Stop Work Be More Productive And Kill Computer Related Stress

stress management at the PC by simple relaxation techniques

Sorry, computer related stress (CRI) will eventually harm you if you
insist on slaving away non-stop at a computer for hours without a break.
To make sure you can be more productive long term, you MUST pace yourself.

- For starters, you need to take a five or ten minute break from
working about once every hour. Exercise, take a rest, or do something
enjoyable during the break. Try and forget about the work you have been
doing; fretting only contributes to muscle and mental strain.

- Massaging your hands and forearms several times a day will improve
circulation. You should also massage your neck muscles to relieve the
tension of keeping your head in one position for any length of time.
Work downwards from your head to your shoulders, pressing more firmly as
you go on. You may want to rub in a small amount of good-quality hand
cream or massage oil, as this will stop your skin becoming dry and sore.

- Try to work in a reasonably warm place. Your muscles must work harder
if they become chilled, and are more likely to feel strain easily. Also,
your hands will ache and feel weak after working too long in a cold or
draughty spot.

- Do a few easy stress relieving exercises. Buy a stress ball - a huge
variety are available off the Internet. Slowly squeeze the ball with
your hand ten to fifteen times. Do this exercise frequently, as often as
once every hour if you need to do a lot of computer work.

Another good stress releieving exercise is to slowly spread your hands
out, making your fingers spread out as widely as they can. Then, slowly
curl your fingers inwards until you make a loose fist. Relax then repeat
this five times each hand.

Finally, let your arms dangle by your sides and gently shake them out a
few seconds. This will help relieve muscle tension.

- While you are working, yawns every once in a while - with some jobs,
this will come naturally! This will put more oxygen into your body
because doing repetitive, non-active things causes your air (oxygen)
intake to drop, lowering your energy level. During your breaks, 'charge
up' on oxygen by breathing deeply and smoothly but DO NOT hyperventilate.

- Continual focussing at one distance (the screen) soon tires your eye
muscles. So while you 're working, periodically look away from the
screen every now and then and focus your eyes on varied distant objects.
This will give your eyes a break from constantly focusing on one thing.

Don't be pressured! If anyone queries you easing off every now and
then, show them this article and ask how they want you tomorrow - well
and working or off with injury, seeing a doctor?

Healthy Computing 2006 and beyond!