Do you have a Mac? (If not, go get one.)

Do you get sucked into your computer’s vortex and it won’t let you out to do non-computer things you need to do? (You don’t have to answer that in public, we know that sometimes, the answer is an unequivocal yes.)

There is help available for you, and it’s free. In the Mac App Store, there’s a free app called Time Out Free.  By default, it is configured to put your computer in time out (not you–you’re good; you have control) every fifty minutes for ten minutes.  It grays out your screen, and you can’t surf or type — unless you tell it to postpone the break for five or ten minutes or to skip it completely (see?  I said, the computer goes into time out — you’re in charge).

But for me, that’s been just enough of a nudge and a reminder that there are other things to do around the house than spend time on line.  So I get up and I do something.  For one break, I head upstairs and declutter a spare bedroom used for storage for fifteen minutes.  For another break, I vacuum the downstairs.  For another I’ll empty the dishwasher or start a load of laundry.  Or maybe I’ll head over to the shop and do some work over there — obviously, that takes more than ten minutes, but the key is, I’m reminded to participate in the rest of my life and not stay stuck to the keyboard, which, frankly, is pretty tempting, if not very productive.

See, I want to check email and catch up on Facebook and Twitter in the morning.  But once the office chair sucks me in, I had a tough time dragging myself away to carry out the rest of my to do list for that day — even if it’s working on my writing, which is right next to me.  So this little app has turned out to be very helpful.

I have to credit EJ for me getting it. She commented that she was getting a headache and needed to get away from the screen for a while, so I recommended this app.  Then I had to download it and try it for myself, just to make sure it was what I thought it was.  It was.

It’s very configurable.  You can also take microbreaks — programmed to come up every ten minutes for about fifteen seconds to allow you to stretch or just do something different and change your focus.  That should help reduce repetitive stress problems or remind us to change our posture.

This is a very flexible, useful program, and I can’t say enough good things about it this week.  If you have a Mac, please consider giving it a try.