Staring at a screen all day in Zoom meetings can cause eye strain. As someone who works on a computer all day, I get it. Your vision can start to blur, you feel wonky—it’s not very nice.
Now, there does not seem to be evidence that screens will actually hurt your eyesight, so we’re not talking about preventing degeneration of vision. This is more about comfort when you feel eye strain or fatigue.
I’m sure there are lots of things you could do to help with this. However, in the interests of Messieurs Quick and Simple, here are three.
How to Reduce Eye Strain in Zoom Meetings
1. Turn on Your Night Light During the Day
Your computer probably has a night light setting that reduces the amount of blue light coming from your screen. You can set it to turn on automatically at sundown and off again at sunup. That’s because it’s designed to help prevent difficulty falling asleep if you use your device at night.
But if you’re eyes are bugging because you’re in Zoom and Meet rooms all day, why not turn it on right away?
Now, you’ll notice the screen turning yellow and you may start to freak out. Just relax. It will irritate you for a minute, but once you start getting back to work you’ll get used to it.
Plus, you won’t notice as much eye strain, so you’ll come to appreciate what that weird yellowing means.
2. Follow the 20/20/20 Rule
I got this from someone else, and you’ll find it all over (for example, this Healthline article). Simply put, the best way to reduce eye strain from video meetings and working online is to stop looking at the screen once in a while.
The 20/20/20 rule goes like this: Every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds.
Twenty seconds gives your eyes time to relax, and the 20-foot condition requires you to focus far away.
Okay, but won’t people think it’s weird if you look away from the Zoom meeting every 20 minutes and stare into the distance?
Maybe, but won’t staring reflectively away be an improvement over the zombie-stare you had when you were looking at your screen?
Also, you can just tell people what you’re doing. Use that little chat feature to say at the beginning of the meeting, “My eyes are going buggy from all the screen time, so if I look away sometimes, it’s only to give them a rest. I’m still listening!”
3. Set a Timer to Remind You to Look Away
To help you follow the 20/20/20 rule, set a timer on your phone or Google or wherever. It’s worth automating the time thing because otherwise we all get too focused or caught up and just plain forget.
If you use a productivity tool like RescueTime (which I discuss in “The Best Support Apps for Writing“), then turn on the FocusAssist and use that to prompt you to look away.
Any Pomodoro or Tomato timer can be programmed to give you the 20 seconds you need and then automatically cycle back to your 20 minutes of work. You can figure this out.
As someone who has been working from a screen for the last four years, I can assure you your eyes will be okay. All that Zoom meeting eye strain is only temporary and not a sign that you’re going blind. In fact, my prescription hasn’t changed since I started freelancing. Go figure.
Like anything, though, if you’re smart and transparent with your colleagues, you can make this screen thing work for you.
If you’d like to talk to me about how I can handle some of that screen work for you by writing powerful copy that converts visitors or helping you finish your book, contact me today and we’ll set up a call.
Photo by Harry Quan on Unsplash
