The screen is the essential tool of modern office life – and at the same time the most common trigger of headaches, eye strain, and concentration problems. Eye Fitness Week puts this blind spot front and center for a full week.
What can five minutes of daily eye exercises do?
The eye is a muscle – and like any muscle, it tires from one-sided strain. Hours of focusing on a nearby screen at a constant distance places continuous demand on the accommodation muscles and gradually weakens distance sharpness. Targeted exercises – letting the gaze wander into the distance, rolling the eyes, briefly covering and relaxing them – give these muscles variety and recovery time. Five minutes, daily, guided by video.
How can a single week spark a lasting habit?
The action-week format has a clear advantage: it ends. That lowers the barrier to joining in. Anyone who has done a short eye exercise daily for seven days typically notices: eyes burn less in the evening, and headaches after screen work are milder. That's motivation enough to keep going – no reminder message and no challenge ranking required. Independently of this, German law (ArbMedVV) requires employers to offer occupational health check-ups for screen work; how occupational medical care is organised is shown in the guide Occupational physician: duty, costs and care models.
How do you put the measure in place?
- 1Watch the exercise video once yourself: under “Video settings” you see exactly the version your employees see in the portal – with audio and subtitles in six languages.
- 2Check that the employee portal is active and all participants have access. The eye exercise runs there every day – you do not need to prepare or send anything.
- 3The five exercises of this measure (20-20-20 rule, eye circles, palming, near-far focus, conscious blinking) appear in the portal as extra tips for in between.
- 4Send the announcement (template under “Announcement”) with a note on the employee portal.
- 5Ask everyone to tap “Join now” in the portal on the first day and watch the video right at their desk – it takes less than a minute.
- 6Point out that the guided exercise is waiting every day, that the day is ticked off automatically after the video and that nobody has to catch up.
- 7Let the portal do the work: the daily video exercise runs without you.
- 8In the “Attendance list” you see who took part on which day.
- 9Add a little motivation now and then, for example a note on why regular blinking prevents dry eyes.
- 10Encourage the team to remind each other of the daily eye minute.
- 11Ask in a short survey or in the chat who took part and whether their eyes feel less tired in the evening.
- 12Look at the participant list and collect which of the five tips went down best – mark it as a favourite for a repeat.
- 13Share a short thank-you and the tip to keep the eye exercise in everyday work.
What do you need for it?
- Effort
- under 30 min
- Cost
- Free
- Setup
- 15 min
- ✓ Free
- ✓ Guided by video – audio and subtitles in six languages
- ✓ Less than a minute a day
- ✓ Doable at the workplace
Tax and health insurance: what is possible
Employer health benefits can be tax-free under § 3 no. 34 of the German Income Tax Act (EStG) up to €600 per employee per year — if they are provided in addition to the salary already owed and are either certified (§ 20 SGB V) or implemented within the company's health promotion process. Gym memberships and corporate fitness are not covered. For ZPP-certified courses (e.g. from Upfit), German statutory health insurers can reimburse all or part of the course fee to their insured members — then only the amount exceeding that reimbursement is tax-free. Projects within the company can be funded under § 20b SGB V, with no entitlement. Only your tax adviser can confirm the tax exemption.
How it works in EasyWHP
This Best Practice in EasyWHP: adopt it, adapt it, measure the effect
Once adopted, the measure is ready in EasyWHP — with instructions, an invitation and surveys before and after. You adapt what fits your company and see at the end what it achieved.
Screenshots with demo data, no real people.
Adopt it for your company
Register for free — and the measure is ready to go in your cockpit: invitation, feedback survey and appointment are already set up. First cycle, first numbers for the boss.
Try EasyWHP for freeRather take a look first? To the live demo →
Contributes to
Measure the impact with
Action field
Ergonomics & Occupational Safety →A fitting occasion
- World Sight Day
Related Best Practices
Not sure where to start? Self-check in approx. 7 minutes →