It’s 3 p.m., and you’ve been at your desk all day or most of the day. Maybe you even worked through lunch, poring over your keyboard while eating a sandwich. If you stop and tune into your body, will you notice how your eyes are burning, how your neck and shoulders are tense and painful? Looking at work, trying to meet deadlines, can you stay focused and calm your frozen mind – or do you struggle with staying on task?
Or how the workday will end? Maybe you crawl into bed, exhausted — but still unable to sleep through the night. And when you’re away from your office, how often do you remember plugging away screen-free and wandering around healing green spaces?
These are all very common symptoms and contributors to what we call screen stress, digital fatigue, and burnout. And they are native to the workplace.
The good news is that you don’t have to live this way. We have the option to work more mentally: by improving our computer station. Learning the technique of placing pressure in place; Breaks to recharge nature; and establishing better tech habits.
When we get serious about digital wellness, we can create healthy workplaces, be gentle with our bodies and minds, and engage in activities that actually replenish our energy and drain our energy and fight when we’re not working.
Our digital wellness best practices: easy-to-use tips
I’ve been fortunate to work with Dr. Michael Rich, director of Harvard University’s Digital Wellbeing Lab, to develop these research-backed strategies for optimal digital well-being. Dr. Rich contributed to our book Less screen more greenand we were really pleased that the late Dr. Jane Goodall wrote the foreword.
The truth is, today’s digital workplace was not designed for our well-being, as you probably all too well know. It’s clear that we need to be more intentional about promoting our well-being than ever before. Here are four essential places to start.
1. Check your workstation ergonomics
How your workstation is set up has a significant impact on you and your work. Pamela Dempster, a certified occupational ergonomist and fellow in our programs, warns: “Laptops can become a health problem because they promote neck bending/overextension which should be avoided even for extended periods of time. In addition, poorly designed workstations, and the current trend of ‘hot desking’ (where work stations are constantly moving) increase stress.” So let’s take a closer look at how a workstation should be set up to limit stress and promote better skeletal, muscular, nervous system and eye health.
First, a good chair with lumbar (lower back) support and a good armrest is key. Supportive armrests are important for upper body/upper extremity health, and are best if padded with a soft foam underlay. Your screen should be at arm’s length away and at eye level so you’re looking straight at the top of the screen, not looking down and straining your neck. Monitors at eye height promote neutral head/neck positioning. This promotes downward gaze which is healthy for our near-sighted visual system and its ability to focus better on reading.
As you probably know, staring at blue-lit screens and unhealthy tech habits, including poor ergonomics, increase our stress levels and our exhaustion. They drain our physical and mental fuel and contribute to burnout. To support eye health, invest in blue light-filtering glasses to reduce eye strain, and keep lubricating eyedrops on your desk and remember to blink. (Yes, we “forget” to blink when we’re glued to screens!)
2. Have regular bowel movements
It’s important to keep the body moving during the day, even when you’re sitting at your desk. This prevents us from developing muscle strains and repetitive strain injuries such as “tech neck”. Regular gentle movement practices like qi gong, and intentional practices like mindfulness meditation and breathing exercises (yes, we even forget to breathe), help our bodies relax and calm and focus our minds. It not only increases ease of work and productivity, but also helps us sleep at night.
Turn away from your screen frequently to refocus your gaze and take a few deep breaths to relax and recharge. One of the simplest desktops we recommend is called 20-20-20: Set a timer, and every 20 minutes, look away from your screen—even better if it’s outside a window. Look at least 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds, and take some deep breaths.
One of our digital wellness participants reported that since doing the Mindfulness Tech program, she has rearranged her desk and computer setup, which has relieved her neck strain and lower back strain. Now she also takes regular breaks to practice 20-20-20 and to stand and stretch. “It’s made me feel better about the amount of screen time I’ve had in my work, and that’s non-negotiable.”
