Guide · body · 3 min read
Tired eyes after a long day of screens — the basics, done properly, when you feel fine and want to stay that way
Eye strain is mostly about distance and blinking, not about blue light glasses.
Start here
None of this is glamorous. All of it is doable, which matters more.
Feeling fine is a good reason to do this, not a reason to skip it.
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
Use a bigger font instead of leaning closer. Most people scale the font down to fit more on screen, then pay for it.
Warm, dim light in the evening is more comfortable than bright overhead light, regardless of what it does to your sleep.
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
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.
If your eyes feel gritty every day, get them tested. An uncorrected small prescription causes more strain than any screen.
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.
Are eye exercises useful?
The "look far away" break is. Most other eye exercises have very little evidence behind them.
Written for people who want the practical version. No accounts, no tracking, no newsletter wall.
If this is not the angle you need, try How to get through the first hour without your phone, without the usual nonsense, when you have tried everything else, Using the commute as a boundary between work and home — the version that fits a real week, on a low-energy afternoon or Waking up anxious for no obvious reason — an honest guide, when you are short on time.