Active Workday
Short breaks for walking and resting your eyes, spread across your workday.
For people who work at a computer, in an office or from home. On workdays it adds a morning and midday walk, two short breaks for your legs and two for your eyes, about 35 minutes in total.
A day in the program
Tasks, in order.
Times assume waking at 7:00 and going to sleep at 23:00. In the app, they shift to fit you.
Morning
- 8:30Walk to work10 min · Movement · Weekdays
When you work from home, take a ten-minute "commute" around the block before you start. If you commute, get off one stop early.
Every minute counts. Since 2020, any activity counts toward recommended movement, not just bouts longer than 10 minutes (WHO 2020).
Late morning
- 10:00Get up and walk3 min · Movement · Weekdays
When you finish your first block of work, stand up and walk for 2 to 5 minutes, for example to get a glass of water. From the second week, drink it every time.
One right way to sit? There is no single correct posture; how often you change position matters more (Slater et al. 2019).
- 11:00Give your eyes a break10× · Work · Weekdays
When you finish an email, look out the window at something at least 6 meters away for 20 seconds and blink slowly ten times.
The 20-20-20 rule. It is recommended by the American Academy of Ophthalmology. In a small study, eye strain eased but came back a week after the reminders were turned off, so regularity is what helps (AAO, Talens-Estarelles et al. 2023).
Midday
- 12:30Walk at midday15 min · Movement · Weekdays
When you have your lunch break, go outside for 10 to 15 minutes. A calm pace is enough.
Short breaks. According to a meta-analysis, breaks of up to 10 minutes increase vigor and reduce fatigue (Albulescu et al. 2022).
Afternoon
- 14:30Stretch at your desk3 min · Movement · Weekdays
When you are back from lunch and have been sitting for an hour, stand up and stretch: shoulder rolls, arms overhead and a few heel raises with a hand on the back of your chair. You can also do it seated.
Mostly, switch it up. Short movement between stretches of sitting matters more than a perfect chair (Slater et al. 2019).
- 16:00Rest your eyes by the window10× · Work · Weekdays
When the end of your workday is near, give your eyes one more break: 20 seconds looking into the distance and ten slow blinks.
Blue light. According to Cochrane, blue-light glasses probably do not help with eye strain, and blue light from screens does not damage your eyes (Cochrane 2023, AAO).
General suggestions for everyday wellbeing, not medical advice. Adjust the tasks to suit you. If you have a health condition, are pregnant or take medication regularly, talk to your doctor before making changes.
What our programs build onSources
What the program builds on.
Walking to work and short walks count, because since 2020 any activity counts toward recommended movement.
The eye break follows the American Academy of Ophthalmology's advice, which also states that blue light from screens does not damage your eyes.
The midday walk is a short break, and according to the meta-analysis such breaks increase vigor and reduce fatigue.
The program does not suggest blue-light glasses, because according to Cochrane they probably do not help with eye strain.
The program has you change positions rather than chase the right way to sit, because there is no single correct posture.
Movement is tied to work moments (arriving, lunch, a meeting), because a habit holds on to the same cue.