I will explain two common things and how to protect your eyes from it.

Eyestrain can also be known as Asthenopia.
What causes eye strain?
Glare
Glare can be a big factor in eye strain. Watch out for lights shining in onto your screen from sources like lights behind you or a open window that the sun might just barely shine on your screen to make it glare. With the old CRT monitors they used to have antiglare for the screen and most glasses containt some form of antiglare now as well. Move your comptutor to a place where you can see the screen clearly without the need of trying to focus through ligth shining on your screen.
Distance and Size
Sitting to close to the computer can give you eyestrain but sitting to far from the computer can also give you eyestrain if you cant clearly see the letters, the best way to avoid this is to get a big screen if you can afford it as well as sit as far away from the computer as you can but you should still be able to see what you are reading very clearly while trying to sit as far away from the screen as possible.
Computer vision syndrome
CVS as it’s otherwise known is very simple to explain, CVS is cause when you stare to long at your computer screen without blinking. Normal people blink around 20 times a minute but people who focus on the screen all day sometimes “forget” to blink. Blinking gives fluids to your eyes and the fluid protects your eyes from going dry. Dry eyes hurt, they are uncomfortable.
You can protect your eyes by closing your eyes for around 30 seconds every half hour, that will give your eyes enough time to relax a bit and restore itself. But the thing is with CVS you have to remind yourself to close your eyes because focussing on other things and not blinking is what causes it in the first place.
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