Staring at screens is bad for your eyes

c. Staring at screens is bad for your eyes

Looking at a screen from the same distance for long periods leaves our eyes weak, dry and sore.

(To protect your vision, experts recommend taking a short break from the computer every 20 minutes, walk around. Focussing at different distances strengthens the eye muscles.)

Source : http://www.webdesignfromscratch.com/no_one_looks_at_the_screen.cfm

My tryst with ergonomy

Problem : lower back ache.
Solution : lumber support(from Ergoworks/Amaron etc., available in pharma shops)
Exercises : for lower back,abdomen(leg raises,stomach crunches)

Problem : wrist pain in right hand
Cause : a combination of excessive usage of keyboard/mouse/playing table tennis :-)
Solution : Shifted mouse to left hand, wrist support by WristEase,
Exercise : wrist/finger/thumb stretching exercises, push ups



Problem : a combination of neck-ache coupled with upper back ache, which led to back spasm.
Solution : exercises prescribed by an Orthopedic surgeon at Appollo clinic, Sector-56,Gurgaon
and general exercises(climbing stairs at high speed etc.) . A video is also available here.
Also, as long as possible don't use laptop on your work-desk. If needed use with a docking-station or a spare monitor attached externally to your laptop.

Keyboard shortcuts for gmail/google reader/firefox

Most of my time spent online is spent using firefox/gmail/google reader. So it is
really important that I use keyboard shortcuts for the above three to avoid
the heavy strain caused by the frequent mouse clicks and constant switching
between mouse and keyboard.

For switching between tabs in firefox I used to use Ctrl-[Shift]Tab earlier
but it created problems at my workspace desktop since that is Linux
and Ctrl-[Shift]Tab combinations are used for switching between multiple
desktops etc. Similarly for Ctrl-F4(used for closing tabs). Then I started
using Ctrl-PgUp and Ctrl-PgDn for tab switching and Ctrl-w for closing
tabs. Firefox has pretty much done away with Ctrl-F as well with its
"finding as you type" feature. Another cool feature from firefox is its
quick searches.

For gmail, some of the shortcuts I use often are :
g-i : go to inbox
g-a : go to All Mail
g-s : go to starred
y : archive
r : reply
f : forward

Similarly for google reader :
g-a : go to all items
g-u : go to subscription
g-t : go to tag
m : mark read/unread
n : next item
v : open the item in new tab

Though i don't really know if using keyboard shortcuts prevents wrist
injuries since if it takes less effort to use a computer, you will use it
more and in effect you would be hurting your wrists by an equal amount
in either case.

Note(3-8-07) : Here is another link to firefox keyboard shortcuts.