Three tips to make better decisions

A few months ago I moved to a new city, a new apartment and a new office space at work.

After I moved I noticed that I was feeling really tired and drained. 

At the beginning I thought that I was feeling tired because of all that’s involved in a big move. It’s hard work to pack all of that you’ve been accumulating for the past 15 years and move to another place. It’s hard to find new places to live in a city you don’t know. It’s hard to find a good tenant for the home you leave behind. It’s hard to go to work with a new team of people that you don’t know. It’s physically demanding to haul big furniture around…

So, yes, I attributed my tiredness to all of this, which made sense… at least at the beginning. 

But, as the weeks passed by and I was feeling extremely tired and spent every Friday, I started wondering what was the issue. 

My new work schedule is 10 hours a day from Mondays to Thursdays. 

So, again, I attributed my lack of energy on Fridays to this new schedule that demands long hours in front of the computer.

And, there is obviously some truth to that, but to the point of letting me purely exhausted, drained and with a headache every Friday?

Then I started noticing that my eyesight was getting worse. 

On Mondays when I arrived to the office I was feeling well and with energy. 

On Tuesdays I was still with some energy but more tired. My vision was blurry and looking at the computer screen was an issue as I wasn’t seeing clearly. 

By Wednesdays the feeling of tiredness was worse and by Thursdays my vision was even worse, my energy was depleted and a headache would set in. 

By Fridays I had to sleep longer in the mornings, I woke up still with a headache, I had to take Tylenol, I had to take a mid-morning nap just to close my eyes and see if the headache disappeared…

This cycle went on for a few weeks.

Then I went to the eye doctor. I wanted to check if my glasses’ prescription changed. They told me that it did, compared to the last eye check that was just 6 months ago.

After that visit and a new glasses prescription I started thinking. In general I don’t like overcorrecting my eyes with stronger and stronger glasses so I was reluctant to change my glasses.

I then realized that the prescription he gave me for a pair of computer glasses (which are only good for 3ft distance correction) was pretty much the same prescription I have in my current glasses. 

So, if that’s the case, why do I see the computer blurry with my current glasses? And why don’t I see my computer blurry at home? Why is it not so blurry on Mondays and is it worst by the end of the week?

And why I started having these symptoms only after I moved? I was fine working from home…

Why is it cyclical? 

I started thinking about how I feel at the office and at home. I started noticing that the office lights are all fluorescent and that when I look at the screen my eyes strain. I noticed that too much light makes me uncomfortable. 

I realized that even when I am at home, I try to dim lights and I started thinking that the type of lighting could be the issue.

I did what I always do whenever I have a hunch about something. I looked for information and I started reading about photophobia and found something called Irlen syndrome (a sensitivity to certain spectra of light). 

What I was reading was very interesting. There are some people that are more susceptible to some spectra of light to the point that it affects their brain. The issues can manifest as light sensitivity, but in general what’s going on is that the brain becomes overactive when exposed to certain wavelengths of light. This overactivity can cause symptoms, like visual distortions. Or, for example, some people when under fluorescent lights get eye aches and if the exposure is too long they can get a headache and it drains their energy. That’s how the body is responding to the difficulty processing that kind of light.

Sounds familiar? I was reading my own symptoms…

I decided to do a little experiment. A while ago I had bought a pair of yellow filters clip-ons for my glasses but never got around to use them. 

I tried them on. I wore them everyday while I was at the office. 

On Monday I felt good. Whenever I looked at the screen I felt ok and my eyes didn’t feel strained. I realized whenever I took the filters off that the shock in my eyes was big. 

On Tuesday I was still feeling good, nothing noticeable with my energy or not blurriness of the screen.

On Wednesday I was still feeling good, no energy dip or issues looking at the screen…

Thursday arrived and I was still feeling good without energy dips and without blurriness…

And then Friday arrived…and for the first time in a few weeks I didn’t feel drained, I didn’t feel fatigued and I didn’t have a headache!!!!

I was excited! Could it be that I am too sensitive to fluorescent lights? 

Well it seemed like it at this point…

I tried again for another week.

And guess what? The same result! 

No fatigue, no tiredness, no headaches on Friday!!!

I was really excited to see that it worked because I didn’t know what else to do. 

Yes, I have three day weekends with my new work schedule but how good was that if I had to spend every Friday dealing with a headache and being so fatigued that I couldn’t do anything? 

This discovery made a big difference in my life. I notice I feel more relaxed. I can even feel how my body is getting tuned much better to my circadian rhythm getting to slow down and relaxed at night because it hasn’t been super stimulated with fluorescent lights all day…

Am I saying that have Irlen syndrome? Well I don’t know, I haven’t checked it out. All I know is that I feel better with the yellow filters, my energy is better, I don’t have headaches and my eyes feel rested.

Am I going to change my glasses prescription? Nope. I had issues with the blurriness looking at the computer screen and that is gone now. I never had issues looking at a distance or driving or anywhere else…so no change to my prescription at this point…

So, you might be wondering, what is the point of all of this?

Well these are the three tips I learned when it comes to make better decisions:

1-Listen to your body. Follow your gut.

Each of us has wisdom inside. You know when you know something. 

You just have to listen carefully and don’t let others misguide you with things that might not be right for you at that moment. 

2-Be your own scientific experiment. 

Only you know how things react with you. So give it a try and see how they make you feel. Others might tell you what worked for them, but until you try for yourself, you don’t know how it’ll do for you.

3-Ask questions, be critical and open minded. 

Look for other’s opinions, read, listen, be willing to change your mind and ask questions! You might find the result you are looking for in places you didn’t know… Advice is everywhere, you need to be able to navigate and make sense of all the information that is out there. Be critical, ask for more than one opinion and be open to changing your mind.

Now, I’d like to hear from you if you’ve ever had a similar experience where someone was recommending you to do something but you knew deep inside that there was something else going on. Let me know how your own body wisdom guided you! How did you make your decision?

xoxo,

Sofia