Can’t Find a Sledgehammer to Smash your Computer?

With the emergence of more new technology and software; the amount of time people are spending in front of computers is increasing. Our business owners and executive management really aware of the stress they are posing on their employees. Whether you’re going to a bank, local convenience store, other small business or large corporation, work hours behind computers are increasing. Are business owners really aware of the impact they are having on their staff and daily operations. Hello; I’m The Training Doctor and I’d like to make you aware of a challenge before it becomes one that will stop your profitable daily operations.

No, I’m not saying to stop using computers; because they are a beneficial tool in our personal and business life that can help us do things much faster and more efficiently then we could by hand. If one could only run two miles a minute and that was the fastest he/she could possibly run; how do you make that person run the double the amount of miles in the same amount of time. Well, yes there are situations that could cause one’s adrenaline to kick and offer a boost of up to double the amount of energy; but it’s only meant for a short term and not to be taken as the standard one can run. If you constantly provide the emergency situation for daily operation just to get a faster throughput; the person will eventually become tired and stop because they can not handle the task under these circumstances.

The same is true in business; where an executive member or team manager creates conditions that our not always to the best benefit of the staff member just to do what needs to be done to get the work out faster. There are many of these types of conditions and for this article I would like to focus on a very important one which I call chronic computer fatigue.

Whether you’re a data entry person, programmer, secretary, or any individual that uses a computer on a continuous basis; this is for you. Some of the most common symptoms of chronic computer fatigue are: feelings of eye strain, closing or watery eyes, stiff fingers or (carpal tunnel), constant headaches, and difficulty concentrating. Many years ago; this was called the CFS (Flu) or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and was mostly attributed to programmers and very savvy computer users.

The purpose of this article is just to make you aware of this situation and to give you some tips on how you can minimize and hopefully with practice prevent chronic computer fatigue. If you are employer and interested in how you can do this on larger level, I can help devise just the right program for you. Many times; a little bit of education and some incentives for motivating people to change their work habits can go a long way. Not only will it be great for the staff and their attitudes toward working on computers, but it will also start a steady increase in productivity. When a runner wants to become faster and more enduring; what do they do, correct, practice, practice, practice.

Attention, desire and education are what is needed to make a positive life change in almost any area whether personal or work related. What ever you place your attention on will grow more in your life; thus if you focus on being less stressful that will be the end result.

What can you do to minimize and hopefully prevent chronic computer fatigue? One thing that is important is breaks; now I’m not saying to take an hour break every hour but I am saying to make a change every two hours. Maybe that would be making a phone call; walking to the restroom, photocopying; do something where your eyes are not focused specifically on an object like the computer screen. Taking a break doesn’t mean stopping work; it just means change what you are doing presently. Many companies give you a task and want it all completed; however they do give you flexibility on when you can do which tasks. You are in charge; and you can orchestrate your little tasks that don’t require intense eye focusing intermixed with your daily computer tasks.

An example; let’s say you are the secretary of a law office and your job is to answer phones, type letters, file and general office tasks, Now; you might start your day at 8AM and at 10AM you might get up to make some photo copies; and then an hour later take a 15 minute break, later on you do some more computer work. So, I think you get the idea that you can use time management to help ease your day and minimize chronic computer fatigue.

Another thing you can do is to a few great exercises: The first is Hand Flash Stretch: hold your hands about four inches above your keyboard and spread your fingers as far as you can go comfortably. Now close you fingers into a fist and open and close them twenty-five times. After that, let’s do The Invisible Keyboard Tap, hold you hand above your keyboard again at about four inches above comfortably and start with your left hand and try to tap down as far as you can go without touching the key and do this five times per finger; when you get better you can do this with both hands at one time. Last exercise I want you to do is the Hand Ear Lobe Cross and here is how to do it: First take your right hand and touch your wrist to your left ear lobe, then do the same with your left hand and do this each alternating with each side twenty five times. There are dozens of exercises I can give you and will talk about more in other articles in the future.

The moral of the story here is for productivity to consistently grow a win win situation has to be present. Whether that is in your home or your office; you need to make the chose to respect your senses and your body so it performs with grace and ease when you call on it. Managers and business executives need to understand that all thought people appear to be a commodity; they are not and they will exceed most employer’s goals and expectation when they show a genuine interest in their staffs well being. Thus, why don’t we use the sledge hammer for its intended purpose instead of band aiding the real problem.