Without a doubt, the Internet is one of the greatest inventions in human history. Thanks to the capabilities of the Internet, we have the opportunity to find out any information that interests us, as well as communicate with people located anywhere on our planet, without leaving our own apartment. However, the Internet also has the other side of the coin - too frequent use of the possibilities of virtual space leads to the fact that people begin to replace live communication with their friends and family with it, and trips to nature or some event are replaced by viewing the contents of the corresponding pages. In this case, we can say that the person has begun to develop Internet addiction.
How to overcome this addiction and return to a normal and fulfilling life? How do you know if you are addicted to a computer network?
The first sign of a high-tech illness is that you visit websites not only to gain new information, but aimlessly and mechanically. You endlessly check your email, but you do this not because you are expecting an important letter, but simply because, on autopilot. Unfortunately, he himself does not notice that he has become dependent on the computer, but if you increasingly begin to hear words that you spend too much time on the Internet, then at least this should alert you. After all, most likely this is actually the case, and you have begun to prefer communicating with virtual strangers to live conversations with people close to you.
Another sign that there is actually a problem is that instead of calling the person, you try to contact them via text messages, and you make most of your purchases on virtual marketplaces.
How dangerous is this? Firstly, spending a huge amount of time in front of a computer display is literally killing your eyes. Even if you use the most technologically advanced and modern monitors, this will still not protect your eyes from constant and increased strain and fatigue.
Another negative result of your constant sitting at the computer can be back problems, such as scoliosis, stoop, and constant pain. But the most important danger of Internet addiction is that a person turns into an aggressive and antisocial being. Meeting with friends and talking with them becomes uninteresting to you, and this leads to the fact that you gradually lose the ability to interact with real interlocutors. This makes it harder for you to communicate with strangers, and being in large groups can cause you to have panic attacks.
How to stop surfing the Internet? In order to solve the problem of computer slavery for yourself, you must realize that in your case it exists, and only you yourself can free yourself from the power of electronics and new technologies. Analyze how much time you spend on the Internet, and also how much time it took you to find and process the information that you actually need. Using this, you can find out how much time your daily minimum of Internet use takes. Having determined this time, set yourself a limit. When working at the computer every day, try not to exceed it and have time to do everything that you wanted to do on the Internet during this period. Thanks to this, you will be able to reassess the importance of your affairs and learn to rationally use such an important resource as time.
Another way to combat addiction is to put up stickers and signs within your sight with reminders that spending too much time on the Internet is harmful and dangerous.
In the most radical way how to stop surfing the internet is to block access to those sites that do not give you anything useful, but which you constantly visit and waste your time on.
If you have already tried all these methods, but have not achieved a positive result in the fight against Internet addiction, it means that the problem facing you is much more acute, and you cannot do without help.
It happens that the day is filled with different meetings, you have to run or drive through different areas of the city, or even be outside of it. What if more often than not you are forced to sit in the office all day, studying various documents and emails at the computer? To avoid back and neck pain, eye problems and a host of other problems, try these eight simple steps. Each tip is simple to follow, but important for health.
Computer location
A lot depends on how the computer screen is positioned in relation to the eyes. If you look at the monitor from top to bottom, you risk neck and back pain, and if you look from bottom to top, you can't avoid problems with dry eyes. Use a computer stand or even a stack of books to position your monitor or laptop so that you're looking down at only a ten-degree angle (that's the maximum).
Don't forget to drink plenty of fluids
Drinking water is of great importance for good health. This is not only an opportunity to get rid of excess weight, get a charge of positive energy, improve the condition of your skin, but also a guarantee that you will still have to periodically get up from the table and make some movements to empty your bladder.
Use an alarm clock
Set an alarm every hour on your smartphone or computer. Every time it goes off, get up and walk around the room for at least a couple of minutes.
Don't use elevators
If you work in a high-rise building, adopt certain tactics. If you only work on the second or third floor, try to take the stairs as often as possible. When you drive to work, try to find parking a little further from the office entrance. When you sit at your desk day after day, any short walk helps your blood circulate better and your muscles tense at least occasionally.
