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Reducing Eye Strain While Programming

February 15, 2010

Do you spend 8-12 hours a day pounding on a computer? Do you have headaches, irritated eyes, blurry vision or fatigue?  Then you could be suffering from eye strain.

As a programmer, I spend a lot of time on the computer at work and at home. I was having lot of problems with my eyes. They hurt all the time and I always felt drained. The glare of the lights in the office was painful. My solution was to create a pair of computer glasses. I’ve been using them for 8+ years and could not be happier. I don’t wear glasses, but I want to keep my eyes protected and healthy. I went and had an eye exam and told the doctor about my problems. I worked with him on creating a pair of glasses tailored to my needs. He had a computer in his office and a kit that let him build test glasses with different lenses. I sat at his computer while trying different lens combinations. I chose lenses with a slight magnification to them. This allows me to use a smaller font to view more code on the screen, but it appears larger which helps my eyes. I also added an anti-glare coating to protect my eyes from the glare from lights and the monitor. The first time I put on the glasses I was amazed at how my eye instantly stopped hurting.

Since my first pair I have had another pair made. Since I am older, I needed a slight prescription, but they still work very well. I also added scratch resistant lenses since I carry them around a lot. I also wear my glasses in meetings since the glare from the light hurts my eyes. The glasses are not cheap (about $200), but well worth the money. Here are some other suggestions from around the web on reducing eye strain: 

  1. Take a break every hour to stretch your legs as well as your eyes. Look out a window and focus on far away objects. Close your eyes for a while.
  2. Keep your eyes hydrated. Dry eyes leads to irritation and strain.
  3. Get your eyes check annually to check for problems or if you need a prescription correction.
  4. Use high resolution LCD monitors. Adjust the brightness and contrast to a comfortable level.
  5. Use dual monitors and place them at different distances so your eyes have to refocus as you look at each monitor.
  6. Adjust your font size and type to one that is clear to you. Change out white background to a light shade of blue or other light color. White backgrounds are very harsh.
  7. Change the viewing distance of your monitor. Sitting to close causes eye strain. Move your monitor back and increase the font size.
  8. Don’t work with all the lights off. Can cause I high contrast between monitor and room. Dim lights if you have trouble with bright lights
  9. Use a TFT and enable Clear Type (or equivalent technology). Ensure it is also correctly tuned for your system using the Clear Type tuner.
  10. Limit your computer screen time when not at work.

Remember to take care of your eyes and happy coding. 

 - Jeff Rollins

Written by Jeff Rollins · Filed Under Business & Leadership, Featured 

Comments

2 Responses to “Reducing Eye Strain While Programming”

  1. LUCRUM Incorporated on February 15th, 2010 5:38 pm

    New blog post: Reducing Eye Strain While Programming http://thefuturevalueofbusiness.com/reducing-eye-strain-while-programming.htm

  2. Patrick Ryan on February 15th, 2010 6:27 pm

    RT @LUCRUMinc: New blog post: Reducing Eye Strain While Programming http://bit.ly/co6026

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