I suffer from RSI and definitely do not move enough when I am invested in some piece of work (personal or professional). I recently installed workrave[0] and have noticed marked improvements in just a couple weeks of actually taking breaks when it indicates.
I take a 25 second break every 5 minutes, and use this time to do one hand and wrist exercise (I keep some resistance bands and hand exercise balls at the desk). I take a 5 minute break every 25 minutes. I will either do some stretches, or a quick chore (e.g. vacuum one room).
This microbreaks idea is something I've come to myself. I noticed that when reading very difficult stuff (serious math or complex APIs) then I get to that point where I repeatedly read the same sentence over and over again. I realized that at that point I should be taking a break even before my usual 25 minutes is up. Maybe you 25s/5m would help me. I like the numerical aesthetics.
It seems I wrote my own keycounter for RSI last year but I never added timers/lockouts. I'll have a look at this workrave. Thanks.
I have some graduated resistance hand exercise balls and bands for various exercise (different variations on squeezing, mobility, and extending fingers). I stare out the window at things far away while doing hand exercises.
I did pick the times because of the symmetry of the numbers (:
I take a 25 second break every 5 minutes, and use this time to do one hand and wrist exercise (I keep some resistance bands and hand exercise balls at the desk). I take a 5 minute break every 25 minutes. I will either do some stretches, or a quick chore (e.g. vacuum one room).
https://workrave.org/