Top Ten Signs You Need to Spend More Time Away From Your Desk
Jack KnightThis post has been translated into Spanish by Diana at Artegami.
Another week, another useless but amusing top ten for you. This time we ask the question, do you spend more time with your desk than any human should? Here are ten signs you may need to take a break…
Number 10:
“Exercise” has come to mean rolling your neck and focusing your eyes on distant objects.
Number 9:
Strange discolorations have appeared where your arms rest on your chair and desk.
Number 8:
Friends no longer bother calling your mobile, they skype you.
Number 7:
You have RSI in BOTH arms.
Number 6:
You spend more hours in your desk chair than not - this has resulted in a posture that resembles early humans.
Number 5:
When you’ve finished a long day of work you: watch TV on your computer, play second life or read your favourite blogs.
Number 4:
You fear taking a day off because you might fall behind with your list of daily RSS reads.
Number 3:
You wake up in the night from dreams where you were using your computer to do the same tasks you do when you are awake.
Number 2:
After switching desktop backgrounds, you have been heard to remark “A change is as good as a holiday” … no, no it isn’t.
…. And the number one sign you need to spend more time away from your desk:
You no longer like meals that require both a knife and fork because then you can’t use your mouse while eating!
Wayde Christie
May 13th, 2007
10, 9, 8, 6, 5, and 3 for me - all with a partner and 2 kids.
How I survive I don’t know.
Collis
May 13th, 2007
3 is the worst! I once woke up and my hand was in the same position it is when I am holding my mouse, and I couldn’t relax it, it was like it was locked in. That was freaky, I slowed right down after that episode … at least I did for a while
mave
May 13th, 2007
eeek! all of them except 10 and 7 for me! especially 5, 4 and 1. this is an excellent reminder to shut things down for at least a few hours a day!
Matt
May 13th, 2007
Aaha, this is way too true.
Number 1 especially, I love eating while I work, but it’s hard to use cutlery and have your mousing hand free at the same time
Patrick
May 13th, 2007
Why?! Why do these Top 10 Lists continue to be so true?!
Stop it, I plead - it only illumines that which I seek to pretend doesn’t exist!
Ling
May 13th, 2007
omg! Almost all of them applies to me… No. 3 is espacially scary though, i always dream about myself in front of comp debugging codes and actually thinking logic in my sleep!
Lord Sid Valera
May 13th, 2007
Quilty as charge!
Rajesh Shakya
May 13th, 2007
100% true for most of us. Everyday I promise myself, I will take some break but every next project is soooo urgent.
Rajesh Shakya
http://www.rajeshshakya.com
Cyan
May 13th, 2007
Patricia
May 13th, 2007
Nice one!
Nowadays even eating pizza seems to be a hassle. Can’t really type without error here and there. :p
I shall take a rest now.
Chisa
May 13th, 2007
So much of this feels familiar, and I’m not even a freelancer!
henry
May 13th, 2007
okie i think we need to start a community for people suffering from RSI and help them go cold-turkey ! lol
all applicable to me.
Chris Hoeppner
May 13th, 2007
I feel guilty *omg
Philip Seyfi
May 13th, 2007
Everything except 7 & 10 for me
Maybe I have still a chance to survive…
John Brougher
May 13th, 2007
Haha–if voice-activated computing ever becomes really sophisticated, I will never leave my office chair. With a keyboard protector ensuring my gross food crumbs don’t get into my laptop’s inner workings, and me barking commands at the screen (”File menu!”) so as not to need the mouse, I think I would be in tech heaven. Although I would also reach untold levels of despair.
James
May 13th, 2007
10, 6, 5, 1
I’m actually doing far better than I would have expected…
Navdeep
May 13th, 2007
very true.
Bootstrapping Blog
May 13th, 2007
Love this post. I hate drinking anything usually because it requires one hand to not type or move the mouse. Definitely time for a break, sooner or later
Philip Seyfi
May 13th, 2007
2John Brougher: You should try the new voice recognition in Vista… It works really fine after some training… ex.: Start Listening > Start > Play Madonna
Ink Master
May 13th, 2007
Haha! great list
— #1 is soo true for me :p I usually just end up holding the plate w/ one hand and licking everything off it since my hand is busy holding the mouse 
Corey Csuhta
May 14th, 2007
The trick is, you’re supposed to cut all of your food BEFORE you bring it to your desk.
Gina K
May 14th, 2007
I had a dream last night that I was doing Flash Action Script, and it was on a Saturday night on a weekend getaway!
geeze
Marko
May 14th, 2007
I can’t believe this! I fit all numbers except maybe 3 worst ones. I guess I am really hard case to cure.
Lance Fisher
May 14th, 2007
Number 4 - How true.
Rhys
May 14th, 2007
Whoa, I can’t believe how true some of these ring. Ouch I really need to look at what I do for relaxing time… eg: not play video games and do design work
Armen
May 14th, 2007
Excellent! Letterman would be proud!
Daniel Sitter
May 15th, 2007
For me, #3 is the haunting revelation. I know from experience, when I start dreaming of work-related issues and wake up stressed from them, that it’s time for a real break!!
Ryan Hayden
May 15th, 2007
I love the one about the posture, it seems the more I use my MacBook, the more time I have to spend at the chiropractors to look like a human.
jos
May 17th, 2007
i totally need to spend more time away from my desk
Kuswanto
May 18th, 2007
Sometimes i feel #4, LOL…
What’s scare me is, if i took a day off. I felt i will loose a day of my timeline :-D, even tho the day is holiday. It does not matter for me, it always felt like that. Make the day off uncomfortable.
vaneea
May 19th, 2007
When I read number 3 & 6, I burst with laughter.