Wednesday

Welcome to Wednesday! In today’s newsletter:

• What are tension headaches?

• How to keep your eyes safe when staring at a screen all day

• This market is upending the finance community

• If “night mode” on your phone is really effective

• A simple way to stay hydrated

Is Your Head Pain a Tension Headache?

Head pain is never fun.

It can make trying to work and move through the day nearly impossible. However, not all head pain is the same.

Learning how to identify different kinds can help you learn how to best treat your symptoms with some gentle self-care and habit shifts.

Tension headaches are among the most common headaches — but they’re also not very well understood.

These headaches:

• Often come on slowly

• May be dull, mild, or moderate

• Can feel like there is a band or something tight wrapped around your head

• May be accompanied by pain in the shoulders and neck

Some ways you can help ease a tension headache, as shared by Johns Hopkins Medicine, include:

• Go to a quiet, dark place and rest your eyes and body

• Getting consistent, adequate rest

• Eating regular meals

• Do activities that help ease stress, like deep breathing, meditation, etc.

If your head pain is intense or doesn’t go away, it’s a good idea to check in with a professional.

How to Prevent Eye Strain When You Stare at Screens All Day

If your job involves staring at a screen for hours a day, you’re likely familiar with the sensation of eye strain.

Your eyes may feel tired, dry, and achy, and you may even notice some headaches or blurry vision.

Luckily, even when you’re staring at a screen for most of the day — whether it’s your computer, phone, TV, or a combination of them — there are a few tips you can use that will help keep your eyes more comfortable.

• Go 20/20/20: Every 20 minutes, look up from your screen and focus your eyes on something at least 20 feet away for 20 seconds.

• Limit blue light: Blue light glasses and certain screen modes can reduce the amount of blue light that hits our eyes, which can lessen the impacts of our screens.

• Adjust your settings: Be sure your screen text, brightness, and colors are all comfortable for your eyes.

• Take a break: Especially for those with desk jobs, finding different activities to do — like going on a walk or catching up with friends — can give us a much-needed break away from the screen.

Harvard Data Scientist Upends Finance Community with Returns in this Market

A Harvard data scientist and his crack team have figured out a way to allow everyday people to benefit from a previously “off-limits” investment, with Masterworks, the platform for investing in blue-chip art for a fraction of the cost.

You don’t need art expertise, or millions of dollars, because Masterworks’ proprietary database of art market returns provides an unrivaled quantitative edge in analyzing the art market for your benefit. And with all 16 exits to date, they’ve achieved a profit, delivering +10.4%, +17.8%, and +35.0% annualized net returns - among others.

Some new offerings have sold out in minutes, but readers can now skip their waitlist with this link.

Thank you to Masterworks for sponsoring Note To Self. 

Past performance is not indicative of future returns. Investing involves risk. Important Regulation A disclosures at masterworks.com/cd.

Should You Be Using “Night Mode” on Your Devices?

More and more devices are offering settings that shift our screens’ displays, including a “light mode,” “dark mode,” or even a “night mode.”

Some people prefer one over the other simply for aesthetic reasons. However, others set their devices to automatically switch to a dark or “night” display as their bedtime nears.

But are these modes really effective?

These “night” and “dark” modes can actually reduce the amount of blue light our devices emit.

Some may give our screens more of a yellow than blue-white hue, while others switch the white backgrounds to black. This is all done to limit the amount of blue light emitted by our devices.

Some GPS devices in cars automatically switch to dark mode after sunset, as it’s easier for our eyes to adjust and safer for us as we drive!

Experts say making this simple switch on your other devices can actually be effective in helping limit eye strain and helping our bodies’ circadian rhythm regulate a bit better. However, more research is needed to understand the true impacts of these modes.

On the whole, it may definitely be a little easier on your eyes if you switch to a dark or night mode — especially if screens are a big part of your day!

Hydration, Simplified

Parting Thoughts

• ✅ Did You Know: Americans average 7 hours and 3 minutes of screen time a day. That’s a lot of time spent looking at our screens!

• 🙋🏼‍♀️ Snapshot Of The Day: We'd love to see moments from our readers lives that they are proud of! If you recently accomplished an achievement, experienced a joyful moment, or are proud of a picture you have taken, be sure to capture it on camera and send it to us for a chance to be featured next week! 

• 💭 Final Self-Care Thoughts for Today: Be mindful of your screen time use, and see how it may impact your health!

Enjoying Note to Self?

Know of a great self-care tip or article you'd love to share with the community? Want to send us pictures of you completing one of your self-care rituals? Email us at [email protected]!