Dealing with "Screen Burnout"

With Covid-19, we are all having to use computers and screens as substitutes for in-person learning and classwork. While being glued to screens is often required, there are a number of tools and alternatives that can help you reduce and manage "screen burnout."

1) Reduce Eye Strain
With extended screen use, the blue light from computer screens and devices can cause eye strain, headaches, and problems sleeping. Since using screens is often required, modifying the screen itself is one way to help ease the stress.
  • Adjust brightness/contrast on your screen. Lower the brightness on your screen to as low as you can where you can still comfortably read the information. Adjust contrast so that text is clear, but not too extreme. If the lighting in your room changes, you may need to re-adjust brightness. You want to avoid looking at a bright screen when the room around you is dark. If you are using a Chromebook, you will have brightness buttons on the top row of your keyboard that looks like this:
  • Reduce blue light. Blue light is particularly straining for our eyes, which is a common issue with computer screens, tablets, and phone devices. Fortunately, there are multiple ways to address this: 
  1. ​f.lux : A fantastic and free program that works on virtually all devices, downloadable here: https://justgetflux.com/ (For Chromebooks, you can check out this Screen Shader Chrome extension). The basic idea is it changes the color tones from a more harmful blue tint to a more relaxed yellow tint. There is science behind this idea, and it helps tremendously to ease eye strain when using screens for long periods or during evening hours (Flux naturally adjusts the tone in coordination to the setting of the sun). We recommend adjusting the yellow tone to be as high as is comfortable for you to still work and see the necessary colors. 
  2. Android/IOS blue light filter: The ideas of f.lux have recently been adopted as a system option in Android and IOS. Look for it as "Blue light filter" or "Night Shift." Similarly, it is useful to use other dark/night modes which are available on certain apps and websites. This reduces the high screen contrast and saves the extra stress on our eyes.
  3. Blue blocking eyewear: There are a number of specialty glasses available that block or reduce blue light. If you spend many hours a day in front of a screen, use multiple devices, or just want a simple way to ward against eyestrain, consider using this option. 
  • -Use an E-ink device
  • Practice good screen habits (video)

2) Listen to books
-Kurzweil Accommodation

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-Mobile apps

3) Listen to your lectures
Even with synchronous-only classes (no recording), it may still be possible to receive an accommodation which would authorize recording of a live lecture. With a recording, you would be able to listen to the lecture away from your screen. Please contact your ARC counselor if you are interested in this option.  
-Recording accommodation
-How to to record audio
-You can play audio using google drive with screen off

4) Use printed books and do assignments on paper
-Print assignments (how to setup a printer on a Chromebook)
-Scan work using a smartphone

5) Use voice-to-text dictation to answer questions and compose 


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