While technology has made many parts of modern life much easier, it’s also brought about some physical problems that our ancestors didn’t have to deal with. So after you’ve spent so much time researching about which smartphone or tablet or computer accessory will be best for your needs, you should also consider researching how you can use these devices without causing unnecessary pain, pressure, or strain on sensitive parts of your body. To help with this, here are three ways you can keep technology from harming your body.

Think About Ergonomics

With the rise of technology, another area of study has risen as well: ergonomics. With ergonomics, you can find the most comfortable way for you to hold your body and your technology so as to reduce the maximum amount of pain and strain from working with your devices. To help with this, John Patrick Pullen, a contributor to Entrepreneur.com, shares that you should never use a device that you have to look down at, which puts strain on your neck and shoulders. Additionally, you should also give your fingers and arms a rest from holding or pushing buttons on your devices.

Protect Your Eyes

In addition to keeping your body from straining too much, you also need to protect your eyes from strain as well. According to Susan Kuchinskas, a contributor to WebMD.com, part of protecting your eyes from screens includes ensuring that you’re wearing the right prescription of glasses or contacts for reading. And because screens are backlit, the light can cause some real damage to your eyes if you’re not careful. Anything you can do to reduce glare, like wearing filtered glasses or even just taking a break every 10 minutes or so, you’ll be able to save your eyes from a lot of potential harm.

Keep Your Ears On Alert

There’s so many great ways to consumer audio content through our devices. However, just because you have the capability to blast your favorite artists doesn’t mean you necessarily should. According to Kathleen Hall, a contributor to Everyday Health, many people are have hearing issues as a result of listening to their headphones too loud. Especially with earbud headphones, you should try to keep the volume at or below 50 percent. As a good rule of thumb, if you can’t hear what’s going on around you or the person next to you can hear what you’re listening to, your audio is much too loud.

Although there are plenty of ways that modern technology has made our lives better, we still need to be careful that we don’t allow our devices to negatively affect our overall physical and mental health. To help with this, consider using the tips mentioned above to protect your body and mind from harm.