

Ask HN: How to take personal care when you are in front of screen for 16 hours? - travis_bickle

I spend 16 hours in front of a laptop screen on a desk, what should I do in order to take care of my body and my eyes?<p>- I am a freelancer and a student, so opinions relating to time management and scheduling are appreciated as well.<p>- My eyes hurt!!
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onion2k
What have you done to measure your productivity?

I used to do something similar to you - 12 hours coding every day, with a
couple of hours of Counterstrike, for about 3 years. I thought I was being
_very_ productive. But then I started to measure my effectiveness (purely out
of interest rather than any belief I wasn't working well) - I measured my
billable hours, lines of code, commits, issues fixed, etc. Over the course of
about 3 months I found that I did less work when I was in front of the screen
for 12 hours compared to 8 hours. Spending more time in front of my computer
_reduced_ my effectiveness. I put the reasons down to the fact I could do
exercise, sleep better, have a social life, etc - by being healthier I work
better. That said, my Counterstrike skills completely disappeared, so there
were downsides.

My suggestion would be to take a few hours to build something that tracks how
well you work, and then vary the hours you put in for a while. See what
happens.

Regarding your eyes, try to make your screen brightness match the ambient
level of light in your environment, sit at a distance where you don't need to
actively focus (use glasses if necessary), and pick a theme for your IDE
that's quite dark. The less work your eyes have to do the better.

~~~
travis_bickle
Thanks, do you have anything to add for the time slot? Should it be a single
sitting or divided? Should it be all night or all day?

~~~
onion2k
It should be what works for you.

------
jkot
Had similar problem, now I can sustain 10 hours with no headaches. Here is
what works for me.

\- get your eyes tested. I have small astigmatism, not enough for glasses, but
it was causing headaches. I got glasses anyway.

\- Recheck your eyes every year. Eyes lens will flex once you wear glasses

\- Buy large sound isolating headphones, not in-year.

\- Play single song in loop

\- Get a bigger screen, even cheap 20" will do. Laptop has horrible ernomomy

\- Investigate ergonomic keyboards. Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000
or Microsoft Sculpt are good starting choice.

\- Try inverted colors. Most editors have colors schemes, try Solarized, Dark
Vim etc..

\- For browser most sites (github) can be styled black using Stylish browser
plugin

\- All operating systems (even Android) supports inverted color accessibility
settings. Control-Option-Command-8 key combination on Mac.

\- Reduce time spend in front of computer by improving your productivity. It
is much less draining if you actually enjoy your work and see results fast.

~~~
Samathy
How does playing a single song on a loop keep you focused on working and being
productive. Doesn't the repetitiveness distract/annoy you?

~~~
fedesilva
In my case its the contrary; it's the changes in patterns that distract me;
the brain can move repetitive sounds to the background.

I don't play the same song but play repetitive music, also I use mid-tempo and
up so I don't get sleepy.

------
boomlinde
The obvious answer is not to spend 16 hours in front of a laptop screen at
your desk. Scedule an hour of daily exercise, eat healthy and do those other
things that you ought to be doing like cleaning, cooking, washing and
sleeping.

------
h_o
Start weightlifting to increase serotonin levels.

My eyes started twitching - I needed glasses so watch out for this.

When you use a screen, you blink less. Actually try to blink more. Also look
away and focus on far away objects - the usual tips.

The last tip I find that works is close your eyes gently while sitting down,
and tense your whole body, as much as you can. Even your glutes, activate as
many muscles as you can while keeping your eyes as un-flexed stressed as
possible.

My eyes feel much better after doing this. I think I read this some time ago,
and your body is using energy elsewhere - while relaxes the muscles not needed
(around your eyes) and it feels amazing.

Good Luck!

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mkagenius
I use 1-hour-less principle. It is counter-intuitive but since I am not
working for any company I can afford it.

Right before the work is about to finish, I realise that it will take me an
hour to finish this - I call it a day.

The benefit apart from less stress is that tomorrow you are motivated for your
next day's work, you know you can get something done right away without having
to plan for anything.

And that 1 hour's work often takes only 30 minutes.

------
gusmd
Hey, I was feeling a lot of eye strain a few months ago while writing my
dissertation. I went to an ophthalmologist, and he gave me a few tips that
changed my life (no, serisouly):

\- DO NOT have the monitor at eye's level as some people suggest. Our muscles
relax when the eye is looking down. 45 degrees down is fine. See for yourself:
Put your finger at eye's level and keep looking at it for as long as you can.
Then drop it down to chest's level and see how much better it is.

\- Get yourself a bigger monitor, in case you don't already have one, and stay
further away from it. Also related to eye muscles strain: focusing up-close is
really bad for you. Do this test: look at your finger really close to the eye,
and then place it further away.

