harness the healing power of sheep with Workrave
For the last few months, I’ve been using workrave on my windows machine to remind me to take regular breaks.
I know we’ve all seen similar software floating about the net for years, and like me you probably thought “oh cool, I’ll use that some day”. Well make today that day!
Honestly, it’s just a really nifty little app. Admittedly, most of the time I just hit “skip break” instead of actually taking the 30 second micro-break it suggests, but it’s there as a reminder that I should be taking breaks.
I won’t go into the details because it’s a pretty simple app, but basically you can configure 2 kinds of break; “micro break” and “rest break”. During the rest break, it gives you a few little exercises like resting your eyes, moving your shoulders etc, and then displays a countdown during which time you should leave the computer desk.
When I was writing my exams last month I was sitting at the PC for 15+ hours a day for about a week, and this was when the benefits of workrave really kicked in; before installing it I used to get cramp, bleary-eyed and achey – I literally couldn’t carry on working when I wanted to. Installing workrave and taking the suggested breaks and exercises allowed me to work harder for longer. I know it sounds odd, but honestly you really can work better by taking regular breaks. And those aches and cramps are the first signs of RSI, which is not a great thing to suffer through, especially if you’re a major geek like I am. I still have a slight tenseness in my index finger from too much mouse-work (*cough* unreal tournament *cough*).
Which reminds me, it’s time for a micro-break.
I know this post reads a bit like an advert, but I swear I haven’t been paid/approached/otherwise incentivised to write this, I just honestly like the software!
#1 by Dan on May 23, 2009 - 2:41 am
Or, you could engage in a little stealth disco :-)
#2 by user24 on May 23, 2009 - 8:38 am
haha! Well, y’know… waving your arms about will also help to prevent RSI :0)
I wish we still had the videos of that somewhere!