Many of us spend at least 8 hours a day, if not more on screens for work, impacting our productivity.
Even more of us stay connected even after we get home –- to play, to relax, or to (try to) wind down.
What is screen use costing you? Or your company? Your employees?
A recent study (Chan et al., 2021. Cornea and Ocular Surface) would tell you it’s about $24,330 for every person, every year.
That’s not just all spent on eye drops either.
Indirect costs (missing work or being unproductive at work) account for 90% of that total.
Ninety percent.
But it shouldn’t be – and now doesn’t have to be – that bad.
During the height of the pandemic, Umay partnered with the Government of Canada to help 500 employees transition to working from home by using REST.
An Intervention Case Study
Over a year of using REST, we estimate that we would save a company of 500 people ~$1,200,000.
And that’s just the digital eye strain benefit.
Factor in the sleep, stress, and wellbeing improvements, and it’s become clear how much more we can do.
The Study Design
At the beginning of 2022, we completed a 6 week market study of 500 office workers across Canada, who were given unlimited access to REST.
Using REST for 6 weeks produced statistically significant benefits for:
Sleep quality
Response to stress
Digital eye strain
The Study Takeaways
These findings were corroborated by both subjective and objective reports of:
- falling asleep faster
- improved sleep quality
- feeling well-rested in the morning
- calm, peace, relaxation, recharge, quiet mind
- clearer vision
- less eye discomfort and more hydration in eyes
- a good excuse to unplug more during the day, normalizing the idea of routine relaxation
The Study Demographics
We surveyed demographic information, including the amount of time users spent on screens each day, and their average household income.
We administered 5 well-validated questionnaires at the beginning and end of the study, assessing digital strain and its range of symptoms:
- Eye comfort (OSDI; CVSS-17; CLDEQ-8)
- Sleep quality and patterns (PSQI)
- Wellbeing and response to stress (STAI)
Caption: Whole body digital strain benefits from 6 weeks of regular REST use.
The Productivity Benefits
44% of participants had a 10+ point improvement on the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) score.
Based on research published in Ophthalmology (Greco et. al., 2021), this translates to a 4.3% savings in productivity.
That means, based on the number of screen-using employees at a company and their average salary, we can estimate productivity savings for the company from the digital eye strain benefit of using REST.
[Umay Productivity Savings Calculator]
https://app.calconic.com/calculator/editor/6307a36efe7b290029a0b950
These insights open up new opportunities for companies and digital device users looking to address their digital wellness while at work.
This can help increase awareness for employees and businesses of the impact of their screen use in the workplace and introduce opportunities to
As an example, Umay offers Personalized Wellness Reports & Benefits to employees
We can generate personalized reports for you and your employees
Show them tangible improvements to their eye health, sleep, and mental wellbeing
Find a moment to disconnect in your workplace -- find a moment for REST