SWNYWORK by Tyler Schmall
New York office - 646-873-7565 / usnews@swns.com
Nearly half of employed Americans (48 percent) consider themselves modern-day “workaholics,” according to new research.
And if you’re worried you might be one your self: worrying about work on a day off, feeling too busy to take a vacation, and checking emails in bed after waking up all number among the top signs of a “workaholic.”
The work grind is real, it turns out, as 58 percent of American office workers say they do indeed actually check their work email while still in bed after waking up.
A new study of 2,000 employed Americans aimed to unveil just how hard Americans work and found that 28 percent of “workaholic” Americans say they work so hard out of financial necessity.
The average employed American also works four hours a week for free, and if that’s not enough, the average employed American also spends an additional four hours a week just thinking about work.
In fact, 53 percent of Americans said they were currently stressed out about work while taking the survey.
The survey, conducted by OnePoll on behalf of The Vision Council, also found that being chained to our desk all day may be having a serious effect on our eyes.
The amount of time we rack up staring at screens is pretty astonishing, with the average employed American saying they will spend seven and a half hours looking at a screen on an average day.
Amazingly, one in three (35 percent) employed Americans say they actually rack up over nine hours of screen time a day.
“The human eyes were not designed to look at digital devices – not to mention nearly as long as modern individuals do,” says Dr. Justin Bazan, practicing optometrist and medical adviser to The Vision Council.
“With Americans’ screen time hours nearing the double digits, and them spending their entire workdays – and more – on digital devices, it’s imperative that individuals take a serious look at the implications on the eyes, especially, as they’re the organs taking the brunt of all this screen time.”
So how does all this work and screen time affect our eyes?
According to the research, the average employed American will experience four eye-related pains/discomforts a day, with over three in four (78 percent) saying they would experience less if they didn’t have to stare at screens all day.
This echoes data uncovered from the VisionWatch survey, a study The Vision Council previously did, which found that many individuals suffer from physical discomfort after screen use for longer than two hours at a time.
They can experience anything from eye strain, to dry eyes, to headaches, to blurred vision, to neck and shoulder pain. The Vision Council refers to the collection of these symptoms as digital eye strain.
According to the VisionWatch study, 80 percent of American adults report using digital devices for more than two hours per day with nearly 67 percent using two or more devices simultaneously, and 59 percent report experiencing symptoms of digital eye strain.
And digital eye strain does appear to be a growing trend among Americans, as according to the VisionWatch study, 32 percent report experiencing eye strain, 27 percent report experiencing dry eyes, 28 percent say they have headaches, 28 percent say they experience blurred vision, and 35 percent even report neck and shoulder pain.
“The good news is there are eyewear solutions – glasses outfitted with traditional lenses with blue light and anti-reflective capabilities to combat blue light and glare, plus magnifications to help the eyes relax, as well as specialized contact lenses – available to help alleviate the symptoms of digital eye strain. Visit an eyecare provider for an eye exam to find out more,” says Dr. Bazan.
