Last night I surprised myself by working an extra hour at my desk. I occasionally work late, but what surprised me is that it happened by accident. I believe the blame falls on GUNNAR and a pair of glasses the company sent me to try out.
Like many people, I sit at a desk for the majority of my workday and stare at a screen for hours on end. I often get headaches or eye strain after working for too long without a break. I've spent years building up an ergonomic workstation to help my back, knees, and wrists, but I've neglected my eyes.
GUNNAR glasses are designed to block blue light. I've been aware of the company for years, in part due to their various gaming partnerships, but I had never used a pair myself. Gunnar and I got in touch to let me try a pair.
The Novato pair of glasses I was sent has the amber tint that's available in many frames from GUNNAR. This particular pair has a slight magnification as well, though it's available with a neutral focus.
When I slipped on the glasses, I felt my face relax almost instantly. I then continued to work throughout the afternoon.
Later in the evening, I noticed that I had worked an hour later than usual.
I got to the end of my normal day and just kept working because I didn't realize how late it was. I usually need breaks every once in a while to rest my eyes, but since my eyes didn't hurt I lost track of time.
GUNNAR glasses vs. f.lux and Windows 11's Night Light
I've used apps like f.lux and Windows 11 features such as Night Light to filter out blue light from my PC screen. I still recommend those apps to anyone who wants to reduce eye strain or who works late at night.
I was, however, surprised how much the GUNNAR glasses felt different than using software to reduce blue light.
I'm not an eye doctor or any type of medical professional, so please take my experience as simply a hands-on with the GUNNAR glasses. When I put them on, it felt like the entirety of my eyes could relax rather than just having a specific screen filtered.
While apps like f.lux are great, they don't do anything to filter out blue light from overhead lighting or any other light sources in your room. Slipping on a pair of GUNNAR glasses came much closer to filtering blue light out of the entire room.
This particular model of GUNNAR glasses rests quite close to my face, though they have models that wrap around even more.
I'm sure that part of the improved experience is mental. My mind feels like it can relax my eyes, so my face follows. With the glasses on, I caught myself squinting or flexing my face less.
I'm not sure if accidentally working an extra hour is a good thing or a bad thing, but if I can harness the experience for my normal working hours, I'll be very excited. I plan to use these GUNNAR glasses and some other frames over the coming weeks and will follow up with how things go.
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