Best ways to reduce eye strain?

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I'm on my computer for many hours a day, which completely burns my eyes and makes them feel horrible every morning. But since I have an addiction to the computer I can't not go on it.

So is the answer just "don't go on your computer at all" or are there any really good methods on how to keep my eyes comfortable while I'm on it for a long time?

Maybe you can try changing the color temperature of your monitor.

There are some programs like RedShift and F.Lux which, given your location, can adjust the color temperature throughout the day.

Try one at night for a while, then turn off the program. You'll find the monitor suddenly blindingly bright due to the increased color temperature. I've used them often during marathon coding sessions.

This article has a bunch of advice: http://en.kioskea.net/faq/361-how-to-reduce-eyestrain

ETA: if you're coding, you may want to look into finding a better font.

If you're mostly browsing, I suggest getting the Readability Redux plugin for Firefox and Chrome. It lets you adjust the appearance of each page to a standard (it also strips sidebar content ads). It doesn't work well on forums, though.

If you wear glasses get a prescription just for working in front of the computer.

...So that's why my eyes feel bad every morning.

Cheap reading glasses from lots of shops. I wish i had known about them sooner and didnt wait to get proper optician glasses, they reduce the strain a lot.

Also, what type of display are you using? If you are using an old CRT, you can try to increase the refresh rate. On my laptop, I tend to adjust the brightness of the backlight, so if I am in a darker area, the backlight is darker. Larger fonts can also help. One other trick, arange your computer so you have something far away to look at. At work, there are no major visual obstructions on the right side of my desk, so I can see clear across the room. Periodically look across the room. Your eyes want to adjust their focus regularly, so make it so they do.

Could anyone tell me where to find the brightness changer on a PC? The rest of this information has been very helpful.

If you ever use a backlit screen in the dark, putting a lamp directly behind the screen to light the wall can greatly reduce eye strain. Newer TVs have these built in.

That certainly helped my eyes. I think it's more a question of relative contrast between the screen brightness and general room brightness than absolute screen brightness, and placing a desk lamp with the business end angled upwards and onto the wall immediately behind and near my screen also helped with general work area illumination.

If this is a laptop, look around on your keyboard for a symbol that looks like the sun. You will usually have to hold FN, which is usually somewhere in the vert bottom row on your keyboard.

If this is a desktop, it will be a setting in the monitor itself. Look for a menu button, or a button labeled with a sun. A circle that's half dark is contrast, and may help as well.

I have an easy fix for you.

Unhook your computer.

Wait 5 minutes for no reason.

Throw your computer out of a window.

Wait 5 minutes for no reason.

Pretend it is still there and resume your daily routine.

On a more serious note, I have the same problem. (Ohohoho, hypocrite!)

There are many tips on how to deal with this.

1. Lighting. Some people can look at a monitor in a dark room for hours. Others do better with medium room lighting. Others do better with bright lighting. Find what works and do that.

2. Monitor position. Don't sit too close. Don't sit too far away. Use a "desk" for your PC that puts things where you are comfortable and can arrange stuff as needed. I find it is best for your monitor to be "eye level" overall...not looking down or up at it.

3. Body position. It's important that when working on the computer, you maintain good posture. Laptops can be bad for this because they often force you to look down at the screen. Awkward posture puts a strain on you that eventually can express itself in your vision.

4. TAKE BREAKS. It is bad to look at a computer screen for hours on end. Look away to something 20 feet away from you regularly. Break up the routine so you aren't fixated on the screen. Working at a computer a lot can actually encourage near-sightedness. There are proven methods to "exercise" your eyes to restore a natural 20/20 vision balance, and they work for people whose vision problems are more the result of unhealthy eye habits.

5. Hydration and diet. I get sinus migraines regularly and ocular migraines on occasion. Eating a trigger food or not getting enough fluids can cause these events.