There are plenty of free timers and clocks.
But I am looking for a timer which counts only while the PC's
keyboard is in use.
Then the timer might sound an alarm when it reaches a preset duration
of keyboard usage - such as 60 minutes.
Can anyone help me locate such a thing?
OOS, RSI, CTS... These acronyms not only hurt, but can kill your career.
Repetitive strain injury, Occupational overuse syndrome, and Carpal
tunnel syndrome are all faces of the same malaise. In laymans terms, if
you use something too much, you'll damage it. For those on the coal face
of the IT industry, it's endemic, and can mean losing a career when
typing becomes too painful to sustain...
What can I do?
==============
A good typing technique makes a huge difference. Touch typing is
recommended, and you should use two hands to use a shift or control key
combo. I switched to the Dvorak keyboard a while back, both to reduce
finger movement, and force myself to touch type.
It is a big help to take frequent 'microbreaks' every 5-15 minutes from
what you are doing, move around, stretch, and give blood a chance to
flow around the place. You should move your arms away from the keyboard
and mouse, focus your eyes to some distant point, and relax.
I wrote this program because I always get too involved in what I am
working on to remember to take regular breaks (hours can pass before I
remember that I should eat, or go to the toilet...). However, I found
every reminder program I tried to be too frustrating and/or intrusive to
use for long.
What does the program do?
=========================
Every 10 minutes (or whatever you set it to) the program will play a
sound to remind you to have a stretch. I use a large archive of sound
bites from movies and TV that I found on the web - the program picks one
at random as the reminder each time to keep it interesting.
The important thing is that this is not intrusive, it does not slow me
down, and it works. I resent those programs that measure how much you
have moved your mouse, or used your keyboard. All that expends resources
that my PC and I could better use elsewhere. SoundBreak just sleeps
until it is needed.
http://www.lost.co.nz/main/software/soundbreak/index.html