Do look after your hands
I heard recently that another friend is out of action due to hand pains. This reminded me to turn the typing break feature back on on my computer. It should be called "typing and mouse break" – both are common causes of overuse injuries. Some notes:
- Make sure you have something to do during your break – at least have something to read nearby
- Try to stand up and do something – make a drink, walk outside, etc.
- Exercise your wrists: here are some wrist stretches that can be done while seated
- Don’t look at your screen during your break – give your eyes a break too. (…increasing the font size is also a good idea to avoid eye strain. …and remember to blink when staring at the screen.)
- Try to take one day off every week. This is my own tip – I can’t find anyone else who thinks this is important, but it seems like a good idea.
- Get a keyboard which has low resistance keys. I type either on my laptop keyboard, or a USB keyboard which has laptop-like keys, and I think this has helped my fingers.
It seems that there is no single best duration or frequency for breaks. Most recommendations are in the range of 3-5 minutes every 30 minutes, or 5-10 minutes every 60 minutes.
If you use GNOME, you can enable a typing break via Desktop->Preference->Keyboard and then click on the "Typing Break" tab.