Studying online is a great way to get a degree when you have a busy schedule, but it comes with some unique challenges: finding a suitable studying space, staying motivated to attend classes and complete assignments without direct supervision, and, perhaps the most common complaint of remote students and workers, screen fatigue.
It may sound like a first-world problem, but digital eye strain is a very real issue for people who spend the majority of their days working on a computer. Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS), more commonly known as screen fatigue, is a specific type of eye strain, a medical condition that, over time, can contribute to or worsen chronic ocular conditions like dry eye disease. Luckily, it can be largely avoided with good working conditions and habits—and maybe a few tweaks to your computer screen.
How to Manage Screen Fatigue While Studying Online
Ergonomics
Optimizing your workspace for comfort and longevity is a great place to start treating or preventing eye strain. There are a few simple steps you can take that’ll only take a few minutes to implement and will, at the very least, help minimize eye strain.
The first is to ensure your monitor is placed and angled in the way that makes the most sense for your height and posture. Your monitor should be roughly arms-length away from your face, with the top of the screen level with your eyes. This ensures your eyes will mostly stay level or look slightly down.
Having a good chair might not seem like an obvious solution to eye strain, but it helps. Sitting in a chair that provides sufficient support while helping you maintain good posture will help reduce slouching or leaning forward. Since sitting too close to your monitor can increase eye strain, maintaining a comfortable sitting posture is the best way to make sure you aren’t constantly hunching forward and inadvertently increasing stress on your eyes.
Lighting is really important, too. Many students wind up working late into the night, sitting in a dark room with their monitor blaring. Studying during the day with a window open, or at least using a dim light at night, helps offset the contrast between the bright monitor and dark surroundings, which reduces eye strain.
Monitor Maintenance
Your monitor is ultimately the one true source of eye strain. Keeping it in good working order with the appropriate settings applied is another great way to prevent eye strain. Monitors that flicker or produce glare should be avoided, since overly bright or inconsistent lighting can cause your eyes to dilate more frequently, causing added strain. It’s also a good idea to reduce your monitor’s brightness when studying at night or in a darker room to reduce contrast, especially if dim lighting isn’t available.
Blue light is a known culprit in a variety of problems with prolonged computer use. While the evidence linking blue light directly to chronic eye strain is limited, it’s known to contribute to macular degeneration, cataracts, and insomnia, and can even play a role in increasing the probability of eye cancer. These are serious risks that should be accounted for when taking on tasks that involve prolonged computer use, and that includes studying online. Luckily, most monitors allow control over color balance so you can manually reduce the amount of blue light put out.
Good Habits
While taking time to set up your workstation for good eye health is a great way to put a cap on the amount of wear and tear your eyes endure from constant screen-gazing, at the end of the day, the only way to really ensure your eyes stay fresh and healthy is to adopt good habits.
Many students of rigorous programs, such as ADN to NP programs, and working professionals use the 20-20-20 rule. Every 20 minutes you spend looking at a screen, take a quick 20-second time out, and then look at something that’s at least 20 feet away. This forces your eyes to refocus and ensures your eyes are exercising all of their muscles, and not wearing out too quickly.
Dryness can contribute to eye strain as much as the amount of time you spend staring at the screen. Staying hydrated during long study sessions is crucial, and not just for your eyes—it’ll help your brain and body stay healthy and work better, too! Studying from home also means you may have the ability to adjust the humidity of your working space. Running a humidifier can help stop your eyes from drying out quickly, and allow you to work for longer periods without as much eye strain.
Final Thoughts
Getting good sleep is crucial, too. Without enough rest, you’ll find your eyes feel dry and fatigued faster. Avoiding screen use right before bed, and ensuring that you get at least 7 hours of sleep per night, will ensure your eyes are in tip-top shape for those long study sessions.
And remember to do fun things without screens, too. In today’s age of video games with incredible graphics and compelling content, it’s easy to get sucked into our computers, phones, TVs, and gaming consoles. You may feel like taking a break to shoot some aliens or plant your imaginary garden, but if you’re already spending hours and hours every day working on a computer, getting out and taking a walk or doing a recreational sport will help ensure your eyes stay fresh for when you really need to park yourself in front of the monitor.
These tips can help you avoid eye strain, but they’re not a bulletproof guarantee of good eye health. If you start experiencing symptoms of severe eye strain, it’s best to consult a doctor to make sure something more serious isn’t going on behind the scenes.
