Buzz
macOS: After sitting at my desk for hours, I often think about how sitting is killing us and how I should take a break for a walk or workout. But instead, I end up getting up only to bring lunch to my desk and continue working.
There are apps that remind you to take breaks, like TimeOut, but I’ve always found them bothersome. No, I don’t want my computer interrupting me for five minutes in the middle of a task. But Sluggard is different. I actually like it.
Sluggard suggests exercises for you to do. With the free version, you can choose two, so I picked squats and crunches, indicating I'm 'average' in fitness. After an hour, it told me to do 8 squats. It took just as long to do them as it did to dismiss the reminder, so I went ahead and did them. (You also have to decide whether to delay or skip the break, so it’s often easier to just do the squats than make the decision.)
The next prompt arrived while I was on a walk (go me!), and another came while I was in a video meeting. I missed one and skipped another. Later that afternoon, I was prompted twice to do 6 crunches. Sure, no problem. Crunches completed.
I enjoy using Sluggard because there’s no unnecessary waiting or constant task-switching. When I'm writing a sentence, I can keep my thought focused while doing 8 squats. I might eventually get frustrated with the popups, but for now, I’m enjoying them.
