Remember Screen Fatigue?

As we are moving into Mock’s it becomes a time where we stop paying attention to some of the more important things in our lives. Yes, we want to perform well on our exams, but is it worth your eyesight and your mental health.  You can easily manage both if you just plan to address the issue of screen fatigue. 

The best thing you can do is to move. Jeremy Bailenson runs Stanford’s VR Lab and has just published research on screen fatigue.  His team found that movement helps us think better. 

“There’s a growing research now that says when people are moving, they’re performing better cognitively,” (Bailenson) 

We can set timers, we can plan breaks, but the biggest thing is to move away from your screen for a few minutes and give your eyes and mind a break. This short ‘Tech Break’ will allow your mind to rest a bit and allow it to recharge for the next session. 

A great way to do this is to set a timer on your phone or add one of many browser extensions, like Simple Time Tracker, which gives you an alarm and shows you how you have spent your time. This small change can help you be more effective and also ensure you are not pushing yourself beyond healthy limits. 

However, a major finding was the importance of movement. Moving not only helps to distress, but it also gives your mind time to reflect on what you have learned sending it deeper into your brain. So when you take that break, go for a short walk, spin a bit or just play with your pet.  Anything to create some movement. Hope that helps and best of luck to all. 

Hughes, Owen. “Zoom Fatigue? Four Reasons Video Calls Are Exhausting, and How to Prevent It.” TechRepublic, TechRepublic, 26 Feb. 2021, www.techrepublic.com/article/zoom-fatigue-four-reasons-video-calls-are-exhausting-and-how-to-prevent-it/. Accessed 8 Mar. 2021.