens.

1. Do not use screens the hour before going to bed.

As we mentioned, the light from screens negatively affects our circadian cycles. Although the ideal is not to have used a screen in the two hours before going to bed (this also applies to television), in practice this is rather complicated, so we should at least try not to use screens in the hour before going to bed.

Screens emit blue light, especially cell phones, which suppresses melatonin levels, the hormone that controls sleep cycles.the hormone that controls sleep cycles. As a result, we may take longer to fall asleep, our sleep is worse and we do not perform adequately the next day, in addition to running the risk of suffering from depressive symptoms.

2. Establish a time to rest from screens

During the day we should establish times when we will not be able to use electronic devices, especially if they are hours of the day when we know that it is very unlikely that we will receive a notification from our work or studies. It is those moments when we do not have obligations that we can use them to free ourselves from the great presence that new technologies have in our lives.

Any time that suits us is perfect. For example, we can choose to do so during meals, committing ourselves not to use the cell phone or watch TV while we are eating.. Calculating that we take about 20 minutes to make each meal, if we follow this rule we would have an hour and 20 minutes a day of rest from screens.

For this to work it is also very important to extend it to other times of the day that do not require the presence of screens at all. If we go to the bathroom or go to the supermarket to do the shopping, we should avoid using the cell phone in these situations. We don't need cell phones to do our business, and we can memorize the shopping list or write it down on paper.

3. Set alerts for e-mails

If we are waiting for an e-mail to arrive from work, it is possible that we are checking it every now and then on our cell phone to see if it has arrived. The problem with doing so is that we run the risk of being entertained with every glance we take, ending up in not-so-work-related applications such as social networks or video games. To avoid this, a good way to avoid this is to set up alerts alerts to let us know when we have received an email and leave our cell phone out of sight..

4. Change the phone's configuration

Many of us are unable to take our hands off the phone. This is normal because they are enabled so that the colors of their applications captivate us and attract our attention, making us spend more time glued to them. One way to avoid this is to change the colors of the screen to grayscale mode, making the applications not to be noticed by us.making the applications less attractive to us.

Another way is to activate the time limit function in front of the screen or, if the mobile does not have it, download one of the many applications that offer this feature. Every time we exceed the established time, a warning will appear or, depending on the application we have installed, it may even happen that we will not be able to use the mobile for a while.

It is a very good option to group social networking applications in a folder that does not appear on the home screen, that is, that are a little more hidden. Although we will not be able to avoid using the cell phone for work or studies, at least we can avoid using it to resort to social networks, which is undoubtedly a significant saving of exposure to the screen.

5. Print documents

A good strategy to save eyesight problems is to print documents, whether they are class notes or work reports. In both cases, having the documents printed will allow us to turn off the computer for a moment and consult the texts anywhere in the house or in a library. will allow us to turn off the computer for a moment and consult the texts anywhere in the house or in a library, giving our eyes a rest from the blue light of the screen. from the blue light of the screen.

In the case of students, printing their notes has an advantage and it is that they can underline the text and make notifications, which make the knowledge settle better. It is true that this implies an economic expense and paper consumption but, if they are important documents, using this strategy is worth it.

6. Rest every 60 minutes

As far as our work or classes allow us to do so, we should take a short eye break every 60 minutes. To do this, we can take a quick walk inside the house or even in the street, for no more than 5 minutes to be able to continue with our obligations.. We can also go to the toilet to wash our face and moisturize our eyes a little.

If it is not possible to take breaks from time to time, a good alternative is that, when we are writing in a word processor, we look at the keyboard and check the text at the end. At the beginning we may make more mistakes, but with a little practice we will write perfectly, and this option allows us to work for hours at a time on the computer without the continuous effects of exposure to the screen.

Bibliographical references:

• Park W.K. (2005) Mobile Phone Addiction. In: Mobile Communications. Computer Supported Cooperative Work, vol 31. Springer, London.
• Reagle, J. (2015). Following the Joneses: FOMO and conspicuous sociality. First Monday, 20(10). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v20i10.6064
• Stevens, R. G and Zhu, Y. (2015) Electric light, particularly at night, disrupts human circadian rhythmicity: is that a problem? Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B37020140120 http://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2014.0120.