Computer eye strain and the solution: what a dummy I am

I have to start this by telling you all how dumb I feel.

For something like a year I've had on and off episodes of feeling exhausted at the end of the day, so much so that I'd have to lay down and shut my eyes for a half hour when I got home from work. Lately, the problem got so bad that it was taking a physical toll as well. I can't tell you why but I never made the connection between heavy computer work and the eye strain and then never realized that such severe eye strain could also cause such physical fatigue. I wasn't getting headaches; I wasn't squinting and I do wear eyeglasses. Just had my eyes checked a year ago.

I saw a friend over the weekend and she told me quite simply: Increase the computer screen size to 150 percent.

Well, knock me on the head with an apple. Within 2 days my energy had returned to the extent where I no longer had to shut my eyes during work or when I got home from work. The solution was that simple.

I pass this along in case someone else out there is as blind - no pun intended - as I was. I feel so much better - and getting my energy back is wonderful. I was, indeed, in the dark about the hazards of extended computer use.

I'd drive home from work and the fatigue was so overwhelming I felt as though I'd have to pull over and shut my eyes.
I'm guessing that working on the smaller computer screen, and then refocusing for the hour's drive home, was really taking a toll on my eyes and wiping me out.

There's a Page icon on Internet Explorer with an arrow - click to zoom and it will give percentages. 100 percent is the normal size; 125 is better but 150 percent seems to be doing the trick for me. In Word, there's a button at the top of the page with percentages, along with page width, text width, etc.