It puts a lot of strain on the eye's muscles to look up and focus up-close.
Those were exactly my problems. Putting my chair a little bit higher and my
monitors further back in my desk solved my problems.

edit: Make sure to use only your eyes to look down, and not your neck or back,
otherwise you will replace one problem with another.

~~~
mkaziz
Having the top of the monitor at eye level allows you to look down at the
entire screen (which is what I understood to mean having the monitor at eye
level).

------
amarraja
One of the firsts apps I install is f.lux [1]

I put it on the "slow" setting, and it gradually adjusts my screen during the
day. I stopped noticing it, however whenever I look at a co-workers screen, it
feels like I am staring into the sun!

[1] [https://justgetflux.com/](https://justgetflux.com/)

------
NathanKP
\- Get an external monitor if you can. Personally I can't use a laptop for an
extended period of time because it really takes a toll on your body. I just
use my laptop in clamshell mode with a large external monitor, and an external
mechanical keyboard and mouse.

\- Get up and walk around. I usually get up and stay up for 15-30 mins about
once every two to three hours. Mid afternoon (the longest work stretch of my
day) I get up, go down 12 flights of stairs and take a walk around a few
blocks just to keep the blood moving.

\- With regard to eyes use a dark background for everything. Bright light is
what makes your eyes hurt. Alternatively make sure the difference between
foreground and background isn't too great. A soft light behind your monitor
can reduce the contrast between the blinding light coming out of it and the
dark area behind. Also make sure to look away from the screen periodically. If
there is a window nearby stand up every 15 mins or so, walk over to it, and
look out at a distant object. This is good for both body and eyes.

------
flarg
FWIW I do this: gym 1 hour per day (improves health, skin condition,
confidence - just don't run every day and do get good running shoes); plan my
goals with GTD (listen to the original audio CDs - they are golden - online
guides are usually missing huge chunks --- use paper or a simple note-taking
app like Zim); Final Version ([http://markforster.squarespace.com/final-
version-faqs/](http://markforster.squarespace.com/final-version-faqs/)) in a
cheap notebook with side markers for context; Pomodoro to split up the working
day.

All this has taken years to work out - and it will not click you to start with
- but you'll eventually find yourself feeling less stressed and more satisfied
with your day.

Whether you like it or not it's not sustainable to be in front of a screen for
16 hours a day - so make one of your life goals to get out of that situation
as soon as you can.

------
ramtatatam
For your eyes - I recommend installing a software that will remind you to give
your eyes a bit of relax (years ago when I was on WinXP the software was
called EyeCare, when I google for it now there is a plethora of projects so
you will need to test what suits you best)

For productivity - what helped me a lot was to block myself on my home router
from accessing all distractive web pages I used to pop in every now and then
(i.e. playok.com for just one chess game, linkedin, facebook, ycombinator :-)
) - I found that my brain loves to be distracted and it is not that simple to
keep focused, blocking distractors helped. Having that said I was also
allowing emails in certain hours in the morning and in the evening (no emails
during the day).

Also I completely cut on my favorite games (even during the weekend) like
HalfLife, CS, starcraft... Was hard to make this decision but in the end
appeared to be a great time saver.

------
brachi
I read all the answers and they're very good. I'd just add something very
important: keep track of how many days you go without doing exercise, eating
healthy etc. All this advice is great, but it's very easy to have a 'bad
period' where you just don't realize you're going back to your old patterns.
Being more specific: implement some remainder in front of you that shows your
progress over time. E.g.: a piece of paper showing you the dates you exercised
in green, and the ones you didn't in red. Make it your first priority to
complete that piece of paper. You can go fancier with web apps or even fit-
bands, but the idea is the same: track yourself everyday. And be aware of when
you stop doing what you need to be doing.

------
jpmgoncalves
First of all, take care of your eyes. Use the 20 20 20 rule as previously
said, check your eyes to avoid headaches.

If you use a laptop, get a stand and a separate keyboard and mouse, it'll help
your posture. If you have a desktop, it'll be easier to maintain a good
posture and relieve neck pain by looking to what's in front of you, not down
to a laptop on a table.

Walk. Get up every hour or every 45min. Do this religiously.

Drink lots of water or tea. Stay hidrated. Don't eat garbage.

To have better sleep, install flux on your computer.

If you have some spare money, buy a really comfortable office chair that's not
too sofa-y and not too hard. Buy a table that has the right height to you.

------
rhokstar
Olympic weightlifting, gymnastics, plyometrics, running, some powerlifting,
and stretching/mobility work (all CrossFit stuff). Doing all this is
preventative maintenance to sitting at a desk for hours at a time.

I do this six days a week, 2 hours a day starting at 6am. When I'm at the
computer, because my body is strengthened and limber, I can sit a lot longer
but I inherently like to move around a lot.

Also, having a good workstation is key. Proper height for chairs, monitor at
eye level, elbows are slightly above parallel to the keyboard. Stand up
stations are also awesome and cheap/easy to create.

------
omginternets
Take breaks away from your computer. Get up and walk around during said
breaks.

There is no substitute for this, and it represents 80% of the "cure".

(numbers pulled out of my descending colon)

------
mark_l_watson
I almost died 8 years ago from sitting at my desk too much. Without knowing it
I developed a quiet form of deep vein thrombosis and then dropped with two
pulmonary embolisms. I am fine now, but it was a close call.

My recommendation is to have a timer on your laptop to remind you to get up
and walk around for at least a minute, every twenty minutes.

I also find it beneficial to do a few minutes of random Qi Gong exercises
about once an hour.

------
kozhevnikov
A pomodoro timer app [1] did it for me, although I have not bothered with the
whole method/technique with all its bells and whistles, just the dedicated
uninterrupted 25 minutes of work 'sprints' and short 5 and longer 15 minute
breaks that I do not skip.

[1] [http://rinik.net/pomodoro/](http://rinik.net/pomodoro/)

------
amanmaan08
Follow 20 20 20 rule

After every 20 mins look at a point that is atleast 20 feet away from you for
atleast 20 seconds for your eyes.

------
nickjj
Every 3-4 hours just go outside and walk around for ~20min.

------
andrewstuart
I go to crossfit.

~~~
rhokstar
CrossFit helps a lot!

I'm at CrossFit 760, where are you?

