(Note: My copy says “free for personal use”, site recently seems to say otherwise -unclear?)
Have you ever found yourself sitting in front of a screen for hours, almost as if your eyes and brain are addicted to some kind of screen candy that they are being fed through its glow? Part of you knows you should take a break, wants to take a break, and even realizes you would be more productive and creative if you just turned away and took a break or got out the old pencil and pen. Yet you still don’t do it. You’re hungry, your thirsty, you even have to take a friggin leak –but you push it till its unbearable (I can’t recall soiling my pants, but I wouldn’t put it past me.) As crazy as it might sound to some of you, I’ve talked to a number of others who also struggle with this same ’screen addiction’ phenomena. (On a sidenote, there actually have been studies done that show that the ‘alpha state‘ your brain is in while in front of a screen is addictive.) I’ve always found it strange that I will remain glued to the screen trying to accomplish things that I KNOW I could do better if I just turned away and did some creative thinking on my own.
Last year I found this very helpful, simple and free app called “Break Reminder” that actually ‘forces’ a breaks upon you by blanking out the screen and locking up your keyboard for various pre-set periods of time. You can customize the frequency of “Micropauses” (usually about 10-30 seconds, to give your eyes and brain a rest) and actual longer “Breaks” (whatever you like, I have it set for 10 minutes every couple of hours.) Its nothing splab, and I’m sure there are ways it could be improved (please do), but its simplicity is part of its beauty. A friend of mine from Microsoft just wrote and said “Came across your recommendation for Break Reminder software today, and downloaded it right away. It’s great! Just what I needed. Thanks!” So, give yourself a break and download this free app ASAP. Tweak it until it fits your rhythm -I think you will find yourself a little less strained and a little more productive. If so, this blog was already worth starting! (:
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