Warm up periodically
This is a must! No one is suggesting that you take dumbbells or weights with you to the office, but it doesn’t hurt to stretch your legs sometimes, even while sitting in a chair. You can bend in different directions, stretch your cervical spine, and do other exercises that will help you relax.
Check the font
Do what your grandmother did in this situation. Try increasing the font size for a few minutes, and then return to the previous one. And if it turns out that you started squinting, your eyes hurt, then it’s time to rest, otherwise headaches cannot be avoided.
Blink as often as possible
Every person blinks, but when we sit at a computer, we need to do this more often. The thing is that a person, looking at the screen, “forgets” to blink; as a result, we blink three times less than we should. Do this as often as possible to keep your eyes from getting dry.
Give your eyes a rest
Staring at a screen all day will not only weaken your vision, but can also lead to a disorder known as computer vision syndrome. No matter how much work you have, be distracted if possible, at least for a while. Take a walk down the street, go get some delicious pastries, have lunch with friends, etc. The main thing is to take care of your health, which you certainly won’t be able to buy with the money you earned at such a price.
In principle, everyone knows that sitting at a computer for a long time is harmful. In this article we will try to understand this issue a little deeper. Why is it harmful? Is it possible to do it in a way that is not harmful? What is needed for this? And now, in order...
4. Harmful to general physical health. Recommendations for reducing harm to general physical health.
Comments
1. Harmful to vision
Minor vibration of the text and flickering of the screen overloads the eye muscles, and this leads to a gradual decrease in visual acuity. When working with a PC, the frequency of eye blinking decreases approximately threefold, which causes partial drying of the tear fluid film, which causes the development of the so-called dry eye syndrome - this is the most common disease of people who work at a computer. Fatigue, photophobia, pain, a feeling of speck in the eye, accompanied by itching, burning, irritation and redness of the eyes - all these are symptoms of dry eye syndrome.
Drying of the tear film reduces visual acuity by about 0.5 diopters, so for prevention it is necessary to use special drops that restore the tear film and not be at the computer for more than 40 minutes at a time. In adults, due to eye strain, a spasm of accommodation most often develops - false myopia, which is treated with a set of special exercises, and in children, “communication” with the monitor leads to true myopia, which progresses with age.
If you or your children are still using an old CRT monitor that looks like a TV, then it makes sense to think about buying a more modern one. Turn the monitor 90 degrees towards the window (so that there is no glare on it). You need to look at the monitor from an arm's length distance, and its upper third should be at eye level. Take breaks every hour. Do simple eye exercises: first look at a close object (for example, a pencil in your hand) for 15 seconds, then look at a distant object (for example, out a window) for 15 seconds.
2. HarmfulForspine
When working at a computer, you sit in one position for a long time. This leads to a constant load on some muscle groups and a constant absence of it on other muscle groups. Lack of load on the back muscles leads to their degradation, and since the metabolism in the spine occurs with their help, it is also disrupted, resulting in degradation (destruction) of the intervertebral discs - osteochondrosis. It is also worth noting that in a sitting position, the load on the intervertebral discs is much greater than in a standing or lying position. Thus, all these negative factors can cause the appearance of a herniated disc, and it can cause pain in the head, limbs and internal organs, depending on its location. In childhood or adolescence, when the spine is not yet strong, constant use of the computer can lead to curvature of the spine ( scoliosis), but in the event that the child does not maintain correct posture (as at school at his desk).
Organize your workplace as ergonomically as possible. Change your position or get up from the table as often as possible. Do gymnastics, play sports, develop your back muscles.
3. Harmful to hands
Tingling, numbness, trembling in the fingers, pain in the wrist of the right hand that controlled the mouse are not signs of overwork or the result of long work. All these are symptoms of the so-called carpal tunnel syndrome, which today occurs in most people who work at a computer. Long-term monotonous movements of the hands and fingers, as well as their incorrect position during work, lead to the constant occurrence of microtraumas of the neurovascular bundle and surrounding tissues, which causes compression of the nerve. When working at a computer, the load does not fall on the entire arm, but on certain muscles, which first hypertrophy and then pinch the nerve. The nerve becomes trapped - blood circulation inside it worsens, which interferes with the normal conduction of nerve impulses and causes severe pain, swelling and numbness of the fingers.
