Have you ever been working at the computer and realized you have not blinked once in the last few minutes? Do your eyes start to burn or sting while working on the computer? With the emergence of new technologies, and a surge in the remote workplace model, more and more workers are suffering from the effects of eye strain.

With over 12 hours of our day spent staring at screens (laptop/computer, cellphone, TV, gaming devices), and more during COVID lockdowns, our eyes are taking the brunt of the stress. Unfortunately, there is no technology where we can just swap our eyes for new ones, so we are stuck with the ones we have and should do everything we can to keep them healthy.

Even as I sit here writing this post, I am actively trying to remember to blink, look away occasionally, and minimize squinting to keep my eyes healthy. To help build healthier habits and

Tips to Minimize Eye Strain

Reduce Screen Time

It may seem obvious, but it is no easy feat for some as much of our lives revolve around digital products. Whether it is working remotely from home on a laptop/computer, watching TV during leisure time, or everything and more on our mobile phones, reducing our overall screen time, especially in the first hour at the beginning and end of the day can help reduce eye strain as well as give us a mental break from electronic devices.

Hydrate and Heat

Dry, itchy, and red eyes are a common result of too much screen time caused by the stimulation of our brains from electronic blue light, suppressing blinking. To help keep our eyes hydrated, without the frequent use of eye drops, make sure to take physical breaks from the screen. This can include going for a walk or going for a glass of water to keep our eyes and body hydrated.

Many people also find that their eye muscles get sore, leading to squinting and fatigue. Try placing your palms over your eyes, or a warm towel, to help rehydrate the eyes. The added benefit of heat can help relax eye muscles that have been working to maintain focus.

Glare and Lighting

Depending on where your electronics are relative to light sources (lamps, ceiling lights, windows), you want to minimize glare as much as possible. Placing screens perpendicular to light sources can help reduce glare on your screen and the strain it places on your eyes.

Your environment lighting can also play a part in reducing eye strain. The goal is to have light levels comfortable enough to read paper, as this will reduce the contrast between a bright room and dim screen or visa versa.

Screen contrast and zoom

Many websites now offer the ability to turn on “dark mode” which changes the background of the site to black and the text to white. This can help reduce eye strain by providing a darker contrast, reducing eye effort to “filter” additional light (through the pupil).

Working on highly detail information (e.g. drawings and plans) or heavy text documents (e.g. policies) will quickly lead to squinting and eye fatigue. It also causes individuals to lean closer to the screen, adding muscle strain to the neck and shoulders. By increasing the zoom of your documents/files, even 10-20%, can make it easier to focus on text or highly detailed pictures, and keeps you sitting in a more relaxed and upright, or slightly reclined.

Look at varying distances

While working at the computer or browsing on our mobile phones, the distance from our eyes to the screen does not change a whole lot. What this leads to is a build-up of fatigue in the eye muscles as they constantly focus at a single distance. It is much like holding bag of groceries with our elbows bent. Eventually, your arms get tired and it gets more difficult to hold the bag before lowering the hand. By changing our focus distance, such as looking at objects across the room or further way from the screen, we are allowing the “reading” eye muscles to relax and engaging the “distance” muscles to activate.