We often spend a lot of our time looking at monitors, but how often do we consider the damage they may be doing to our eyes? Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to prevent eye strain, and some of them are just little habits you can implement into your daily life!
1. Perform Eye Exercises
This may sound complicated, but eye exercises are anything but! Every twenty minutes of looking at a monitor, take twenty seconds to look at something that’s at least twenty feet away. Eye doctors name this the “20-20-20” method. It breaks up the stress that’s put on your eyes from looking at a monitor.
If there’s nothing in your immediate line of sight that’s 20 feet away, use this time to walk about as well. Sitting down while working all day can also be unhealthy, so this gives you an excuse to take a walk and look somewhere else for a moment.
2. Make Your Monitor’s Light Easier on the Eyes
You can adjust the light being emitted from your monitor to help reduce eye strain. Windows 10 has a Night Light mode, and the program f.lux is able to do a similar job.
Some monitors even have an additional setting that makes the light easier on a user’s eyes. For example, Philips uses Low Blue mode, Benq has Low Blue Light mode, and HP has Blue Light filter. All of these soften the brightness of the light at the monitor level.
3. Wear Glasses that Reduce the Blue Light
If you wear glasses while you type, why not enhance them with the ability to prevent eye strain from monitors? There are plenty of models of glasses out there that use a special lens that filters the blue light, keeping your eyes safe from the glare of the monitor.
4. Adjust Monitor Distance
Keep your monitor between 40 to 76 centimeters from your eyes – that’s around 16 to 30 inches. Ensure the monitor is around the same level as your eyes and is angled slightly away from you. This will help reduce the strain your eyes undergo when making out the text on the screen.
5. Blink More!
This is easier said than done when you’re watching your favorite TV shows or in a tense moment during a gaming session, but it has to be done. We have a tendency to stare at monitors without blinking, and it’s a good idea to manually perform a few extra ones to ensure your eyes are getting the moisture they need.
6. Reduce Any Glare on Your Monitor
You wouldn’t stare at the sun or a bright light for more than a few seconds – so why stare at its reflection for extended periods of time? If you find there’s a light source that’s reflecting off of your monitor’s screen, try to reduce or eliminate it. Not only does the extra light put redundant strain on your eyes, but it also makes things harder to read, causing you to focus more.
An Eye for an Eye Strain
Many of us interact with monitors every day, but only a few think about how it affects their eyes. Now you know some of the ways that staring at a screen can harm your eyes and how to avert the strain.
Have you ever suffered from eye strain from using a monitor too much? How did you solve the problem? Let us know below.