A person sitting in a chair should have his feet touch the floor and form a 90-degree angle with his body. The arms should be bent at the elbow joints, and the angle of the joint should be approximately 90 degrees. In this case, the load on the muscles of different groups is distributed evenly.
The keyboard should be placed at a height of 65-75 cm from the floor, and the user’s arms should not be bent more than 80 degrees at the elbow joints, otherwise blood circulation in the muscles will deteriorate, which leads to a rapid decrease in performance. According to TCO ’99 recommendations, the keyboard should not be too high or steep. The distance from the table surface to row A-E in a standard layout cannot exceed 30 mm. The permissible lifting angle of the keyboard in relation to the working surface of the table is from 2 to 15 degrees. It is this range of angle values with correct posture that allows you to achieve the optimal position of your hands.
Continuous work is unacceptable: due to strain on the eyes and poor blood circulation in the hands. During breaks, which should last 5-7 minutes and be repeated every 40-50 minutes, it is necessary to perform a small set of exercises for the hands: clench and unclench your fists five to six times for 1-2 minutes, perform rotational movements of the hand in one way and the other for 1-2 minutes, then straighten your arms in front of you and move your fingers for 1-2 minutes. After this, the exercise can be repeated.
4. Harmful to general physical health
Sitting at a computer for a long time is harmful because it is a lack of physical activity. The lack of motor activity of the muscles surrounding the bones leads to metabolic disorders in bone tissue and loss of their strength, hence poor posture, narrow shoulders, sunken chest and other things, which adversely affect the health of internal organs. This also leads to loosening of the articular cartilage and changes in the surfaces of the articulating bones, to the appearance of pain, and conditions are created for the formation of inflammatory processes in them.
A decrease in motor activity leads to disruption of the coherence in the work of the muscular system and internal organs due to a decrease in the intensity of impulses from skeletal muscles to the central regulatory apparatus. At the level of intracellular metabolism, hypokinesia leads to a decrease in structures. With hypokinesia, the structure of skeletal muscles and myocardium changes. Immunological stability and activity decrease.
The body’s resistance to overheating, cooling, and lack of oxygen also decreases. Already after 7-8 days of lying motionless, people experience functional disorders; apathy, forgetfulness, inability to concentrate on serious activities appear, sleep is disrupted, muscle strength drops sharply, coordination is impaired not only in complex, but also in simple movements; the contractility of skeletal muscles worsens, the physicochemical properties of muscle proteins change; the calcium content in bone tissue decreases.
What can I say? Movement is life. Remember this. In order not to turn into a flabby, weak, sick creature, it is enough to do the usual gymnastics that was taught at school. Although, if you decide to do push-ups, pump up your abs and do pull-ups on the horizontal bar, this will undoubtedly be a big plus for your well-being and self-esteem.
5. Harmful to the genitourinary system
When sitting on a chair for a long time, a thermal effect occurs between the seat and the human body, which leads to stagnation of blood in the organs located in the pelvic area, which negatively affects the genitourinary system. A common problem is hemorrhoids.
Get up from the table more often.
6. Harmful to the psyche
This issue deserves separate consideration and a full article will be devoted to it later. I'll try to describe it in a nutshell.
Whether we like it or not, a computer is something without which it is no longer possible to imagine the modern world. Although he appeared in our lives not so long ago. People use it to earn/spend money, meet people, become famous, kill time, etc. It is difficult to say that it does not affect our psyche in any way. But how much does a computer influence our psyche? You can try to answer this question yourself. If you have:
·feeling good or euphoria at the computer;
· inability to stop;
·increasing the amount of time spent at the computer;
Neglect of family and friends;
·feelings of emptiness, depression, irritation when not at the computer;
·lying to employers or family members about your activities;
· problems with work or study.
Dangerous signals also include: an obsessive desire to constantly check email; anticipation of the next online session; increasing time spent online; increasing the amount of money spent online.
