So many of my clients spend hours in front of their computers. Most do not even think to take a break for anything more than a quick bite to eat or a run to the bathroom.

When we sit at our desks, our shoulders are hunched forward, our neck is stiff, our heart is closed. It is so important to regularly counter this posture with stretches and movement.

Take regular breaks from sitting in front of your computer

Get up from your desk and raise your arms slowly over your head. Grab your left wrist with your right hand and gently tug, feeling the stretch in your side body. Breathe into the space. Switch hands and stretch your other side, breathing into the stretch.

Shrug your shoulders up. Really squeeze them toward your ears. Then release. Do this several times, feeling the tightness dissolve. Roll your shoulders forward several rotations, then reverse the direction.

Release the strain in your lower back by gently folding into a forward bend. You don’t have to touch your toes for this to be effective. Bend your knees slightly and let gravity pull your body down, allowing your head to drop. Hang like a rag doll and breathe into your back body. Imagine the tension leaving your body.

Relief for your eyes

Long periods of staring at a computer screen can strain your vision. Look away from the screen at least once every hour and stretch your eyes.

Close your eyes and squeeze them shut, then open them wide. Repeat.

Slowly look all the way up, then all the way down, all the way left, then all the way right. Move your eyes in a slow clockwise circle, as if you are looking at each of the numbers on a clock. Reverse the circle, going counter-clockwise.

15 minute power position that is sure to boost your energy level

Lie on the floor with your legs up the wall. Close your eyes and just breathe. Feel the weight of your legs supported by the wall and focus on your breath. If thoughts rush through your head, just notice them and let them go. This simple position lowers your heart rate, brings the blood back to the heart, relaxes your legs, your back.

After fifteen minutes, slowly roll over to your side and take your time standing up. You should feel alert, energized, ready to get back to work.

Balance all of that solitary sitting with movement and connection

Take a walk outside in the fresh air.

Notice some living things around you.

Water the plants.

Kiss your pets.

Call a friend for a chat and a laugh.

Consider scheduling your computer time between errands and chores to give your body and your mind more variety in the day.

Tips and Tricks

Seeing More Print Options

If you no longer see choices for printing, like how many copies and which pages to print, just click the triangle next to the name of your printer to reveal all of your options.

Open at Login

If you turn on your computer and always open the same programs when you start, consider having the Mac open them for you. In the Dock, click and hold down on the icon of the program and choose Open at Login. If you have programs that  mysteriously open when you turn on the computer, you probably have accidentally chosen this option. To turn it off, click and hold on the icon in the Dock and reselect Open at Login to remove the checkmark.

Taxes Are Easier with TurboTax

It’s coming on tax time already and if you don’t want to spend hours adding and re-adding numbers, get Intuit’s easy-to-use TurboTax program. Just answers the interview questions, fill in the numbers and the work is done!

iPhone Signatures

When you send an email from your iPhone or iPod Touch, the words “sent from my iPhone” automatically appears at the end of the email. To change this setting, from the Home screen, touch Settings, touch Mail, Contacts, Calenders, scroll down to Signature and choose. Delete the existing text and, if you want, type your own automatic text.

Changing Your Downloads Location

Leopard automatically saves all downloaded files in the Downloads folder, a new icon on the Dock. If you are more comfortable finding recent downloads on your Desktop, you can change this.

1. In Safari, under the Safari menu, choose Preferences.

2. Click the General button.

3. Where it says “Save Downloaded Files to Downloads Folder” click on the Downloads Folder and choose Other.

4. In the left column, click on the Desktop.

OR, if you use Firefox:

1. From the Firefox menu choose Preferences.

2. Click on the Main button

3. In the Downloads section, next to Save Files To, click on Choose and select Desktop from the left column.

Clear Out Your Inbox

Many of us receive weekly emails from companies that we no longer want to read. You can Unsubscribe to the emails. Scroll down to the bottom of the email and look for the word UNSUBSCRIBE. Follow the directions to remove your email from their list.

Automatic Email Addresses

Why do incorrect email addresses pop up when you are addressing an email, even after you have corrected or deleted them in your Address Book? Mail stores a list of all email recipients and includes them in the list of addresses that pop up when you begin to address an email.

To clear out this list, in Mail, under the Window menu, choose Previous Recipients. Names with an icon of an address card are already in your Address Book. You can click on any name and click Add to Address Book. You can also remove names from this list.

To Properly Forward An Email

1. Open the original email

2. Click the Forward button in the Toolbar

3. In the body of the new message, HIGHLIGHT and DELETE all of the new text that appears above the original message, including all email addresses

4. To address it to more than one person, make sure your cursor is in the BCC field (not TO or CC) so that everyone’s email address remains private. (If you don’t see a BCC field, Click on the View menu and choose View BCC Header)