How do you make yourself take breaks if you sit in front of a computer all day?

21 comments

1. Drink a water bottle. Then you’ll have to pee so you’ll get up and walk around. Drink another water bottle. Rinse and repeat all day long.

   Also, embrace the socializing aspect of return-to-office. CEO’s have used it as an excuse, so lean into it. Wander and talk to people, even if you don’t particularly care what they’re talking about.

2. I’m terrible with drinking water which is doubly bad because I live in the desert. I’m getting better at it because I’ve been hitting the gym. I try to take a mental break at work when I can. By that I mean I do artwork at my desk. I unfortunately can’t take many breaks due to my job.

3. Get up and stretch, walk around every 20 minutes. Go outside every now and then.

4. I recommend scheduling them. I have a planned break around 10 and 3. Also I always take my lunch and ignore messages during that time unless it’s urgent.

   I am constantly drinking water so don’t have advice there

5. I drink pretty much nonstop and have to pee every hour on the hour.

6. Nice thing about my job is that I’m a mix of programming and hands on. I’ll write the logic for the robot or conveyors then get off my ass and run the robot to test things.

7. I have a really good chair, but part of what makes it so good is that it encourages me to shift my posture around; I find I don’t ever ‘sink into’ it, so I find myself taking breaks a lot.

   I am working from home though, which helps. One thing I like to do is schedule a few small personal tasks around the home during the day – mow the lawn if I have time, tidy a room, call someone while walking down the street, maybe attend to a pot of soup in the kitchen.

   I also like to read paper copies of stuff I’m working on – books and print-outs. I find I can focus better than a screen. This encourages me to sit outside or whatever.

   When I was in a big office, I would walk to the other end of the office and chat with people I knew about work or would take a little walk with them to get lunch. Subsequently however I worked in small offices in ugly parts of town and man that was depressing, just sitting in some silent room for 8 hours. Really did a number on me.

   To drink water, I started by filling a Nalgene with Negro Modelo. Every day I would use a little less beer and a little more water, until after about three years it was just water. Just kidding, but it helps to have a vessel you like drinking from and which keeps the water at your preferred temp.

8. My first thought was drink water, then I read the rest of your post. Maybe try herbal tea? I don’t like to just keep juicing up on caffeine so I’ll sometimes have herbal tea in the afternoon, and that forces me to go make the tea, then like other people are saying you drink more fluid so you need more bathroom trips.

   For actual drinking more water advice, I would say have small snacks throughout the day. I’m not the best at just drinking water because I’m thirsty, but I drink a ton of water whenever I eat, even a little bit. Every morning I have a snack of some nuts and raw vegetables, and I always drink a big glass of water with that. Then in the afternoon when my lunch starts to wear off I have another small snack and drink another big glass of water.

9. Working an office job for sure inspires my drinking 😂

10. Schedule in breaks. I actually got on my teams about this. I wanted them taking at least two a day but if they had a break in between things, go for a walk or whatever.

    I can’t tell you how many times I had an employee tell me there was some impossible thing, then my response would be just go take a break, and low and behold, they had it solved after the fact.

    As for the water thing, keep a jug by your desk. If plain water isn’t your thing, look into teas you might like. There are fruit, mint, etc. Happy to give some recommendations if you want

11. i developed an unhealthy coffee habit. but working from home its not that much of a mental or physical break, so i get my mental time away by playing old 80s arcade games on my computer. games only last a few minutes.

    Walking the kid to and from school a couple of times as week is a nice bonus

12. I keep a few ice trays in the freezer, and a countertop ice maker. My insulated glass must always have ice and/or liquid in it. Forces me to stay hydrated and gives me an excuse to get up and move.

13. My mom used to have to walk between offices and she made a rule for herself that everytime she had to get up to talk to someone she took a drink

14. Definitely drink water, kidney stones suck. IMO, whatever people say about the huge amounts you should drink, more is always good, even if others are pounding down two liters a day.

15. Google “Pomodoro timers”. It’s a practice of setting an alarm that goes off every 50 minutes of every hour. The idea is a 10 min break for every 50 mins work. There should be plenty of apps out there

16. They have timer programs/apps that run on your phone/watch; on your computer even. They have different alarms that you can set for different events.

17. Outlook reminders help me so much with everything, why not try a reminder to drink water?

18. It was easy for me. I justified it for my health. Even my optometrist recommended walking a bit every couple hours and focusing on distance objects. So I would take off and walk to the drinking fountain at the opposite end of the building.

19. I have a fitness watch that reminds me to get up and move.

20. I set regular alarms/reminders on my phone that literally tell me to get up and stretch. I use an app called Alarm Clock Xtreme.

    I also recently switched to an adjustable standing desk which I’m finding helps to keep me moving.

    Not strictly breaks, I know, but these things do help with posture.

21. I take a break every time I gain a level.