Depending on how many points suit you, the computer influences your psyche.
·Remember that a computer is just a device that is designed to help a person, and not to enslave him.
·Get out into the real world more often
·Make fasting days when you live without a computer, TV, etc. In fact, you can live like this too. Although not for long. But you still need to take a break from the computer - that’s a fact. The main thing is to relax, and not to be on the street and think, I should quickly go to the computer - this is already a diagnosis.
·phrase from the Internet: “The Internet, it doesn’t bring people together. This is a cluster of loneliness. We seem to be together, but each one is alone. The illusion of communication, the illusion of friendship, the illusion of life..."
conclusions
Conclusion: we cannot do without a computer, but if we sit near it for a long time, we will have health problems. To avoid them, you need to take breaks at least every 50 minutes, do exercises for the eyes and just exercises for the body, get up from the table more often, and monitor your physical and mental health.
Which you, our beloved readers, probably already know very well.
Are you familiar with this - after several hours of working at the computer, your right shoulder blade suddenly begins to sting, and your right hand becomes cold and numb?
“I’m probably starved of oxygen,” we say, and go for a run in the fresh air.
While jogging, another surprise is discovered: an invisible ring seems to be squeezing your neck and chest. While we were sitting at the computer, everything was fine, and suddenly... Our shoulders feel heavy, as if a hiking backpack is hanging on them, and the further we run, the clearer it becomes: “Running won’t work today. There's something wrong with me today."
The fact that “something is wrong” finally becomes clear the next day, when, having sat down at our usual workplace and touched the “mouse” with our hand, we suddenly discover that we cannot firmly grasp it with our palm: our fingers do not obey, and a pressing heaviness appears in the shoulder again.
I described only one trouble presented to us in the age of universal computerization: hand tunnel syndrome. You can also recall displacement of the cervical vertebrae, curvature of the spine, thrombosis, arthritis...
With the advent of “touch screens” in our lives, scientists are diagnosing a new disease called Affenhand - “gorilla hand”: a disorder of nerve endings and blood flow in a tense hand that is forced to remain hanging for a long time.
So what to do? Give up computers? It is hardly possible. And then, maybe it’s not the computers that are to blame, but you and me?..
As a person who works at a computer 15 hours a day, I answer unequivocally: it is not the computer that is to blame, but the one who works with it. But everything can be easily fixed. Enough certain knowledge and a little practice, and your relationship with the PC will turn into more than friendly. You will be able to cope with a shift of 15 hours, and at the same time you will not only not get tired, but will gain strength and inspiration for further work. Your vision will improve, and you will remember pain in your spine or arm as an absurd incident.
So, is it possible to spend the whole day at the computer, and at the same time not only not get tired, but also gain strength?.. EXPANDING THE WORK SPACE
Maybe you wanted to say, we are not expanding the space, but “organizing the workplace”? - Anetta asked me, remembering that last summer I organized a whole personal office for myself on one of the abandoned piers with a huge work desk, a couple of benches, a mountain of garbage and, although rusty, a real portal crane.
No. I did not mean organization, but expansion; and not a workplace, but a workspace. Nowadays there is no such person who does not have an organized workplace; But many people do not have enough space for the free flow of thought and free positioning of the body. And this is where all illnesses begin.
But, before we talk about victory over illnesses, let’s define the terms. Namely, let’s find out what a “workplace” is and what the concept of “workspace” means.
- The workplace is the place where our direct working tools are located: a computer, a sewing machine, or just a notebook and pencil.
- The workspace is a specific environment in which we have the opportunity to think creatively and fruitfully. The wider and more spacious this environment, the wider and freer we think. (Axiom)
PART ONE. Trap #1: functional corner
In the age of portable computers, it doesn’t cost anything to go to work on the seashore, in a cafe, in the basement of your house (so that no one will distract you) or to a disco (so that you will be distracted and inspired). But…
BUT! It is important to understand one thing. We can climb into Papa Carlo’s closet with our laptop and feel free in it, working productively and easily; Or we can go out with a computer to the shore of the endless ocean, and after three hours of work we get vertebral clamps, thrombosis and hand tunnel syndrome.
