If you spend a lot of time typing away on your computer - and who doesn't these days - it's important to keep in mind the need to protect your body from the strain and possible damage caused by prolonged sitting, poor posture and repetitive movements.

As the UK's National Health System points out, "spending a lot of time using a computer, keyboard and mouse is a common cause of RSI [repetitive strain injury]". According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, RSI covers "a broad range of conditions affecting muscles, tendons, tendon sheaths, nerves, or joints that result particularly from excessive and forceful use", such as "tendonitis, neuritis, fascitis, myositis, carpal tunnel syndrome, thoracic outlet syndrome, cubital tunnel syndrome, degenerative arthritis, tendinosis, fibromyalgia, herniated disk, focal hand dystonia, and neuropathic pain".

Whew, quite a list!

One way you can help reduce the risk of RSI is by taking regular breaks while using the computer. Of course, this is easier said than done. We all know the feeling of being so engaged in work or entertainment (usually the latter, let's face it) that we forget to even tear our eyes away from the screen, let alone our entire body.

That's where Workrave comes in.

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Lars Grijsen
Good review. What is you rythm for micro-breaks and rest breaks? I use Workrave for 3 years now. I experienced that after some time I always clicked away the alerts. I skipped the breaks most of the time. When I noticed that I configured Workrave differently. You can setup that you cannot ignore the breaks. So that works fine now :)
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Adriana
@Lars Grijsen Wow, I see you are really committed to it 😁 Like I say in the post, I've had the same problem as you have, where I started just ignoring the breaks. I do want to try disabling the possibility to ignore the alarms and see how I do. At the moment ... Show more
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Ingrid
Useful tip! I'll share it!
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Naturefreak
I suffered from RSI about ten years ago. I had a constant pain in my hand, wrist and fingers, even when doing nothing. Fysiotherapy helpt me a lot. Now I'm painfree but who nows what happens? It looks like an interesting program, maybe I give it a try.
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Adriana
@Naturefreak I hope you find it helpful and remain painfree! 🙂
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Paula Martins
it´s a helpful tool, yes. there are lots and lots of computer addicts those days. it has become like a virus, and the tool your talking about is the medicine
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Mónica
I can think of quite a few people this might be useful for. When I was still spending so many hours behind a screen, I really struggled with carpal tunnel syndrome, so I would most probably have tried this for sure!
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Adriana
@Mónica Glad to hear it can be useful! Thank you 🙂
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Teresa Seia
Reading this review after an exceptionally long day in front of my computer allowed me to see how beneficial this kind of tool can be. It seems a good choice to help you establish regular breaks. A timely and thorough review about an important issue concerning both our work and leisure activities!
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Adriana
@Teresa Seia So glad you found the review useful! I do think it's a worthwile tool 🙂
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