workrave exercises I’ve been accused of sitting at a computer for far too long.  “Get up and go for a walk”, I tell myself.  I never do, as I get too wrapped up in the current task I’m working on.  That’s why I so like the idea of ErgoMinder.

From a support perspective, I thought the personnel department were trying to impose their “touchy, feely” policy on the rest of us.  Now I’m older and wiser, I understand the importance of taking a break.  Shame Ergominder is no longer being sold.

The importance of a product like ErgoMinder, is for the recovery from, and the prevention of Repetitive Strain Injury.  RSI is a type of Musculoskeletal disorder.

… many MSD occur due to daily work involving the maintenance of static postures, which result in muscle fatigue, for example, holding the telephone, and repetitive work such as keyboard and mouse tasks. Conditions that have this type of gradual onset are probably more common in office work than sudden injuries.
– WorkSafe Victoria – Officewise: A guide to Health & Safety In The Office

So with ErgoMinder no longer being available, and no time to develop a clone of it*, I looked around for a replacement product.

I’ve started to use Workrave, and I’m beginning to like it.

My first impressions are that it does everything ErgoMinder does, but it has less exercises (9 vs. 15).  I’ll let you know what I think in two weeks time.

* – it would be fairly easy to clone ErgoMinder.  All the exercises and screenshots are easily extractable, I would just need to write the “timer” program.  Other priorities though.

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