Probably way off, but could you break your work into 15 minute increments? I’m thinking something like every 4th break, plan for the next 4 breaks (1 hour), then rather than being tied strictly to the clock (maybe use it as a backup), you take your stretch break between tasks. I picked 15 mins so if you go over a few minutes, no big deal.

Do you think a different program might help? I tried one of the timing programs for and I always got annoyed and shut it off. For Christmas I got a kitchen timer and it’s working pretty well thus far, it’s always visible and since it’s a physical object it feels more real.

I have two tricks I use for picking up flow after longer breaks (lunch, doctor’s appointments, end of day). One is to either take notes before you stand up, so you could reflect on those during your stretching, hopefully keep your mind in the groove. The other is to leave some tiny task undone, it gives me a clear indication where to pick up. I find the latter is far more effective, though I sometimes obsess a bit about that undone thing while I’m away from my desk. So in one case I’ll write an email but leave it unsent. When writing I might leave an obvious misspelling, or write a rough series of phrases that need to be polished into a paragraph. The key here is I know exactly what needs to be done next (and how I’ll do it), but I “break it” on purpose. It’s no good to outline a section and then have no clue how to tie everything together when I come back.

My last thought is that a better chair might make it less painful to sit for 20 minutes, you might be able to take breaks less often. I’m not a doctor, I just know lots of folks with back issues that swear by this brand of chair over another.

Good luck, I’m sure Trent has some good ideas.

I love that you pointed out that “Power of Less” wouldn’t work well for those that thrive on the complex. I read zen habits pretty regularly and I get the principles but I just can’t make it work. Leo appears to be a very minimalist type person, and it works well for him. I don’t do well with zen: I can’t just appreciate my surroundings, to go with the flow and do only the important stuff. That said, while complex systems appeal to me, they don’t really work for me either. I have to try something, fail at it, and then cobble it onto my incomprehensible hodgepodge of habits and tricks to continually refine what makes me happy and productive.

I know this is true. I’m a writer, and getting back into the story, getting back into the flow of the paragraph I’m on, getting my mind back into the dialogue I’m writing, can take time after an interruption. If you’re familiar with the concept of *flow*, that’s what I’m talking about. Getting the flow back takes time. What’s worse is the frequent conviction I have that what I write after the interruption is inferior to what I would have written before.

HOWEVER. I have developed a medical condition that makes prolonged sitting downright painful for me. I need, medically NEED, to get up at regular intervals and stretch, move around a bit, keep my joints and muscles from freezing into position. In order to help myself remember to do so, I’ve got a program loaded on my computer that dings and flashes at me when it’s time to get up and stretch.

I’ve got it set for twenty minute intervals; a shorter interval is way too little, while every half hour leaves me a bit stiff when I stand up. But while it’s helped me keep some basic flexibility, it’s been playing hob with my productivity. Each break is only one or two minutes, as I stand up, walk around a bit, and do some stretches. But it’s enough to break the flow.

Any suggestions? I don’t want to give up the program, since it DOES help. But that bell goes off, it seems, at just the wrong time, every time! There’s an option where you can postpone for five minutes, or even ignore that particular stretch session, but when I let myself put it off once, I wind up ignoring it, sitting for a couple of hours, and needing painkillers for the resultant aches. Not a happy thing.

I should add that, while I’m sixty, younger people can have similar conditions with similar effects. So I suspect I’m not the only reader who could benefit from some suggestions on how to maintain flow even when you HAVE to interrupt things in order to stretch!

Thanks in advance.