Our work and social life is increasingly more dependant on computers, smartphones and televisions. Our technology follows us from our beds to our couches, our commutes to our desks and back again. It is becoming harder and harder to “disconnect” from checking emails, text messages and social media.
While this level of accessibility to information is extremely valuable, it can affect our health through bad posture and screen fatigue. It can also allow us to waste hours of our precious time watching cat videos. Our ability to unplug from unnecessary distractions can vastly improve our health and productivity.
Combat screen fatigue and procrastination with these mobile apps and browser extensions!
4 Tools Designed to Prevent Screen Fatigue and Boost Productivity
1f.lux®
Research shows that that blue light emitted from screens and monitors can interrupt sleep patterns. If you are on your phone or computer well into the evening, or close to bedtime, you may have experienced this firsthand!
f.lux is a browser extension that adjusts the color of your computer’s display to adapt to the time of day – “warm at night and like sunlight during the day.” Long story short, by reducing the harsh blue glow, f.lux may help you power down and fall asleep more easily, especially if you find you’re staying up too late working or checking Facebook.
You can also create the same effect on your iPhone by going to “Display and Brightness” under Settings and setting up “Night Shift”. Night shift allows you to schedule your phone to switch to a warmer display a couple hours before bedtime to help you get a better sleep. Advanced settings allow you to adjust the colour temperature to your comfort level!
StayFocusd
How much time have you lost to time-wasting websites?
Perhaps you have a procrastination weakness and accidentally lose hours of productivity to entertainment and leisure websites and apps. It’s so easy to say you’ll only spend five minutes setting your Fantasy Football lineup or taking a Buzzfeed quiz. Does this sound like you?
Add the StayFocusd Chrome extension! With it, you can block any and all distracting sites for custom time periods. We also recommend an extension called TaskTimer, where you can set your own schedule and view analytics that measure Internet activity and time spent browsing the Web.
We’ve all been there. Someone shares a compelling article, and then all of a sudden you find yourself consuming a never-ending string of suggested readings. Then, you look at the clock only to wonder where the time went!
Sign up for a Pocket account to save Web pages, videos or articles you wish to visit at a later time! This app integrates with most browsers and will sync your saved content across all devices. And the best part is that you don’t even need an Internet connection! You can access everything you add all in one convenient place.
On your iPhone, click the 
icon. Here you can take an article and “add to reading list” to look at it later. To access your reading list, click the bookmark icon and select the glasses at the top of the browser for a list of your saved pages.
eyeCare
This vision protection extension notifies you regularly when it’s time to stop staring at your computer or smartphone screen so that you may rest your eyes.
It even provides suggestions for what to do during your breaks to minimize discomfort! Use eyeCare in conjunction with Screen Shader to reduce screen fatigue and headaches.
Modern business doesn’t always follow the typical 9 to 5 schedule. With increased IT mobility, you and your colleagues are easily spending more time staring at screens.
By applying your ideal mix of productivity and screen health applications, you may just find yourself more alert, comfortable and productive at work and at home!
Note: If you choose to use these extensions, most are available across all mobile devices, but some also require the Chrome browser. Keep in mind that there are multiple equivalents of each platform out there for whatever browser or smart device that you are using.
