E11 - Why screens make you tired

Hi everyone,

My name is Lemmy and this is my story of how I became The Attention Master.

In Episode 11, I want to help you fight fatigue throughout the day.

Here is what you are going to learn today:

• A simple visual trick to wake you up

• How to arrange your desk setting

• The ideal posture for attention

This week’s community challenge

It's 3 p.m. on a home-office day. You didn't sleep well last night, you're in a food coma, and you have some pretty boring tasks ahead of you. You grab your laptop and head for the sofa to get a little more comfortable.

Sounds familiar?

Unfortunately, your sofa won't help you stay awake. In fact, the opposite is true. But it's not the sofa's fault, it's the eye and body positions associated with it. Here's why:

1. Eye position

In a world of flexible desks and home offices, computer screens have become portable. Whether you work from your couch, a coffee shop, or a home office corner, chances are you spend most of your time looking down at your screen. And as a "smombie" (= smartphone + zombie), you are always looking downward during your work or study breaks. This triggers neurons that activate areas of the brain associated with calm and sleepiness.

The opposite happens when we look up. This creates a state of increased alertness.

So keeping your screen or work at eye level or slightly higher can help maintain alertness.

2. Body posture

The same goes for your posture. It has a significant impact on alertness due to the activity of certain neurons, specifically the “blue spot”. These neurons become more active when we stand and even more so when we move.

Conversely, these neurons become less active when we sit or lie down. In fact, these neurons fire less when you start to put your feet up above your waist or lean your head back.

Instead, neurons involved in calming and sleep get active. So to maximize alertness:

• Avoid leaning backwards.

• Sit or stand up straight.

3. The Protocol to take ACTION

For ideal eye position, get yourself a portable laptop stand. They even fit in small bags. An extra monitor can also help.

For ideal posture, make sure to follow the Ergonomic Desk Setup. It will keep you alert and help you avoid back and neck pain.

All behavior change is hard. To correct your posture regularly, follow our community challenge and set an alarm to remind you every 60 minutes.

Every good action needs a trigger. That's why I'm providing a different visual for each community challenge. Add it to your lock screen and you'll see it every time you open your phone.

Then it's your choice: Screen time or life time?

Here's the E11 Challenge DOWNLOAD and below is a video showing you how to add it to your lock screen.

Let me know if this works for you via
our brand new Whatsapp community
& see ya next week
Lemmy

Recap:

• Community Challenge: Set an alarm to correct your posture every 60 minutes.

• Keep your screen or work at eye level.

• Avoid leaning backwards.

• Avoid feet up above your waist.

Sources:

• Huberman AI