Can’t Concentrate? BlueLight Might Be The Culprit

Picture this: It’s late afternoon, you’re sitting at your desk, and you’ve got a project to finish up before you head home for the day. It’s doable, and you’ve scheduled time today specifically to finish it. 

The only problem is, you can’t seem to focus on the work. 

You get a little done and then your mind starts to wander. You look at your phone. You stare into space. Your eyes feel tired and strained and your brain is in a fog. 

If that sounds familiar, you’re not the only one who experiences this phenomenon on a regular basis. Fifty-eight percent of Americans say they’ve experienced eye strain or vision problems as a result of staring at screens during the day. For adults under 30, this number jumps to 73%. 

And when our eyes become strained and tired, it becomes increasingly difficult to focus, even if we really need to concentrate on what we’re doing.

One of the culprits—which many people still underestimate—is blue light.

Blue light is one of the colors in the visible light spectrum for humans, which you may remember from science class as ROY G BIV (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet). Bluelight is given off by LED bulbs and all the screens we look at each day: phones, laptops, TVs, tablets, etc. What sets blue light apart from other colors in the spectrum, though, is its relatively short wavelength and high energy level.

While a little bit of blue light has been shown to increase alertness and energy levels, most people are getting massive doses of it throughout the day, putting a strain on their eyes and leading to symptoms like fatigue, blurred vision, dry eyes, and difficulty concentrating. Excessive Blue Light Exposure (EBLE) can also disrupt your circadian rhythm, resulting in poor sleep that ends up exacerbating issues with concentration and attention span. 

Fortunately, there are some simple steps you can take to decrease your blue light exposure. 

One is to change the settings on your devices to decrease the amount of blue light they expose you to. Many devices now have “evening” settings that automatically decrease blue light at a certain time, but there’s no reason you can’t turn these settings on throughout the day. 

The best solution, however, is to actively defend yourself against blue light throughout the day with a pair of blue light-blocking glasses. These glasses work by filtering out a certain percentage of the blue light you encounter throughout the day.

For normal daytime use, the lenses on these glasses are often clear, which means they block some, but not all, blue light. For evening and nighttime use, it’s recommended that you go with a pair that will block all blue light from your devices—these usually have an orange or yellow tint to them. 

Staying sharp throughout the day is about more than just getting a little more work done. Over time, all those hours of squinting and zoning out add up. If you’d like to take back your concentration and your time, check out our line of stylish and comfortable bluelight blocking glasses today.