Computer Tip of the Day: Save Your Eyes From the Computer

Have you ever noticed that it’s difficult to fall sleep if you use your phone, computer, or tablet late at night? Do you ever think about the fact that you need to save your eyes from the computer?Although some people will argue that this is because you’re not letting your mind rest, there’s a simpler explanation involving the types of lights you expose your eyes to.

If you check out Topbulb.com, they have a lot of information regarding different color temperatures, which are measured in the unit Kelvins. Here’s what you really need to know:

• 2700-2800K is warm light. This is the standard incandescent light bulb you see in houses and apartments.
• 3500-4000K is neutral bright light. It’s a little cooler than warm light and the higher end of the range starts to show a bit of blue.
• 5000-6500K is daylight. You’ll sometimes see this during daytime indoors, but it would be very much out of place during the evening. Most digital screens are set at 6500K.

Now you see the problem. Your mind is telling you one thing — that you should go to sleep — but your body is telling you something else — that it’s daytime. Your laptop screen is throwing your eyes off and keeping you up at night.

(Quick note: this is exactly why reading a book helps you go to sleep. It’s not that videos and text messages themselves keep you up, but rather that the screen messes with your eyes. Books, on the other hand, just require a dim warm light for reading.)

Fortunately, there are plenty of options to deal with this. The famous one is an app called f.lux, which controls your screen’s color temperature based on the sunrise and sunset of your geographical location. Also, Windows 10 has this feature built-in if you go to Display >> Blue Light Settings and set up a schedule.

As an added bonus, there are mobile apps for your smartphone and tablet that do the same thing. Try them out and see if it makes falling asleep easier.

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