8 Tips for Women Who are On Screens All the Time

When you run 2 online businesses, use Waze to get places, homeschool your kids using an online program, keep an online calendar, shop online, love reality TV, and receive a boatload of emails every day… screens are just a part of the routine.

BUT… I don't love the way I feel when I'm on screens a lot.  So I've had to get creative to try and mitigate the health hazards caused by daily screen use.

Today I'm going to teach you 8 practical (and easy) tips to counterbalance your screen use.  They're mostly free… and each one takes < 60 seconds to do!

First of all, what ARE some of the health effects of screen use???  (I'll link to studies for those who love that sort of thing 😍)

The main culprit with screen use is the unfiltered, toxic blue light that blasts out of TV, laptop, and phone screens.

👉🏾 It ages your skin

👉🏾 It can increase insulin resistance and alter metabolic function

👉🏾 Blue light from screens can raise your blood sugar (even if you're not eating anything!)

👉🏾 Blue light exposure at night leads to insomnia (blue light raises cortisol levels which in turn suppresses melatonin production)

👉🏾 Blue light can cause eye damage

👉🏾 Screens also throw off your circadian rhythm (disrupted circadian rhythm can cause endocrine diseases, cardiovascular disease, cancer, immune impairment, depression, anxiety and cognitive impairment) 

So what do you do if you have to be on screens all day?  

1️⃣ Get outside for a quick light break at least once every hour.  This can be short. 30-60 seconds long is all you need.  But take off glasses and sunglasses, please so you get sunlight into your eyes.

Every time I get up to use the bathroom, I step outside for a minute or two. In the Circadian Rhythm Reset course, we talk about taking SUN BREAKS instead of SMOKING BREAKS. The more you're on screens, the more light breaks you'll want to take every day.

2️⃣ While you're outside, look out into the distance.  I like to scan the trees at the back of my yard.  After staring at a narrow screen for a while, looking out and away helps your eyes rest and realign.

3️⃣ Ask yourself, “Can I take this task outside?”  It's a bit too cold right now for me to do Zooms from my patio… but I will do my social media posts, answer DMs outside, and audio message my friends from outside! Being outside exposes your eyes to red, infrared and UV light from the sun, which will balance out the blue light blasting from your phone screen!

4️⃣ Wear a scarf and cover up your skin while you're on a laptop or watching TV. Yes, even your skin has light receptors on them.  Your thyroid is especially vulnerable to blue light from screens, since it sits so close to your skin.  I always wrap myself up with a blanket (and wear my blue blockers) if I watch TV at night.

5️⃣ Wear a pair of blue blockers when you're on screens. 

• Yellow during the daytime

• Orange after sunset or before sunrise

• Red if it's getting close to bedtime and you're on a late night Zoom or watching TV.

My favorite starter pair of blue blockers (for <$40!) are the orange Night Prowlers (use code ChristiC for 10% off!). If you wear glasses, you can find blue blocker suggestions in my FREE "Newbie's Guide to Blue Blockers."

6️⃣ Turn your phone screen red. 

If you have an Android, download the Twilight app. If you have an iPhone, you can find instructions here.

7️⃣ Install Iris software on your computer.  

I have had this on my laptop for more than a year and I love how it adjusts the screen automatically to reduce the amount of blue light and flicker.  You can get a free trial using this link.   We talk more about screens and light mitigation in Module 6 of the Circadian Rhythm Reset course.

8️⃣ Don't watch TV or scroll your phone while eating.  

This will raise blood sugar levels even more than normal… and no one needs that!

If you'd like a pretty little guide that dives into 6 of these tips in more detail, you can download my FREE "6 Tips for Women Who Live On Screens" guide.

If you want to learn more about how to use sunlight strategically to reset your Circadian Rhythm, counter the effects of screens, and regulate hormones, sleep, and mood... you'll want to go through The Circadian Rhythm Reset course. This course takes you through an entire day (from sunrise to bedtime) and teaches you exactly how to give your body the signals it needs (and remove those it DOESN'T need).