All this is because there is one cliché in our heads, instilled in us since childhood, when at school we were seated at a green, slanted desk, persistently correcting our slightly bent backs. The cliché is called “functionality”. Someone very caring wrote a whole set of rules - how the most functional place should be arranged where a person of mental work creates. And this place was called a “functional corner”, which became a trap for our body and consciousness...
Here is a typical diagram of such a corner in which a person is placed, like inclusion - in a piece of amber. This remarkable design takes into account everything: the distance of the head from the monitor screen, the position of the arms, legs, hips, neck, and the accessibility of each module - in such a system, all modules (printer, scanner, etc.) are usually located at arm's length. In extreme cases, briskly shuffling your legs, you can ride out on a chair with wheels from under the tabletop pinching your knees and roll one and a half meters to the side, towards the printer.
So, everything is taken into account by the mighty hurricane, except for one fact. Indian yogis have been working for generations on an incredibly difficult task: maintaining the vital functions and activity of the body while being completely immobile. And only outstanding practitioners achieve this.
For us, non-yogis, such miracles did not and do not shine. Moreover, in all centuries of human history people have been punished precisely by deprivation of freedom of movement. Immobility was the most severe torture, from which people went crazy!
This is probably why the “functional corner” shown in the picture above reminded me sorely in my ankles of another “functional corner” invented by the church in the 11th century.
This equally intricate design is called the “Torture Corner.” Please note - the subject has the same posture, the same horror in his wide-open eyes, the same stiffness in his arms and legs. Only instead of a modern monitor, the attention is paid to a real, live instructor. Assistants standing behind the subjects vigilantly monitor the bend angle of their elbows, legs and other parts of the body. This is done because chairs, alas, are not yet entirely perfect: armrests have not yet been invented. But by the end of the sixteenth century, the Inquisition would correct this shortcoming.
The bare wood will be covered with leather upholstery (model on the right); there will be armrests and even a headrest! Under the “fifth point” there is a soft basin for emptying the stomach and bladder. The “leg” of the chair does not yet change its length, but the chair is able to rotate around its axis! The chair does not know how to move, so that the subject does not escape from the arms of the Inquisition, but on the whole the torture chair of the 16th century was a success.
The current torture chair of the 20th century (the model on the left) benefits only from its simplicity and the presence of a stand equipped with wheels - to twist the legs and move from one module to another without lifting the butt from the seat.
I want to make it clear in advance that I am not at all against office chairs. I am against us “playing by their rules”, merging into this or that ergonomic form, instead of existing in this form according to the unique laws of our own body. On the other hand, my experience has shown that work productivity does not at all depend on the ergonomics of the chair (chair).
But let’s return to the “functional corner” system, the functionality and compactness of which is beyond doubt. Everything is thought out so that during the working day we never tear our butt off the seat. Only now you will have to go to the toilet on your own two feet: in a modern torture chair, unlike its older brother, there is no soft basin provided. An obvious flaw. But overall the situation is clear. This is what the system looks like in real life.
- The table is cut out in the form of a corner (that’s why it’s a corner) and rests against the corner.
- The keyboard hides, popping out only when needed.
- With a slight movement of your hand you can freely reach the discs (CD on the left, DVD on the right); if you jump on a springy chair, you can grab a sheet of paper coming out of the printer; and for complete immobility of the body, a remote control is provided (otherwise, how can you turn on the printer! Don’t get up on your feet!
God and his Mom look at all this splendor from above, illuminating the functional corner with their radiant gazes (which is probably why there is no table lamp) and sprinkling the table planchette with tears of sorrow for humanity as a whole and for Man in particular.
PART TWO. Who came up with this beauty?..
The modern functional corner, unlike its long-standing brother, was invented not by the Church, but by Science. This design was created in the seventies, when a fascinating competition in space exploration began between the USSR and America. Scientists and designers from both countries developed not only perfect launch vehicles, but also worked tirelessly to simplify the life and work of an astronaut in a confined, very limited space. Thus, it is to astronautics that we owe the deeply rooted belief that the workplace should be as compact as possible.
