Most college students probably relate to being stuck at your computer most of the time. Whether you’re taking an online class, writing a paper, or hanging out with friends, my laptop is the center of my academic life the vast majority of the time. As much as I want to break away from it at times, between work, school, and a long-distance relationship, I find myself at my desk most of the day, every day with these obligations and more. There is much medical documentation about how a sedentary life can lead to certain health perils, but when it comes to being a college student, it seems almost unavoidable to spend so much time typing away.
When I find myself needing to spend a lot of time at my computer (hello, two research papers, one prospectus, a short story and a final exam), I make sure to utilize a handful of stretches and tools to make sure I don’t get too worn out. Two of my main techniques are the 20-20-20 rule – every 20 minutes, look away from your screen at an object about 20 feet away for 20 seconds – and carpal tunnel exercises. The former helps keep my eyes from getting too tired from staring at a screen for hours on end, and the latter keeps my wrists from getting sore, even though I don’t have carpal tunnel syndrome. Both of these are a great quick break from typing and working, and they keep me focused on the task at hand as well.
I also take blue light very seriously, and I almost always have blue light-blocking glasses on while I work on anything, especially if I need to work into the evenings. Using a screen dimmer and blue-light blocker on my devices also has helped my eyes out when I’m spending time online. Both of these look kind of silly (my blue light blocking glasses make me look like I belong in Revenge of the Nerds), but it helps keep my eyes from wanting to fall out of my skull when I’m trying to get a paper done or if I’m playing video games with my boyfriend.
It can feel really difficult to practice self-care when I find myself swamped with work and all but rooted to my desk, but these tactics have helped make it slightly more bearable. If you’re going into finals season yourself and find yourself writing up papers for hours on end, I hope that these tips might inspire you to keep yourself healthy even while you’re toiling away.