Workrave: Automated Rest!
My beloved O’Reilly Linux News newsletter this week included a link to an article that itself linked to a free software tool called Workrave. It’s designed to treat and prevent repetitive stress injuries (RSI) from sitting too long in front of the computer.
This fantastically simple little program has three timers: one for regular microbreaks, one for regular rest breaks, and one for a daily timer on your time spent in front of the computer. You can customize the time between breaks and the duration of the breaks. I have microbreaks set at 15 seconds every ten minutes, during which I look away from my monitor and wriggle a little in my chair to loosen up. I have rest breaks set at 7 minutes every hour, and during rest breaks, Workrave runs instructions for a series of exercises and stretches (neck, shoulders, arms, fingers) before reminding me to stand up, relax, and walk around for a few minutes. At the end of the rest break, a lovely little sound like church bells tells me it’s time to get back to work.
I’ve been using Workrave for several days now and I’m thrilled with it. You can download it for Linux (of course) or Windows. I highly recommend it!