When I showed my friend how to toggle her iMac’s display from vivid color to grayscale, she said it was as though her eyes said “ahhhh“—the sound of relief, that is, not horror.

“If you think that’s nice,” I then said. “You have to use f.lux.”

Here are a few things I like to do on every computer I regularly use to make the experience more comfortable for my eyes:

• Use grayscale: when I’m working on something that doesn’t need or benefit from color (like writing this blog post), I turn on the “Use grayscale” option in my Mac’s System Preferences (it’s under Accessibility).
• Install f.lux: this free app automatically adjusts the color temperature of my display based on the time of day, so that it’s got a gentle, warm glow in the evenings. I love this little app; without it, computer displays feel really visually harsh to me at night.
• Enlarge the cursor: I feel like it’s much easier to find and use the cursor when it’s bigger. On a Mac, you can adjust the cursor size with one of the sliders beneath “Use grayscale”.
• Adjust the resolution: It’s tempting to use the maximum resolution so everything looks crisp and sharp, but on huge or retina displays, maximum resolution can turn most things (text, icons, etc.) tiny. On displays I use, I try to find a resolution at which things aren’t minuscule but are disgustingly blurry either, or use maximum resolution but increase font and icon sizes, which can easily be done with the options in “Show View Options” in Finder’s View menu (shortcut: command-J).

Is there a way you know of to make computer work even more eye-friendly? Please make recommendations via comments on this post!