I have been working on a computer for… like the past twenty+ years or so. More or less daily. It’s what I do. If I don’t write a blog piece, I answer emails. If I am not on my emails, I am reviewing documents. If I am not reviewing documents, I am authoring them. If I am not… well. You get it. The work I do is, to a huge extent, computer-based.

And still.
My body is currently screaming at me to STOP SITTING DOWN IN FRONT OF A COMPUTER ALL DAY LONG!

You’d think it was used to it.
And it is.

But not to the extent of now.

Or… honestly, it might be so, that in the past few years I have managed to get more variety in my work week that when I actually did spend all my time in an office as a salaried worker at a pharmaceutical company.

For the past year, until the beginning of March, I have been on my bike a lot, going to or from the train station or the bus depo, on my way to a couple of different customers, where I’ve also been doing quite a lot of training, which entails no computers what-so-ever, but rather workshop-style interactions and a lot of standing on my part.

But now.
One company has a ban on outside visitors, and as a food packager, I totally understand that.
One company has enforced quarantine rules, asking people to work from home, leaving me as a consultant no choice but to do the same.
So I am at home much more.
I have more meetings on Zoom than before, meetings I would have held in person if there was no pandemic.
And there I am, sitting in my sofa, laptop in knee, for hours on end. Hours!

My neck, my shoulders, my back are telling me: STOP IT!
(So as I am typing this, I am standing in the kitchen, at a make-shift standing desk.)

I don’t have a fitbit or Apple Watch or one of those little devices on my arm reminding me to Stand up, you’ve been sitting down too long!

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not as if I live a completely sedentary life. I still do my morning seven-minute workout. I get at least 10 kilometer in my body on a daily basis, taking walks and going for bike rides, even though I am not headed anywhere but back home again. It’s just not enough. I need to move more often spread throughout the day.

So – I don’t want a device on my arm. But I would love an app that does the same thing, or a timer-app that alerts me on the hour (or whenever I choose to) to get up, stand up, move about…

And… that had me go off on a spree. Checked out smart rings, but, nah…
Downloaded and installed Time Out in my laptop.

So. There.
Set.
On it.
Moving more – check!