Health Tips for Webmasters

[keyplyr]

Essential Health Tips for Webmasters

• Eat real food

• Drink enough water (not just coffee)

• Get 8 hours sleep

• Move at least 30 minutes per day

• Avoid screen time prior to bed

• Maintain healthy outside interests & relationships

More...?

[engine]

Those are great.

I'll amplify some of the points, too.

• Eat real food

A balanced died is the best.
Yes, and that's non-processed food. So much food is processed and often with additives to preserve the shelf-life as much as possible. Look at the labels on the packaging and you might be shocked by the number of additives and strange named chemicals. You don't need these; the food processor company and retailer need it to extend shelf life.
Raise your fruit and vegetable intake and eat smaller portions of red meat. Make sure you get adequate roughage in your diet, including whole grains, and eat brown rice.
Give up sugar, for the sake of your teeth and waistline. Your body should get enough sugar from the balanced diet of fruit and vegetables.

There are many other aspects to food which are very important, so the top tip I can give is to just think about what you eat is what you are.

• Move at least 30 minutes per day

Exercise! Absolutely. Sitting at a desk all day is bad, bad, bad. Try and get a regime so that you are at the very least, walking regularly, and better still, getting slightly out of breath. All exercise should match your body, so if you're overweight and you go running you're likely to damage your knees, and that will come back in later life to haunt you. Choose other exercise, such as swimming, or rowing, or even cycling as they is less impaction on the joints.

Give up smoking.

[ipco]

Take a 5 minute break at least every hour and don't think about the task you're working on. Think about something completely different or don't think at all. Give your mind time to recharge.

Schedule your work flow to help lower stress.

Fix your work hours to not slide into family time (which can also create stress).

Maximise the use of voice mail and cut out interuptions and diversions. Don't use the 5 minute break for this.

Create a comfortable, ergonomic standing/sitting work space and be able to alternate between them.

[keyplyr]

I've switched to using a standing desk and really like it.

[ipco]

I just got a tall desk - rather than an adjustable - and using a breakfast bar high stool. I needed a seat where I could sit up straight and not to slouch, which I was tending to do. I feel better already.

[zotek]

Thats a good one. Don't forget to eat boiled eggs as the saying goes one egg a day keep the diseases away.

[LifeinAsia]

I've switched to using a standing desk and really like it.

I've had one for about a year and a half. After the first couple of days, I hardly lower it at all to sit. What I like is that most people who come to my desk for a meeting opt to stand for the meeting instead of having the desk lowered and sitting. And what I really like is that my bicycle fits perfectly underneath the desk (which is really nice, considering that the only other option was locking it up outside the building in a fairly high trafficked area).

Move at least 30 minutes per day

And that should be REAL exercise, not just shuffling off the the bathroom. Schedule time on your calendar to exercise every day and make it a priority. People at work know they can't schedule meetings with me during my lunch workout break. (Although if that's the only time available, I'm usually willing to shift my workout time a little earlier or later.)

Eat real food

And what engine said. And to add to his comments about sugar-

read food labels
You will be shocked at the amount of added sugar in your food. And don't be fooled by all the fancy names for added sugar like high fructose corn syrup, malt syrup, fructose sweetener, and corn sweetener.
Although it's not for everyone, I went vegan 5 months ago and haven't looked back (except for comparison). I'm amazed at the amount of weight and fat I've lost, the increase in energy, the much better sleeping, the better skin tone, and overall better mood.

[keyplyr]

Although it's not for everyone, I went vegan 5 months ago and haven't looked back

I've been strict vegan since 1970. I do not participate in the industrialized food industry. Eat mostly local grown food.

[tangor]

Eat right, exercise right, sleep right. All in moderation (except exercise, none of us get enough).

Don't worry about what you can't fix, but fix all you can.

Meanwhile, find "me" time for favorite things, do not neglect the ordinary happinesses such as reading a book, seeing family, hobby(ies). All work and no play is never a good thing, unless your work is play, in which case you're ahead of the game.

Have reasonable expectations and set achievable goals, but dream large with those aims as the end goal.

You aren't getting any younger, so do not put off anything you can do today. Tomorrow is Life -1.

Smiles are healthy. Frowning is not. Regrets are even worse, so live and work to have no regrets.

Listen to others, but you are your own best advisor.

Be nice. But always be prepared to defend yourself.

Health is what you make it. Though sometimes genetics (or disabilities) is involved, one can always do SOMETHING.

[keyplyr]

Tendinitis of the wrist can easily occur when one does not properly set the keyboard elevation and can even lead to carpal tunnel syndrome.

The hands should point in a neutral or slightly downward direction to the keyboard so as to not pinch at the wrist.

[nomis5]

Tendinitis of the wrist can easily occur when one does not properly set the keyboard elevation and can even lead to carpal tunnel syndrome.

The hands should point in a neutral or slightly downward direction to the keyboard so as to not pinch at the wrist.

