If you work in an office, screen time is inevitable. In fact, you might regularly spend eight or nine hours per day on a screen – dealing with messages, meetings, calendars, and software. But is this sustainable?
One recent survey found that the average office worker spends around 1,700 hours a year in front of a computer screen. (That’s more than 32 hours per week, on average.) That number doesn’t even include time spent checking a phone or scrolling after work. Over time, that much screen exposure can contribute to tired eyes and poor posture. It can also lead to the feeling that your brain never gets a break.
Reducing screen time at work might seem impossible, but there are ways to make it happen. And the more you prioritize doing this, the better.
Notice Where Your Screen Time Goes
Before you can reduce screen time, you need to know where it’s going. Most office workers don’t spend all day doing deep work on a computer. A lot of screen time gets lost in small transitions. For instance, you check your email or scroll through social media on your break.
Spend a few days paying attention to your screen habits. Notice things like:
- How often do you check messages when you’re not actually ready to respond
- Whether certain meetings could’ve 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 is not really helping. Once you see those patterns, you can start replacing them with better ones.
Choose Different Meeting Types
Video meetings are useful, especially when teams are remote or when people need to share visuals. But not every conversation needs to happen on Zoom or Teams.
Some meetings are really just conversations. If you’re checking in with a coworker or clarifying a simple decision, a phone call may work better. It gives your eyes a break, and it often feels less draining because you’re not having to show up on camera.
Try a No-Meeting Day
If you aren’t careful, your workday can become fragmented by meetings. You may spend thirty minutes in a meeting, then fifteen minutes catching up on email, then another meeting, then more messages. By the end of the day, you’ve been on a screen for hours, but you haven’t actually been able to do any deep work.
A no-meeting day can help with this. If possible, try to have at least one day per workweek where there are no meetings. (It’s even better if you can consolidate all of your meetings into just two or three days, leaving you with several no-meeting days per week.)
Not only does this limit screentime, but it also impacts productivity and the quality of your work. It allows you to show up and get stuff done without interruptions.
Use a Physical Journal
A physical notebook can be surprisingly helpful in a digital office. When every thought goes into a computer, you become entirely dependent on a screen for everything. But a journal creates a little separation. You can use it to plan your day or outline a project. Some prefer it for taking meeting notes or thinking through problems.
Writing by hand slows you down in a good way. It helps you focus on what matters instead of bouncing between apps. This doesn’t mean you need to abandon digital tools. You may still need project management software or shared documents. But a physical notebook can give you a little bit of healthy separation.
Build Eye Breaks Into the Day
Even if you reduce some screen time, you’ll probably still spend a large part of the day on a computer. That’s where eye breaks come into play.
The 20-20-20 rule is a simple place to start. Every 20 minutes, look at something about 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds. This gives your eyes a chance to relax from close-up focus.
Don’t Ignore Vision Problems
Sometimes screen fatigue is not only a screen-time issue. It may be a vision issue.
If you find yourself squinting and leaning toward the monitor a lot, it may be time for an eye exam. Your prescription may have changed. Or you may need different lenses for doing computer work.
For some people, LASIK 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’s not right for everyone. However, it’s a game-changer for many.
Adding it All Up
Reducing screen time in an office job doesn’t have to mean rejecting technology. It looks like using screens where they’re helpful and choosing better options where they’re not.
You may not be able to avoid screens completely, but you can build a workday that depends on them less. That can help your eyes feel better and give you a little more mental space to perform valuable work.
Photo by Vitaly Gariev: Unsplash
