Self-Care for Office Workers

When you sit at a computer desk job all day, it’s important to take care of yourself. Stress calls for relaxation strategies. Eye strain can be addressed with vision self-care, fatigue with good sleep practices (and a good nap now and then). Pausing to take a nice deep breath, honing your personal productivity skills, and paying attention to work-life balance can all help your mental and spiritual fitness at work.

Odds Are, You’ve Got Computer Vision Syndrome

August 18, 2011

If you work in an office and experience fuzzy vision, eye strain, headaches, or dry, burning eyes, then you may have computer vision syndrome. CVS results when you focus your eyes on a computer screen for long periods of time. It affects as many as 93% of people who regularly put in protracted stretches working at a computer. [...]

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Thinking about Work-Life Balance

August 17, 2011

After I finished writing yesterday’s post at almost 8:00 in the evening, after a full day of massage appointments, I reflected on a conversation I had had earlier in the day about work-life balance. My conversation was with a new client, a young guy, a computer programmer who had recently come to the conclusion that years [...]

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Self Myofascial Release (SMR) for Desk Workers (Part I: pecs)

August 10, 2011

Self-myofascial release (SMR) is a relatively new self-care technique that can help you relax and loosen tight muscles. SMR is a form of self-massage that uses foam rollers, lacrosse and tennis balls, and other gadgets to loosen tight tissues. You either roll your body over the roller or ball or lean against a wall or other surface [...]

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“The Case for Working With Your Hands”

May 28, 2009

One way to deal with the vagaries of office work is to not deal with the vagaries of office work. In The Case for Working With Your Hands, Matthew Crawford contrasts his work as a motorcycle mechanic with inane desk work. More generally, he talks about the differences between “real” work (like construction trades) and [...]

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Office Rats Need Shiny Eyes, Too

May 5, 2009

This item was originally published when this blog was known as “The Office Rat.” Empowerment lessons from the factory floor When Brian Utting held a ceremony to mark the closing of his massage school (my alma mater), among the many speakers was Hank Queen. I didn’t know anything about Hank at the time, but I [...]

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Tame Anxiety with a Media Fast

February 19, 2009

Even in the best of times, constant exposure to news media can make us anxious. When times are challenging, reading the news can feel like standing on the edge of an abyss. So don’t do it. Don’t read the paper. Don’t watch TV. Don’t listen to radio news. Don’t read Google News, CNN.com, or MSNBC. [...]

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Vitamin D Deficiency? Heliotherapy to the Rescue

February 15, 2009

It’s a sunny morning in Seattle, so I am sitting in front of a wide open window in nothing but running shorts, enjoying a nice blast of sunshine, appreciating its warmth and contemplating the natural Vitamin D that it’s creating in my body. Since I’m such a health nerd, I feel the need to label [...]

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achy hands at keyboard

Contrast Hydrotherapy for Your Aching Wrists

November 14, 2008

Using a keyboard and doing other repetitive office tasks can lead to achy wrists and hands and even to carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) and other repetitive stress injuries (RSI). I can speak with some authority on wrist and hand health. In addition to writing almost every morning, I do four or five massages and an [...]

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Today’s Advance: A Retreat

November 7, 2008

We office workers definitely need our down time. Weekends can sometimes be relaxing but are more often dominated by errands and shopping and chores and projects around the house. Vacations are nice, but they are all too often jam-packed with frenetic activity and sight-seeing checklists. Consider, instead, a retreat. A retreat is an unplugged, truly [...]

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Progressive Relaxation for Your Stress

November 5, 2008

The dread of a looming project deadline. The pressure of new duties with a job promotion. Anxiety about your job security. Whatever the cause of your stress, progressive relaxation can bring some ease back into your life. Known in the physical therapy world as “progressive muscle relaxation,” this simple technique is a proven stress buster. [...]

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