Do you spend most of your day in front of a screen? Your daily business duties involve a lot of online activity? Do you like to use computers and mobile devices in your free time as well? Then you should take care of your eyesight! After all, health is the most important thing, which is easy to forget in a busy world. How do you go about it? Can you include glasses in your costs? What is worth bearing in mind?
Taking care of healthy eyes at work - proper habits
Electronic devices are firmly established in our homes and offices. Every day, we are confronted with screens and we do not even realise how much time we spend online or carrying out business tasks using a computer. We wonder where the sudden headache, dry eyes, fatigue and decreased wellbeing come from. Our eyesight is at risk of being impaired by the negative effects of monitors. Is there anything we can do to protect ourselves? First of all, we need to develop habits that will make us feel better after working in front of a screen for long hours and take better care of our eyesight. What are these habits? Here they are:
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Taking frequent short breaks
When we focus on our work, we sometimes forget that we sit at our desk for up to several hours without any break. Meanwhile, even taking our eyes off the monitor for a few minutes is very good for our eyes. It is therefore worth taking a five-minute rest every hour.
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Adjustment of lighting
The room in which we work definitely affects not only our productivity, but also our health. Access to natural daylight will therefore be important, as well as correctly selected artificial lighting. Many people do not realise that a workstation for working with a computer needs to be lit more intensively than for working without one. This is because the cause of eye strain is the transfer of vision from a bright monitor to a dark desk, keyboard or wall,
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Regular use of moisturising drops
Tiredness and redness of the eyes, blurred vision or excessive tearing - these are symptoms that many people face when working in front of a screen. It is possible to alleviate these symptoms by remembering to use good quality moisturising drops even several times a day. However, if the symptoms persist, you need to see an ophthalmologist.
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Performing eye exercises
Gymnastics is good for our bodies, but few of us know that there are several effective and easy exercises to make our eyesight much better. For example, you can perform an eyeball massage by closing your eyes and making gentle massaging movements. Another effective way is to cover your closed eyes with your hands - so that no light comes in - and stay in this position for about a minute.
Corrective eyewear for a business owner - can it be charged as an expense?
Developing habits to take care of our eyes is very important and will help us to protect our vision, but sometimes it is necessary to purchase professional corrective glasses. It is a good idea to visit an ophthalmologist before buying them. The specialist will check the condition of your eyesight and help you choose the right glasses on the basis of the examination and interview. With well-fitting anti-reflective lenses, you will work much better at the computer.
It is important to know that, unfortunately, corrective eyeglasses cannot be included as a deductible expense. A sole trader should not assume that all reasonable business expenses are tax deductible. Spectacles and corrective lenses are treated by the tax authorities as costs aimed at improving health - the entrepreneur will use them not only during work, but also in private life. Even if the running of the business in question is based solely on performing duties at a computer, it will be difficult to justify this type of expense to the tax office.
However, the situation is different when it comes to purchasing corrective eyewear for employees. After all, it is the employer who is responsible for the occupational health and safety of the people employed. The obligation to provide corrective glasses occurs when:
- the team uses a computer for a minimum of half of the daily working time while carrying out their professional duties;
- the results of eye examinations indicate the need for the employee to wear corrective glasses.
Corrective eyewear - an essential for every entrepreneur
Our health is the most important thing and we should always put it first. So if we spend many hours in front of a screen every day - even in our free time - we need to protect our eyesight. First of all, by introducing healthy habits, but also by acquiring corrective glasses. This one-off expense will pay off in the health of our eyes and in the comfort of working with a computer.
