Guide · body · 3 min read
Tired eyes after a long day of screens — a gentle, practical guide, when you are on your own
Eye strain is mostly about distance and blinking, not about blue light glasses.
Start here
Most of the usual advice misses the point. What follows is the version that survives contact with a real week.
Being on your own is not required, but it does make this simpler.
If you only do one thing from this page, do the first point below. It is first because it removes the most friction for the least effort.
What helps
If your eyes feel gritty every day, get them tested. An uncorrected small prescription causes more strain than any screen.
Your eyes focus at one distance all day. Look at something far away for twenty seconds every twenty minutes — out of a window, not across the room.
Move the screen slightly further away and lower than eye level. Both reduce the work your eyes are doing.
What to do when it does not work
Warm, dim light in the evening is more comfortable than bright overhead light, regardless of what it does to your sleep.
Use a bigger font instead of leaning closer. Most people scale the font down to fit more on screen, then pay for it.
You blink about a third as often when reading on a screen. Deliberately blinking a few times re-wets the surface.
Questions people ask
Do blue light glasses work?
Evidence is weak. They are not harmful, but the bigger wins are distance, blinking and a decent font size.
Written for people who want the practical version. No accounts, no tracking, no newsletter wall.
If this is not the angle you need, try Releasing tension you did not notice you were holding — what to expect, when your attention is scattered, How to get through the first hour without your phone, without the usual nonsense, when you have tried everything else or Breathing exercises that help during panic — the unglamorous version, when you have been meaning to start.