Remember to take breaks: look after your health

Writing is hard work. Not in a digging ditches sense, but it can be worse than digging ditches over time. At least if you were digging ditches you’d be out in the fresh air, right?

The problem with writing is that you sit in one spot for hours at a time, cramping your muscles and restricting blood flow. Before you know it, you’ve got RSI or a bad back.

Over the past year, my RSI has become worse, so that I now use voice recognition software to give my hands and arms a break.

Ergoblog: The Benefits of Taking Breaks Throughout Your Computing Day recommends:

“An easy way to combat these problems is to take ‘micro breaks’ several times an hour while you’re at the computer. These breaks don’t need to be long–even 30 seconds is better than nothing–and you’ll probably find they increase your mental alertness and productivity.”

If you’ve got RSI, here’s my favorite site — desktop yoga. It really helps.