Handy Apps for Office Workers

Terrific news, friends.

In the past, we’ve shared information with you about how important it is to use the 20-20-20 rule to protect your eyesight while working long hours at computer screens. This handy rule of thumb is recommended by Doctors of Optometry and other eye professionals around the globe, and it means that you should follow this good habit when working at computer screens:

• Take a 20 second break
• Look at something 20 or more feet away
• Every 20 minutes

Yes, it makes sense. The problem is, how do you remember to do that when you’re absorbed in juggling emails, reports, and web searches all day?

This week, we discovered a browser app called “eyeCare” for the Google Chrome browser.   It’s a free extension that takes about two minutes to download.   The app becomes part of your Google Chrome browser, but as you can see in the screenshot here, you can actually leave it running even when you’re not surfing the web using Google Chrome. This means you can have it working for you whenever you are using your computer.

If you select the exercise page option, you can also use it to prompt yourself to stretch and move every 20 minutes.   Now that can only be good for you.

If you’d like more options for other browsers, we also came across this REVIEW PAGE that rates five other tools for taking breaks for your eyes and body. Some incorporate the 20-20-20 rule, but others are more about providing encouragement to stretch and exercise, or even limit your daily computer usage.

If you’d like to give the “eyeCare” app a try, CLICK HERE.

Whatever you choose, this is a small move in the right direction to improving your quality of life, and of course staying “eye safe.”