In space conditions this was true. But not on Earth, where a person lives in spacious rooms with windows overlooking flowering gardens and busy avenues; in buildings that have not only a room for work, but also other premises, as well as loggias, balconies, toilets, bathrooms.
Yes, in a spaceship we are constrained by certain conditions. But is it possible, while working on Earth, to resist the desire to get up from your desk and go out onto the balcony, taking in the clean air brought by the wind from the six-lane avenue, which is busy during rush hours?!! And the bathroom, where you can retire and rinse your face with cool water, or the kitchen, where you can brew yourself a mug of black coffee - how could we be without them?!!
All this - balconies, beautiful views, corridors and rooms that lie outside our workplace, is precisely what is called “workspace”, that is, an environment in which we have the opportunity to think creatively and fruitfully. Because it would be madness to demand from a modern dynamic person to think freely, with his nose buried in a corner, in complete stillness and tension for fifty whole minutes! (Quote from the rules for safe computer work: “It is recommended to take breaks from working at a computer for 10 minutes every 50 minutes of work.”) In addition, there is no job that would require a person to spend 50 minutes of continuous visual contact with the monitor screen .
PART THREE. How do people who work under maximum stress organize their workspace?..
The most intense and responsible job associated with monitor screens is the work of air traffic controllers in Air Traffic Control. But even air traffic controllers guiding an aircraft along a given route do not keep their eyes glued to radar screens and monitors, like flies caught on Velcro.
Usually, in a controversial situation, or when fatigue sets in, controllers easily “pick up” each other, taking over the aircraft’s wiring; they are constantly moving and joke a lot. All this - with full concentration!
Scientifically speaking, this behavior is called “multi-tiered attention.” I wrote about this condition in one of my articles, here is a link to this excerpt. Many psychologists, when describing this condition, like to use the term “alertness”. Either way, the point is that we exaggerate the amount of attention it takes to get the job done. Moreover: excessive concentration does not contribute to concentration, but just the opposite, it twists our brain and our body into a tight knot.
Try, as an air traffic controller, to bury yourself in the radar screen for those “scheduled” fifty minutes, and you will either explode from tension or fall asleep at your workplace. And this is a tragedy, the loss of hundreds, if not thousands of lives.
That is why, probably, air traffic controllers never sit in a tortured position on a torture chair. They get up every time there is such an opportunity, use the entire work space allotted to them to move, which includes rest rooms (at Frankfurt am Main airport there is even a “winter garden” with singing birds for air traffic controllers), not to mention the kitchen, where you can make coffee and have a snack, and rooms with mini-exercise machines that allow you to get back in shape and take a seat in front of the screen in a couple of minutes.
One of these mini-simulators is the lightweight and compact “SWINGSTICK”. This is a very elastic fiberglass rod with small rubber weights attached to its ends and a rubber handle in the center.
Its secret lies in the fact that, by firmly grasping the handle, you can gradually swing this rod in such a way that the vibrations it creates will involve your body in incredibly strong static tension. Three minutes of such tension, then stop, release the accumulated energy - and you are again fresh, full of strength, and there is no trace of fatigue!
Here I show the process of using this thing outdoors, because I often take the SwingStick with me on runs. But, believe me, even in the cramped apartment you can use this simulator - of course, with great caution, because the rod from the simulator vibrating in your hand can easily turn into a formidable weapon that is quite capable of killing your cat or smashing your mother-in-law’s favorite set to smithereens.
Another important area of its application is on the road. If you fall asleep while driving, nothing is more effective than spending three minutes with a swingstick in your hand. If you wish, we can devote a separate publication to exercises with a swingstick.
But let's return to the people working with maximum voltage behind special monitors and behind radar screens.
If air traffic controllers expand their workspace as much as possible, then God himself ordered us, who deal with simple computers, not to be locked in a cramped chair, with our knees pressed against the table plank and with our elbows glued to the armrests! So…
1. DO NOT IDENTIFY YOURSELF WITH THE MACHINE! Remember that a computer, or more precisely, a digital device equipped with a glowing screen on which something is happening all the time, is nothing more than a “magic crystal”, well known to our ancestors.
