Since then, Workrave has issued a series of updates that make the program even more useful at combating RSI. Anyone who spends more than an hour or two on their computer each day should take a careful look at what the program now has to offer to prevent headaches and hand injury further down the line.

To get started, follow this link to the program’s download page and start the 11 MB transfer. The installation is simple and fast, and you should be able to have the program on your computer in no time at all. Once installed the program puts an icon of a jumping sheep on your taskbar which you can right click to make changes. To get everything fine-tuned just the way you would like, begin by right clicking on the icon and selecting Preferences.

The default screen provides an interface through which you can program what kinds of breaks you would like and how often you wish for them to appear. For example, by clicking on the micro-break tab you can choose an amount of time between breaks, how long those breaks should be, and how long the default postpone time, or “snooze,” should be. You can do the same for different longer rest breaks that are just long enough to encourage you to get up and get a new mug of coffee or walk around the room. Finally, you can set a daily limit for computer usage, although you will likely find this setting to be more harm than help.

Next, fine tune your settings through the User interface button on the left of the preferences tab. Here you can change things like the volume of break notices, whether the program starts automatically with Windows or even whether or not you want to be able to see the remaining duration of the break once it has begun.

Best of all, if you have to transfer into crisis mode and begin working without breaks for a bit, you can suspend the programs features and continue with your work unhindered by the occasional break interruptions. If you find yourself using this feature too often you may not want to bother with the program at all, but most people will find it handy to silence the notices only occasionally.

Products that are aimed at stopping RSI have come a long way since symptoms of the malady became noticeable with daily computer use. While simple, the latest version of Workrave helps people stay safe from the most common health problems created by contemporary work environments. It can be very easy to ignore the headaches and hurts that we experience on a daily basis. By moving around once every so often, however, we can greatly reduce RSI’s effects.

Some computer users with lots of discipline might be able to force themselves to taking regular breaks but the average user usually forgets about them or are concentrated on work which they do not want to interrupt.

The best help for these users is to make use of a software program like Eyecare that informs them when it is time to take a break. Eyecare is probably the most basic type of eye stress relief breaks programs. It is a portable software program that runs quietly in the background. The only indication that it is running is a system tray icon and the process in the task manager.

The program will automatically bring up a black screen every 20 minutes for one minute so that the user can rest the eyes. There is unfortunately no configuration available at this point in development which means it is not possible to change the frequency of the screen blackouts. Eyecare is also a bit heavy on the resource side as it uses more than 20 Megabytes of computer memory while running. Viable alternatives with more options are Workrave or Eye Defender.

Exercises are divided into the three categories Eyes, Hands and Body each containing several exercises that do not take up lots of space, if any, which is ideal for work environments. Each exercise is explained visually by an avatar that is performing it over and over again as well as text that is displayed below the performance.

The first exercise for the hands for example asks the user to stretch his finger joints while the first body exercise is all about stretching the body for a few times.

Each exercise is repeated several times. Basic controls allow to pause, rewind or forward exercises at any time. The exercises are easy to learn which means that the animations are no longer needed eventually which should definitely be the first goal of a new user. It does not make much sense to exercise the eyes when you have to keep them glued to the computer monitor to understand the exercises correctly.

The other criticism that I have is the advertisement popup that appeared once talking about another tool of the developer that would scan my Registry. I have no idea on the frequency of those popups, it happened once during my tests.

The time before the program reminds the user that he should take a break can be set between 10 and 180 minutes.

Workrave is a freeware program that assists in the recovery and prevention of Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI). The program frequently alerts you to take micro-pauses, rest breaks and restricts you to your daily limit.

This is a excellent way to stay healthy even if you have to work on a computer for eight or more hours per day.

Workrave is compatible to Windows, Linux and other nix operating systems.