macOS: Sometimes when I’ve been sitting at my desk for a few hours, I think about how sitting is killing us and how I should really take a break and go out for a walk or get in a workout. And then I get up, bring lunch to my desk, and keep working.
There are apps to remind you to take a break, like TimeOut, but they have always annoyed me. No, I don’t want my computer to stop me from working for five minutes when I was just in the middle of something. But Sluggard is a little different. I like Sluggard.
Sluggard prompts you to do an exercise. On the free version, you can pick two, so I told it I like squats and crunches, and that I’m “average” fitness. I turned it on yesterday and after an hour it told me to do eight squats. It only takes a few seconds more to actually do the squats than to click away the dialog box, so I did them.
You also have to decide if you’re delaying or skipping this break, so it’s also easier to do the squats than to make the decision about whether you’re saying you won’t do the squats.
The next prompt came up while I was out for a walk (yay for me), and the one after that while I was in a video meeting. So I missed one and I skipped one. And then in the afternoon, on two separate occasions, it told me to do six crunches. Sure, why not. Crunches done.
I like Sluggard because there’s no waiting around or any significant task switching. If I’m composing a sentence, I can keep that thought in my head while I do 8 squats. I will probably eventually get annoyed with the popups, but for now, I’m enjoying them.
Sluggard [Official site]
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