If your job involves sitting in front of a computer screen and tapping away on the keyboard, then you may develop the dreaded carpel tunnel syndrome or eye problems sooner or later. This is why all the experts are advising not to work in front of your computer for more than an hour at a stretch. You should get up from the chair, walk around and stretch those legs and arms for a couple of minutes after every hour of work. In fact, one of my coworkers does jumping jacks after 2-3 hours to get rid of the strain that develops in the arms and legs.
Not everyone knows which exercises should be done when working in front of the computer and even if they do, people usually forget about everything when lost in a day’s work. This is why you should use an app like Stretchly which basically reminds you taking regular breaks and micro-breaks every few minutes. It is a cross-platform application and works in Windows, Mac and Linux.
It sits in the system tray of Windows and keeps displaying small notifications and messages on the screen reminding you to take breaks. After every 10 minutes, it shows the reminder to take a 20 seconds micro-break which could be anything from blinking your eyes or looking at a distant object. Similarly, after every 30 minutes, it shows you a reminder to take a 5 minute break.
Obviously as expected from an application like this, nothing is fixed or hard coded and you can easily customize it and change the time duration as well as the frequency of both the micro-breaks and the regular longer breaks. You can also choose to pause the application altogether or skip the next micro-break or the long break.
Verdict: Although unnecessarily large in size for an application like this, Stretchly is very useful for all the people who have to work for long hours in front of their computers. It can help you stay healthy and save you from developing problems like back pain, weak eyesight, weight gain that are usually associated with a sedentary life style.
You can download Stretchly from https://github.com/hovancik/stretchly/releases.