[geocrasher]

1) Don't sit too close to your monitor(s). They should be as far away as they are big, so if it's a 23" monitor, at least 23" away from your eyes.

2) Place the top of the monitor at eye level

3) THE BIGGEST: The 20/20/20 rule. Every 20 minutes, look at an object 20 feet (6m) for 20 seconds.

These three changed my computing life forever, and for the better, especially since I'm on a computer 10 hours a day most days.

Laptop users- get an external screen or a laptop stand that allows the screen to follow those rules.

[falcolas]

> Place the top of the monitor at eye level

After years of doing this, I've come to change my opinion about this. I put the monitors so I see the middle of the screen. It means that my eyes are moving in every direction, and I'm less likely to bend my neck downwards, resulting in neck strain.

EDIT: This does result in the monitor being very high up off the desk, but a good monitor arm will handle it without a problem.

[verall]

If you work in GUIs a lot, your menus and stuff are at the top of the screen, and you can keep the top of the monitor eye level.

If you're a programmer and you use a fullscreen terminal, with the line you type on the bottom, your monitor needs to be higher.

[selfhoster11]

What I really want is a terminal that puts the prompt at the top, aka in reverse order to what most terminals are doing today.

[dartdartdart]

Put a mirror on top of your monitor so you can easily focus 20 feet away, and to see what's going on behind you

[KineticLensman]

All of the above.

Also, if you wear glasses, check your prescription. A while ago, I switched to what in the UK are called Occupational lenses. The bottom of the frame is for close-up (less than 30cm) and the upper half is objects that are about an arms length away - my screen position. This helped me sit further back from my monitor but still have good visibility. Before changing, the position where I could see the screen the best wasn't ergonomically good and if I sat with good posture I couldn't see fine detail so well. It only took a few days to get used to the vari-focus.

[kazinator]

If you go from, say, a 2K 23" monitor to a 4K 46" monitor, you want to be at the same distance to see the same pixel density, and just have more monitor real-estate subtending a larger slice of your vision.

You don't sit farther back if you install a second monitor; why would you do that if you obtain more size in a single unit?

[KerrickStaley]

Echoing this: periodically focusing on a distant object seems to help my eyestrain substantially.

[ashtonkem]

For #2, get a monitor arm that lets you readjust the height of the monitor, especially if you regularly alternate between sitting and standing. The mono price one is good value for money here.

[simonebrunozzi]

> 3) THE BIGGEST: The 20/20/20 rule. Every 20 minutes, look at an object 20 feet (6m) for 20 seconds.

What is this suggestion based on?

[geocrasher]

Doing research of my own on the subject. Just google "20/20/20/ rule". I just did, and found the following article. An eye care professional tracked it down and attributed to... another eye care professional.

https://www.optometrytimes.com/view/deconstructing-20-20-20-...

[m463]

You can also use reading glasses if you're perpetually too close.

[balfirevic]

> Don't sit too close to your monitor(s). They should be as far away as they are big, so if it's a 23" monitor, at least 23" away from your eyes.

So if I have two monitors side by side I can have them a lot closer than if I had one ultrawide monitor?

[geocrasher]

For an ultrawide monitor, pretend it's not ultra-wide. Based on how tall it is, what would it's non-ultra wide size be? 24" Then use that.