Here is a small instruction on fortune telling with a magic crystal. Think about these words spoken many centuries ago: “The only secret in fortune telling with a magic crystal is to learn to “peer.” Don't look too closely! Do not try to look into the crystal without blinking your eyes. All you will achieve is eye strain. Just relax. When you need to blink your eyes, do it. Breathe deeply, inhaling and exhaling completely. Don't try to imagine or imagine anything in the crystal. Just look into it."
Translating these words into the relationship between a person and a computer, we can say: Don’t let the computer screen pull you into itself with its “magic effect”!
2. DO NOT CHAIN YOURSELF TO THE CAR! If you need to think about a problem, immediately get up from the table and go to the next room, to the kitchen, to the loggia. It doesn’t matter at all what you do there: you can even wet a rag and wash the floors (by the way, it’s very good to think in this state). And watering flowers completely relieves stress! In any case, if you need to “brainstorm”, do not do it while sitting “in a chair”. Take advantage of every minute and every opportunity to leave your desk and go into the exciting world of your workspace!
3. DO NOT CONCENTRATE MACHINE MODULES IN TIGHT SPACE! You can also leave your workplace for a while in order to get to some module: printer, fax, telephone. Remember that the days of “space fever” are over. We don't want to work in cramped capsules - we need a wide field of activity. That is why it makes sense to space the modules apart as far as possible from each other - especially now that the devices no longer need a cable connection!
For example, my scanner is very far from my desktop. And the printer is in a completely different room. I keep folders with papers on the lower, basement floor. Usually before work I go downstairs and select the necessary documents.
There is no discovery in such an organization of labor. In Europe, and even in Rus', the library has never been combined with a study. And in this, in addition to the possibility of unnecessary movement, there was another meaning: when you select the necessary material, you need to foresee: what will be needed today and what will not. Thus, you involuntarily visualize the entire upcoming work process, thereby facilitating its further implementation.
...But even if I have to go down to the basement one more time, I’m just happy. Remember one thing: nothing destroys our body and brain more than being immobilely chained to one, permanent object. So, if you forgot to bring any paper from “downstairs” or from another room, run after it, inspired by the opportunity to once again move away from the monitor!
Over time, such movements in the workspace will become a habit and, when you take time off from work, you will not lose your thoughts and concentration.
4. DON'T FALL INTO HYPNOSIS! People working at a computer really like to watch the process of transferring/rendering files, downloading them from the Internet, and other actions that the computer can easily perform in the absence of a person. As soon as you see that your metal friend has drawn "hypnotic stripes" on the screen, walk away. Take the Swingstick in your hand and vibrate with it to relieve accumulated fatigue. Your body and soul will only thank you for this.
5. USE THE SERVICES OF OTHER MACHINES! If you have a USB-enabled TV in your home (office), do not watch video files received from your partner on your computer monitor! Three minutes - download the material to a flash drive; a minute - walk to the TV, and then, sitting comfortably on the sofa and drinking tea or coffee, you can watch the video with greater efficiency than staring with reddened eyes at a boring monitor.
Always have a paper-like reader handy. If you have been sent a large text for review, feel free to download it into an e-book and, forward, to the same sofa or to the balcony, in a wicker chair. Never report large texts (only if they do not need editing or markings) on the monitor screen! And with a reader, lying on the couch, it doesn’t look as scary as it sounds. Perhaps you still remember those wonderful times when people read books. So, most often this was done lying down, and even covered with a warm blanket.
6. DO NOT GIVE YOUR LIFE ENERGY TO THE MACHINE! Forget the advice of doctors - sit with a straight back, and even in front of a screen located at arm's length. Move as much as possible while working at the computer; live, don’t freeze and don’t die in front of the monitor; lean back, bring your face closer to the screen again; throw your legs on the table - this is a very useful exercise that saves you from thrombosis; laugh, massage your neck if it’s tense... In short, BEHAVIOR AT YOUR COMPUTER LIKE A LIVING, NORMAL PERSON!