3. Nature Remedy: A daily dose of nearby nature
In a world that’s full of tech, noise, and chaos, it’s easy to forget that there’s nothing “natural” out there in the wild. It is not separate from us. We humans are part of nature! (Though it’s not always obvious from how carelessly we treat our environment.) Being in the woods, a city park, a patch of grass, or just turning inside out for a moment and getting some fresh air is coming home, somehow.
We call this intentional practice nature therapy, and it’s the foundation of our workplace wellness program.
Scientific evidence from researchers, including Dr. Kang Li, Scientific Advisor at the Forest Bathing Institute, supports the benefits of mindfulness in nature for many physical and mental health issues including: high blood pressure, anxiety, depression, compassion fatigue and burnout. The Japanese practice of Shinran Yoko is emerging as a key strategy for workplace wellness and is practiced by many prominent health professionals themselves.
Our co-author Dr. Rich is an advocate of the healing power of nature as an important aspect of workplace wellness and was amazed by Shinran Yoko’s effect: “Recently, at a conference in Aspen, I had my first experience with forest bathing. Surprisingly, it’s nothing that we’re not doing anything, but we’re nothing that we’re somehow under-sensitive. Trees are used to this digital generation being hyper-stimulated, that’s the key to their mental health. , without our phones, it’s easy to do.
Dr. Rich explains what is happening in this simple moment. The forest bath works, because when we change from our habitual fast and cluttered mind, it can have a profound effect on resetting our nervous system. We are shifting from a sympathetic (stress) mode, to a parasympathetic (relaxation) mode. The mental health benefits of meditation are similar to clearing your mind. You are connecting with the inner stillness that is usually drowned out by the noise of our highly urban workplaces.
Remember, this screen must be free. Screens disrupt our sense of connection to time and space and our bodies, limiting our ability to settle into stillness.
We’ve found this intentional reconnection with nature, even for people whose jobs require them to spend all day in front of screens. One IT professional reported this experience after taking our digital wellness program and trying her nearby nature cues: “Instead of whining about not being able to get out of a long hike, I take frequent breaks. Just walk around the block without checking my phone or listening to music. It’s a huge change for me, when I’m worse off than my caffeine habit. We have a happy one. It’s a happy day for us.” We have a very sick day. We are the boss.
4. Sleep strategies
The quality and duration of your sleep has a huge impact on your mental, emotional and physical well-being. We need it for good immune function, to process thoughts and emotions, and to repair our bodies and balance our nervous systems. But we don’t always make the connection between our daily screens, digital fatigue, burnout, and our ability to get the sleep we need to recover.
One of the most helpful things you can do is unplug at least an hour before bedtime. Power off your phone. Get a battery powered alarm clock to use instead. As you may know, there’s scientific evidence that wireless radiation affects our sleep, so if you turn off your Wi-Fi, you’ll sleep a lot better in this tech-free haven, too. Avoid all caffeine in the late afternoon and evening, and consider natural supplements such as calcium, magnesium and low-dose melatonin. When you can’t fall asleep, fussing about sleeping usually tends to make things worse. Instead, sleep meditation or deep breathing can often help you sink into a deep rest.
Reclaiming our right to workplace wellness
Inertia is a strange thing. It’s easy to assume, just because most workplaces, by default, encourage unhealthy daily routines and habits, that it’s “the way it is.” The truth is, it doesn’t have to be this way at all. We can reclaim our right to a workplace.
We’re also seeing positive signs every day that change is coming: A significant number of businesses and organizations are waking up to how important it is for employees to take care of themselves if they want places to work.
If you’re inspired to take action for your own well-being, please try these methods for yourself, and check out the resources we offer.
Details about our program: www.digitalwellnessprograms.com
Our book: www.lessscreenmoregreen.org
Our nonprofit: www.globalhealthalliance.ca
More from Pamela Dempster and Healthy Ergonomics: www.dempsterwellness.com
Details about Institute of Forest Baths: www.tfb.instite
