Reducing Eye Strain | General Chat | Writing Forum

Working as writers, we can get so caught up in our writing that we sometimes lose track of time. And that can mean spending hours upon hours staring at a computer screen. And that can wreak havoc on our eyes. 

Over the last couple of weeks, my eyes felt particularly strained. So I looked up tips on addressing that. Of course one of the big ones is to take breaks from the computer screen. I do that when I remember (like going outside to check on the vegetable garden). The real problem though is that I don't always remember, especially when I'm caught up in a project. 

So I tried another tip I came across. I lowered the brightness on my monitor. Silly me. I always assumed higher contrast and a brighter backlight would make things easier on my eyes. Apparently that's not the case. While you want decent lighting in the room (but not heavy fluorescent lighting), it shouldn't be coming at you so harshly through your screen. 

A simple adjustment (literally pushing one button one time), and my eyes have felt so much better! 

I'm planning to get an anti-glare filter for my screen as well because my laptop screen is glossy. But I do a lot of my typing on a secondary monitor with no glare problems anyway. 

Have you done anything else to address computer-related eye strain? What's worked for you and what hasn't?

I'd love to hear your tips. 

Jenn