For those who are particularly advanced and athletic, here is a link to my article in Lifehacker, entitled “”. The name speaks for itself :)
And remember one thing: the wider your workspace, the more creative, bolder and easier you will think. After all, isn’t this the main goal of any mental work?!!
PART FIVE. How geniuses organized their workspace
- Writer and poet Charlotte Brontë, feeling that she had been “overstaying too long” and had accumulated unnecessary tension, went to the kitchen to peel potatoes.
- In Yasnaya Polyana, Leo Tolstoy’s office was often the edge of the Yasnaya Polyana forest - he wrote while lying on the grass. Having dealt with a difficult piece of text, the writer stood up and took a circular walk, thinking about the next paragraph, and then returned to his papers. For a long time, his office was a former storeroom, where tools that encouraged active work hung on the walls: shovels, scythes, gardening tools. In between writing texts, Tolstoy liked to tidy up this “office,” personally sweeping away the trash with a wide broom.
- Vladimir Nabokov approached the philosophy of computer technology more closely than all his contemporaries: he created in a cafe, in the back seat of a car or on a park bench, writing down individual pieces of text on special cards. Afterwards, in his office, he laid them out in a certain order.
- “The King of the Beats,” the eccentric freethinker Jack Kerouac wrote at home, releasing accumulated stress through yoga, as he himself said. “I stand on my head in the bathroom, right on my slippers, and touch the floor with my toes 9 times, maintaining my balance. By the way, this is more serious than yoga, this is an athletic trick, and just try to call me “unbalanced!” after this :)
- Simone de Beauvoir started work at 10 am with a cup of tea in hand. Feeling that she was starting to get tired, she called her friends and made an appointment at the local supermarket. Half an hour of “shopping”, and back to work. “I have no problem then picking up the thread of the story,” she said. “To pick up the storyline, I just need to read what I’ve already written.”
PART SIX. How is my workspace organized?
I don't have a permanent job. It all depends on the time of year and what I'm doing.
I write articles at a table of my own making - it’s an ordinary gray marble kitchen board with massive metal legs screwed to the floor. If I, while doing some exercise at my desk, or just crossing my legs, accidentally touch the tablet, the desk will not jump, and the computer will remain intact.
At this desk I have three very important things for work:
- Internet access, which is necessary when writing publications.
- A window overlooking the courtyard so that I can see three levels of perspective: the nearby mansion, the distant houses, and the clouds in the sky. This is extremely important! The gaze of a person working in front of a monitor should not rest on the wall. By transferring it from the screen to three other levels, we thereby train the muscles of the eyeball and maintain the lens of the eye in a plastic state.
- The third required attribute is a glowing globe. I definitely need to see our Earth - this way I better feel how united, strong and, at the same time, vulnerable and defenseless we are. In other words, the globe helps me think globally.
If I'm writing a novel, I don't need the Internet. I’m writing in the kitchen - the same one where I demonstrated the “Office Workout” exercises for Lifehacker.
On this simple garden table I place a laptop, a glass of water and the process begins!
If it's warm enough outside, I work in my Polyana, sitting on a makeshift low bench with the laptop on my lap.
Having written a paragraph, I put the laptop down on the stone “table”, get up and pick up a broom, shovel, rake or bucket.
While I am taking care of Polyana, my brain continues to work on the work. So, when the next paragraph is ready, all I have to do is sit on my bench and write it down.
CONCLUSION
The productivity of the methods described in this publication is very high. And most importantly, people who expand their workspace completely erase from the creative process the very moment when the “plug” makes us stare at the monitor (at a sheet of paper, at a typewriter), waiting for enlightenment that will never come. In any case, it will not come until we are physically and emotionally detached from our workplace.
To be continued…
In the second part of the publication, I will tell you how to improve and expand your virtual space, which is located on the other side of the monitor, and which also greatly influences our health and our productivity.
With respect to everyone who, due to their profession, has to sit for hours at a computer in front of a monitor screen.
