Taking Regular Breaks

The simple advice to take regular breaks is difficult to follow, as you may already have found out.

Mental timers don't work

Perhaps you've tried setting a mental timer. Perhaps you have tried saying to yourself "I will take a short break every half hour". But when you're busy — perhaps you're even in that ideal flow state for work — your ability to keep track of time is diminished. Before you know it, an hour or two has gone by. Then your wrists or forearms start to hurt and it's too late.

Physical timers (such as kitchen timers) are little better

If you remember to always set the timer (which I never managed to do), then the bell rings half an hour later. It's embarrassing in an office. And what if you take a phone call? Or are called to a meeting? The bell still goes off whether you typed a single character or not.

Will you stop the timer when you are interrupted? Will you remember to start it again? And was the break you took long enough to count as a real break? It's a mess.

But Albion StopNow! works

It's a small app that you install on your PC which keeps track of when you are using the keyboard or mouse and discreetly reminds you to take a break. There's no annoying pop-ups to lose your half-typed thought. No bundled exercise program expecting you to perform yoga next to your desk. Simply a discreet audio and visual reminder when you have been working too long without a break.

I designed Albion StopNow! to:

• fit discreetly into your office environment
• never suggest a break when you don't need one
• be just annoying enough that you want to take the break rather than continue working, but not so annoying that you want to exit the program to finish your thought.

I found this approach to be very effective when I was suffering from RSI, and the feedback I've received from other people who have tried it suggests it works well for them too.

Try a free trial of Albion StopNow! now and find out if it works well for you to.