Writing:Stop staring down your snellen chart

I see it all the time in the community, usually in newbies, but not always... people are staring down their snellen charts for long sessions, or worse still putting their children to do so.

PLEASE DON'T!

I really do wish people would stop this! There is nothing natural about it and I have heard of people having like retinal burn in from it. This means the image of the chart was visible to them long after they stopped looking at it. YIKES! Let's please be kind to our eyes.

Go outside, or look around your surroundings inside, when you come across text give it a bit of extra attention (minutes at most) because it is easiest to detect blur and resolution on text, but then move on to something else. Fixed focus is a big part of the problem, switching focus is natural. Use your eyes naturally and increase your awareness. Try to notice details, look for movement, connect with your visual stimulus. The idea here is not to do weird things like stare at a snellen chart for absurd amounts of time; but rather to look with the intent to see, and to see well. That in turn provides the biological feedback that your vision is a priority.

When Jake says to check your vision on the chart after longer sessions of close up to see if you have spasm or how anything is impacting your vision; that is all it is, a check in, to help you understand what is impacting your vision and how. It doesn't hurt to have snellen charts around, when using them correctly they are great tools. But like all things there is then the possibility to misuse the tool. Please do not misuse the tool.

Staring down your chart on the regular is not active focus, take the time to explore the many descriptions of active focus, get an understanding of the goal, it seems like a big thing at first but it really boils down to looking with the intent to see well; and always always always be kind to your eyes.