Hey!  Isn’t it time to give your poor computer a break?  You’ve been working nonstop for several hours already.  If you keep this up everyday, your computer won’t like you any more.  It might even give you some wrist pain just to teach you a lesson.

OK, so your computer is a lean, mean, working machine, but you are not.  Your body needs frequent short and long breaks in order to release build-up tension from sitting, typing, mousing, and staring at the screen.  Routine tension build-up leads to pain and discomfort.  If you ignore every ergonomic advice but one, this is the one.  It’s a simple and obvious solution for prevention and recovery, but it is often overlooked.  If you know that you need more breaks, but you’re not able to take them consistently, here’s some ways to help.

Let Nature Assist You

This one is easy.  Drink water thru out the day.  Not only is it healthy to keep your body hydrated, it forces you to get up and go to the bathroom on a regular basis.  Those walks to the water cooler are good too.

Let the Computer Help You

Once you get tired of having to pee all the time, you can try installing a break-reminder software.  The software runs in the background and monitors, by counting keystrokes and mouse movement, how long you have been working on the computer.  When you are due for a break, it can blank out the screen and lock up the keyboard/mouse, so you’d have no choice but to take a break (assuming you have it set up that way).  Break-reminder software can get annoying though, especially when it wants you to take a break at the most inconvenient times.  Therefore, it is important that the software is highly configurable so that it could be less of a nuisance to integrate into your day.  You have a choice between what I think is the best free and paid break-reminder programs, Workrave and WorkPace, respectively.

WorkPace vs. Workrave

	WorkPace 3.8 $49 USD http://www.workpace.com	Workrave 1.9 FREE http://www.workrave.com
Micropause Short breaks that occurs every few minutes but lasts only a few seconds.	I take a 9 sec break every 4 minutes (of computer activity).  If I take voluntary breaks, the timer resets back to 4 minutes.  A few seconds before a micropause break, a friendly micropause alert will pop up indicating that I’m due for a break.  The alert does not lock up my keyboard, mouse, or screen.  If I move my mouse anywhere near the alert, it will jump out of my way.  During the micropause break, my keyboard, mouse, and screen are locked (this is configurable to your preference). Micropause Alert Micropause Break	Similar to Workpace. Micropause Alert Micropause Break
Rest Breaks -Longer breaks that occur less frequent.  During rest breaks, you could follow along with the program’s exercises.	The Rest Break works the same way as the Micropause.  I take a 3 minute break every 20 minutes (of computer activity).	Similar to Workpace.
Break Enforcement Configuration	This is the determining factor to how annoying the program can get.  You don’t want the program to force you to break when your supervisor is on the phone asking you for something urgent.  WorkPace has a lot of flexibility in this area.	Workrave does not have as much configurability as WorkPace.  You can set Workrave to allow you to postpone/skip breaks or not.
Exercises	Almost 50 exercises targeting different parts of the body.  What exercises are shown during the rest break is also configurable.  Because the exercises are just drawings with written instructions, I find that I don’t have the interest to follow them.  If it was done in full animation or video, I might be more inclined to follow along.	Only a handful of exercises.  The exercises consist of 3D character models with written instructions.  Although not fully animated, I am more incline to follow along than with WorkPace.
Timer Display	You can have a little window showing you the timers, but I always hide mine, because it is distracting.	Similar to WorkPace.  Workrave can also show timers in the Windows Toolbar.
Daily Limit	Allows you to limit the number of hours of computer use per day.  If you have a doctor’s recommendation, this may be helpful.  But for most people, we can’t just drop everything and go home.	Similar to WorkPace
Weekly Limit	Same concept as Daily Limits except for the whole week.	NA
Typing Speed Limit	Thanks to age of instant messaging, most people can type pretty fast.  This feature gives you a warning you if you’ve been speeding for a while.  Now only if that highway patrol officer would do that…	NA
Work Intensity Indicator	I think this is one of the best feature of the product.  This indicator resides in the system’s tray icon and tells me how intensive I’ve been using the computer.  It’s basically a number from 1 to 9 (lowest to highest intensity).  When I start seeing 8’s and 9’s, I know that I need to take a breather.	NA
Break Compliance Indicator	Similar to the Work Intensity Indicator, the Break Compliance Indicator tells me if I am to taking the breaks that I’m supposed to.	NA
Standby Mode	Tells Workpace to not bother you in the next 15, 30, 60 minutes or for the rest of the day.  This is useful for when you have to get something done.	Workrave allows you to suspend the program indefinitely.  The drawback is that you have to remember to turn it back on.
Desk Mode	Maybe your non-computer work (other work you perform at your desk) is just as intensive.  In this case, you will could choose to be reminded to take breaks even if you are not using the computer.	NA
Network Mode	NA	This is a unique feature for Workrave.  One that takes some technical knowhow to figure out.Sometimes I use both my laptop and desktop right next to each other.  Workrave allows both computers to be networked together, hence reminding me to take breaks as if I was using a single computer.
Statistics	The stats tracks everything from hours of computer usage to key presses per minute.  This could give you some perspective or amusement at how many thousands of times you clicked the mouse a day, but I never really find myself looking at the stats.	Similar stats as to WorkPace, just no pretty charts.
Sound	Different sounds play before various break alerts, but you’ll probably want to turn them off in an office environment.	Similar to WorkPace.
Setup Wizard	The Setup Wizard helps you configure WorkPace.  The setup attempts to determine how injured you are or how much preventive assistance you need. This is useful for first-timers, but after the Setup Wizard, I recommend that you tweak the settings to fit your work style.	NA Workrave comes in one default settings.  Since there’s no one-size-fits-all pattern for breaks, you should adjust the settings to fit you.
Training	Basically a slide show presentation explaining the benefits of taking breaks, the risks of not taking breaks, and how Workpace can help.  I bet their marketing department uses this in promotions.	NA
Documentation	Very extensive users guide, covers every aspect of the program.	No official documentation.  Most of the program is straight forward, but some things need more guidance such as the Network Mode.
OS	Windows	Windows, Linux, other Unix-based OS
Languages	English, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Norwegian, Swedish	English, Dutch, Spanish, Polish, Danish, German, French, Chinese, Russian
Professional Edition	There is a pro edition available and is mainly targeted for companies.  It allows an administrator to monitor employees’ break compliance, as well as enforcing a company-wide WorkPace configuration.	NA

Both products are excellent at doing what its suppose to do, which is to make you take breaks with minimal annoyance.  While WorkPace offers a more comprehensive feature set, don’t forget that Workrave is free.

Take-A-Break Challenge

If you’ve read all the way to this point, you probably have intentions to change the way you work for the better.  To accept my Take-A-Break Challenge, simply install either Workrave (free) or WorkPace (30-day trial) and commit yourself to taking a reasonable amount of breaks.  For the first few days, be sure to adjust the settings until the program works with your day.  Bookmark this article and come back in 2 weeks or so.  Send me a comment and tell me how you feel.  Oh, and don’t forget to drink water.