To protect your eyes from constant strain when looking at the computer/phone/tablet screen, what exacts methods do you personally use to make writing more enjoyable, but easy on your eyes?
Tell me, I am curious to know!
What do you think?
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Take breaks and walk around every hour or so.
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Awesome!
Breaks are good. How long do you break for exactly?
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Anything from 1 minute - a few hours 
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To reduce eyestrain I use the fl.ux software on my computer and laptop, and / or use blue-block glasses. Cold showers with the water aimed at my face, walks around open areas* (in natural light), and sleeping in completely dark rooms also help.
*
Many many decades ago a famous writer (I think it was Bruce Chatwin) once complained to his doctor about bad eyesight and eyestrain. The doctor replied Bruce should spend some time looking at distant horizons to rest and re-focus his eyes (stop looking at pages and fine text up close). Following his doctor’s orders, Bruce walked across the Arabian desert.
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Thank you for everything.
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Sounds good.
I had to break for a few hours because my eyes were really tired. I am feeling a bit better now. I still need to be careful though.
Moving around more would help me greatly. Thanks.
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I do everything mentioned above. I also like turning the page color to a softer color, like a pale gray blue, to reduce the glare coming from the computer screen
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I have eye strain issues, so here’s what I do.
Go to the eye doctor to get eye drops.
Have a blue light-decreasing screen on your PC or tablet. Have the blue-light decreasing settings on if you have them on your PC and if it doesn’t bother you. For me, the settings makes the PC have weird lighting that actually made me nauseous, so I only have the protective screen. You get these screens at the place where you buy PCs. You can also get ones for your tablets or phone.
Take days off to read or do other things for most of the day. I took the morning and noon off to read instead and only looked at my phone for 20min at most. Right now, back on PC, but it’s almost midnight so likely won’t be on for long.
Take walks. Look at greenery and far-away things.
Make the screen font large if you are going to read on it for a long time.
Use dark mode when you can. I have a dark mode extension through Chrome. Right now, Wacky and Wattpad and some photo-editing sites are in light mode because dark mode was doing weird things to the color to the point where it was bothering me. But everything else is in dark mode.
When I do these things, I can spend longer writing. Also, I don’t usually get eye strain from writing because my eyes are following the words instead of staring at them UNLESS I’m editing. If I’m editing I try to take frequent breaks.
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I turn off my computer for at least a hour a day
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Surprisingly, as someone who constantly looks at screens all day (from scrolling through TikTok on my phone, to being at work and on a computer, to watching TV at home), I haven’t had any major issues with eye strain. I have moments of exhaustion where I’m tired and I can’t look at it anymore, but a part of that is just normal exhaustion not “I’ve been staring at the screen for hours, I need a break” kind of thing.
However, I think it’s important to take breaks (a good hour or so off and on throughout the day should suffice) and see if you can change the settings for a darker or lighter themed colored background when using a screen.
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It is highly recommended to lift your head and look at other points in the room, refocus on other things.
As already mentioned, I take breaks (where my glasses come off). Feed the dogs/take them for walks. Go out in the yard to do chores. Go find a project that needs to be started/finished. Go to the bathroom even. Just to refocus my eyes for different distances. Sometimes I’ll close my eyes and stretch my face.
This doubles as think time when I’m writing, because I will often get stuck staring at what’s already written and need time to mull the next plot twist, progression, or transition.
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