High contrast (between colors, between text and background, etc) is harder on your eyes. Lowering the contrast can help reduce strain. The right color scheme i

High contrast (between colors, between text and background, etc) is harder on your eyes. Lowering the contrast can help reduce strain. The right color scheme in your IDE can help. Reducing contrast in your monitor settings can help. Usually reducing brightness also serves to reduce contrast. A matte display also helps (matte displays naturally have lower contrast than glossy).