Has saved me from RSI over the years

I spend many hours each day on the computer. If I sit for hours, I end up with lots of tension and soreness at the end of the day. If, however, I take a few minutes every hour to get up, get water, and walk around, I feel much better.

Time Out has helped me remember to get up every hour I’ve been on the computer since about 2010. While it’s possible to customize the break schedule of this app quite a bit, I’ve always stuck with a 10-minute break every hour, and only showing the “Postpone 10 Minutes” and “Skip Break” buttons. The app works well.

I’ve found that it takes some discipline to observe the break timer, and not endlessly press “Postpone.” You simply have to get in the habit of pausing what you’re working on when it’s time for a break.

I have used other break timer apps on different platforms: Workrave on Windows, and the built-in Typing Break option in Gnome on Linux. Those both work well, and I recommend them for when you’re not on a Mac, but Time Out is my favorite break timer app.

TIme Out got an overhaul recently, with several new optional features (such as not appearing in the dock and adding a menu bar icon); several of these features require an in-app purchase to enable permanently, which I gladly paid for. However, a bug in Version 2.0 prevented my purchases from being recognized. Dejal Systems was very fast getting back and addressing my issue (it’s fixed in the latest update). Good support!

Slartoff about Time Out - Break Reminders