I second that. A guy who worked with me many years ago slowly got a worse pain in his wrist. That turned into Carpal Tunnel Syndrome because he simply failed to stop typing for a bit. The Carpal Tunnel Syndrome spread up his arm and into his shoulder somehow. He then ended walking badly because of the pain which caused other significant problems. Wow, what a mess he ended up in.

[ipco]

those gel filled wrist rests are one of the worst things invented. they encourage lazy typing which I'm sure leads to CTS.

[nicolayap]

Keep your phone charged at night in a different room than where you sleep!

[TravisDGarrett]

- Avoid Wifi and wireless keyboards/mouse,

- Lower the luminosity of your screen, eventually turn on blue light filter, you can also set Windows (and other OS, to adapt the luminosity of the screen based on the time of the day),

[keyplyr]

@nicolayap - never charge your phone over night while you sleep. Unattended charging is extremely dangerous and a significant fire risk.

@TravisDGarrett - WiFi and/or Bluetooth are not unhealthy. There is no known health risk using Wifi or a wireless keyboards/mouse.

[mack]

Diet and exercise are without a doubt the biggest factors that can make or break your health. You also need to take care of your mental health, not just physical health. when you're stressed get out for an hour, just a walk in the fresh air can make you feel loads better.

I often find this helps me get things done. I have lost count of the number of times I have been trying to figure out why a piece of code will not behave like it's supposed to. I pop out for a while, get back and the mistake stands out like a sore thumb. We need breaks to be able to function properly.

I still say the worst time to be working on a PC was the 90's CRT monitors where bad news. The way they refreshed it was like staring into a strobe light for hours. Thankfully screens thee days are a lot more comfortable to use.

Mack.

[ken_b]

My treadmill is about 5 feet from my desk. I like to walk while watching the news. The crazier the news, the more exercise(d) I get. But even a few minutes on it while trying to mentally sort out an issue can help.

[keyplyr]

I don't use a treadmill, but while at my standing desk I move around constantly.

[tangor]

Temps can get crazy where I live, but wait 15 minutes and it will change. Recently getting out on the bike just before lunch for 30-45 minutes, and get some light shopping done at the same time. Fortunately 59-75°, so quite pleasant. A six weeks from now will be in the 95-100s, so bike ride will be early evenings.

[keyplyr]

A few days ago a colleague from down the hall gifted me a stability ball. She told me to sit on it.

I'll let ya know how that works out :)

[Travis]

Do you mean like on the video of Bill Gates' last day at Microsoft ? that : [blogs.msdn.microsoft.com...]

[keyplyr]

That's the one

[Silians]

Quality chair. It's very important. I work a lot at the table and I had back problems. I bought myself a game chair and forgot about this problem. I can work any time.

[keyplyr]

I became a new man after I stopped sitting at a computer ( I use a standing desk & mobile devices.)

Extended sitting furthers a sedentary life style [webmd.com] of physical inactivity raising your risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and obesity.



[fix typo (thanks Robert)]

[edited by: keyplyr at 3:11 am (utc) on Oct 6, 2018]

[Robert Charlton]

I'm glad to come across this topic. Not meaning to quibble in such an excellent thread...

Extended sitting furthers a sedimentary life style [webmd.com] of physical inactivity

Sedimentation is extremely slow... you'd have to sit for millions of years, during which time other things might happen. I think keyplyr intended to say "sedentary lifestyle", not sedimentary, but perhaps had spent too many hours looking at a screen. ;)

The link he suggested [webmd.com...] is an excellent introduction to the problem, and includes a lot of suggestions and strategies that I follow when I can.

Other bits of experience and advice about sitting... extended sitting is in fact a major cause of health problems, and badly-designed chairs are so common that they constitute a major additional health hazard. Regarding the durations of sitting before standing up... a standing desk that enables a change to occasional sitting is one possible solution, not always possible.

If you must sit and have some control over it... set a timer to interrupt the sitting every twenty (as in 2-0) minutes if you can... and get up and move around as much as possible for two or three minutes before sitting down again. This too is not always possible. The twenty minute interval pushes it for a lot of situations, but is based on the latest research I've seen.

When relaxing, not at a desk, avoid soft, cushy chairs. They are death to the lower back.

[keyplyr]

you'd have to sit for millions of years...

Sometimes it seems like it :)

[NickMNS]

The standing up from your chair recommendation is good but it is not sufficient. One needs real physical activity, that is getting your heart rate up for an extend period of time, doing activities such vigorous walking or running etc... In addition to the physiological benefits getting away from your desk an doing sports also helps clear the mind. My best idea/finding solutions to problems have come while doing sports.

On that note I'm off for a run before the rain comes...

[justpassing]

Exercise Bikes is great too and easy;

Avoid soda, and junk food, is a good idea too.

[NickMNS]

Exercise Bikes is great too and easy;

For me, half the point of exercising is to get outside and breath some fresh air. To escape the grind.

[tangor]

Getting out of the chair is the biggest change possible. :)

Move.