TAKE A BREAK

Illustration by As Rude As Possible

I am one of those people who can immediately tell when a blood vessel breaks in their eye. To me this happens when I spend a lot of time staring at screens and frankly, it feels quite disgusting. Like someone poking a needle in my eye. Since starting my current studies I’ve also had a twitch in my right eye at least once a week. That’s also rather uncomfortable. I know both of these things can be signs of stress, dry eyes and not taking enough breaks. Nowadays we spend a lot of time sitting in front of a screen, be it a computer, tablet or a phone. The current world situation has normalised working and studying online and many of us also rely on different kind of screens during our free time. Various pastimes that were paper-based in the past are digital now (ebooks, games etc).

So please, dear reader, take this opportunity to stand up, shift your gaze away from the screen and relax your eyes by looking into the distance. It’s also a good idea to blink (might seem obvious but we actually forget to blink enough when staring at a screen for a long time). While you’re at it go ahead and stretch those shoulders a bit. You could even do a jumping jack or two. If you're a coffee kinda person, pour yourself a cup of that hot elixir of life. Tea also works, or just plain old water. Take a moment for yourself. You know you deserve it.