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If you haven't heard of the 20-20-20 rule, it is a simple rule-of-thumb to remember to look 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds every 20 minutes.

Using a standup workstation during part of the day may also help you because the "activation energy" required to move around and leave your workstation is minimal compared to sitting in a chair.

You can also get a weaker prescription if you have eyeglasses (not sure about contacts) that will help if you stare at a screen all day.



Good point on the 20-20-20 rule. There's an add-on for Firefox which I use for this below [1]. It launches a (rather invasive) fullscreen popup reminder every 20 minutes. Far from perfect, but better than using a loud timer or relying on your distracted brain!

[1] https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/eye-strain-pr...


20 is arbitrary, but it integrates finely with the Pomodoro Technique: https://cirillocompany.de/pages/pomodoro-technique


Any recommendations on physical (non-app) pomodoro timers?


Just searching around. This may be a little too large but I like the combination of visual and adjustable auditory indicators.

https://www.timetimer.com/collections/timers/products/time-t...


Thanks for the pointer, that is a good combo.

UX of this multi-timer looks promising for tracking different classes of activity, but I haven't tried it yet: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004S56RJG/


The pomodoro technique was named so because the kitchen timers tend to look like a tomato. We've come full circle :)




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