Staring at a computer screen for long periods of time can not only make you very tired at the end of the day, it can cause serious eye problems. The following are a few easy tips to follow to avoid these issues:

1. Reduce Glare. Position or angle your monitor away form lights and widows to reduce glare. Consider using a desk lamp that filters light, rather than relying on those bright overhead lights. And if you don’t have your own office and are forced to use overheads, consider applying a glare filter to your monitor screen.
2. Monitor Position. The optimal position for a computer monitor is slightly below eye level and roughly 28 inches—or an arms length away from you.
3. Follow the 20/20 Rule. For every 20 minutes you stare at your screen, look away or close eyes for 20 seconds to allow them some rest. Try to blink more often, as your eyes tend to dry out when looking at your monitor.
4. Adjust Brightness, Contrast and Font Size. Don’t settle for the factory settings on your machine. These can be easily adjusted to reduce eye strain. Brightness and Contrast are controlled via settings. If your font size is too small, many applications (including internet browsers and email)—both mac and pc—have keyboard shortcuts to increase or decrease font size. Macs and PCs have global font size settings to increase size as well. A simple internet search will show you how to do this.

Yours in health,
Jenn