After long hours of sitting and writing front of a computer or notebook, it is not uncommon to have tired and itchy eyes. It is necessary for eyes (especially weak ones like mine) to rest at least once in few hours. How do you rest your eyes? In my case I lean back and cup my hands over the eyes, while putting the songs that I didn't listen much into my mp3's playlist, then listen and decide whether I like them or not. Passes the time by really quickly.
What I do is this: I have a bag of peas in the freezer. They are not for eating. They are for wearing. I take them out of the freezer and knock them on the counter a couple of times to insure that the peas are nice and loose. I wrap the bag of peas in a thin towel (the size you would buy for use in the kitchen, not the bathroom kind). Recline. Apply to eyes and forehead. Relax. I work in front of a computer screen all day. This little trick keeps me from resorting to the fantasy of being able to pop my eyeballs out and place them in a glass of ice cold water. :redface:
I hope you mark that bag "Not for consumption." After a few thaw/freeze cycles, I sure wouldn't want to eat them by mistake!
It also occurs to me to ask if black-eyed peas would be better or worse than green peas. For my part, I take frequent breaks -- two or three per hour -- and during those breaks walk around if possible. In any case, I scan distant objects during those breaks. Keep the eyes moving, and not trying to focus on nearby objects.
After reading some of the replies in this thread, it occurs to me that I should rest my eyes more often. I tend to just go, go, go, and then when my eyes start to really hurt, I wash my face and start going again.
I laughed picturing walking in on someone doing this. Or even better an office with cubicles and everyone doing this! Imagine a company providing bags of peas with towels to all their workers who sit in front of computer screens all day. Hilarious. Sidenote: Watch me do this by next week explaining myself to anyone walking by. Love it!
I also wear contacts, so my eyes are often KILLING me by the end of the day (I have a very high prescription and very fair eyes). When I take my contacts out, I just lay in bed with my eyes closed for several minutes. Then I commence reading before I go to sleep.
I seriously read that as "I snuggle up with a kitchen!" first. Cause that's what I'd do. Snuggle up and eat. With my eyes shut. =P
Hmmmmm, I usually go for a shower and turn on another light if its night time because that's when my eyes really start packing up for the day. I guess i never really thought of actually resting the poor things till now...
i don't! at 71, having had to wear glasses for ever-increasing stigmatism since my early 40s, and working online on writing sites, researching, and on documents on my laptop from around 6 am to 7 pm every single day, if i had such a need, i guess i'd have noticed it it by now... in addition, when i do take a break from the laptop monitor, i watch the tv's and/or read, do ny times sunday crosswords, or the hardest acrostics i can find... also intense eye-using activities... thankfully, my several pairs of glasses [computer/reading/other-use bifocals] do their job well enough that i don't ever suffer from what some call 'eye strain'... or any other negative effects...
I watch Johnny Depp movies.... Well, actually, I have eye cream in the fridge, but sleep is the preferred method. An short doze in the afternoon - a luxury I can sometimes afford depending of my schedule - is awesome.
