RSI-Shield - Online help (break software, break program, exercises, break, rsi, micro, rest, download)

RSI-Shield tries, in contrast to other break software, to clear the screen of annoying flickering screens. To clear the screen, yet give a good idea about the moment a break should be held, RSI-Shield uses a small counter. This counter is located near the system clock (usually at the bottom right of the screen); in the taskbar (look at picture 6.1). There it does not bother anyone.

Picture 6.1 The RSI-Shield counter (bottom right of the screen)

Interpretation
In picture 6.1 you can see the counter is divided into two parts. The left part: a break-type-indicator (look at the bold 1) and the right part: a time-indicator (look at 14:51). The function of the counter is twofold:

When there is no break
The counter does not blink. The break-type-indicator shows which break can be expected and the time-indicator shows when this break can be expected.

When there is a break
The counter blinks. The break-type-indicator shows which break is currently taken place and the time-indicator shows how long this break is going to last.

The break-type-indicator can show 3 different symbols: a 1 means Micro break, a 2 means Medium break and a 3 means Macro break. (You can read more about breaks in chapter 5)

Countdown twice as fast
When you have used the snooze option (postponed a break) and you have used up your 'snooze-period', the counter will countdown twice as fast as normal for a certain amount of time. This way you will get breaks more often during this period and are thus punished for postponing a break. We will get back on this subject in the section 'Postpone breaks' (in this chapter).

Tool tip
When you put your mouse pointer above the counter, a so called tool tip or text balloon will appear. (look at picture 6.2).

Picture 6.2 The tool tip

This tool tip shows when each break will begin. The tool tip can be viewed as 3 RSI-Shield counters in a row. The position of the counter in the tool tip corresponds with the chronological position of the break. For example: We will explain the tool tip in picture 6.2. First we can expect a micro break in nearly 15 minutes (#1 00:14:41), after that a macro pause will begin in something more than half an hour (#3 00:35:41) and finally in about an hour and a half we can expect a medium break (#2 01:18:10). (You can read more about breaks in chapter 5).

Controlling
The counter is not meant to be used solely as a break-indicator, it also functions as a control element of RSI-Shield. You can for example start the settings program by clicking with the right mouse button on the counter. But you can also make a menu appear by left clicking on the counter or by pressing the key combination Ctrl+Alt+Shift+P (look at picture 6.3).

Picture 6.3 The RSI-Shield menu

In this menu the following options can be found:

Start the settings program
- Select this option to start the settings program of RSI-Shield. With this software you can specify your personal preferences, statistics concerning your work behavior can be viewed, etc. (in chapter 7 we will get back on this extensively).
Go to the RSI-Shield internet site
- By clicking this option, your internet-browser will automatically be opened and you will be guided to the RSI-Shield internet site.
Sound

By check-marking this option, a sound will be played at the following RSI-Shield events: Begin of break, End of break, Begin of animation, Automatic mouse click, Playback of Macro, Recording of Macro, Postponing a break, and Maximum number of breaks postponed.

Language
- When you select this option a sub-menu will appear. In this submenu you will find various languages. Here you can choose which language you want to work with in RSI-Shield.
Animations
- When you select this option a sub-menu will appear. In this sub-menu there are several movie titles. On certain moments during the use of RSI-Shield, instruction movies will be shown to make some things clear. These movies can also be started manually by clicking one of them in this sub-menu.
Take a break now
- When you select this option a sub-menu will appear. In this sub-menu there are several break types. On any given moment, you can tell RSI-Shield to start one of these breaks by selecting the desired break from this sub-menu. When it is impossible to select a particular break, it will be grayed out. Breaks are grayed out to prevent that someone cheats by, for example, starting a micro break each time a macro break should be held.
Profiles

This is a sub menu. When it pops open, all RSI-Shield user profiles will become visible. By selecting one of them, RSI-Shield will switch to that profiel. The profile that is currently active, is marked by a check-mark.

Start exercises
- When you select this option, a number of exercises will be shown. When you want to do exercises, but you are not in a break, you can tell RSI-Shield to show a series of exercises anyway with this option (a break will not be started). Default, the number of exercises that will be shown is 3, but this number can be changed on the 'Advanced Settings' screen of the Settings program (in chapter 7 we will get back on this extensively).
Record Quick Macro (Ctrl+Shift+Up)
- By selecting this option, the recording of the Quick Macro will begin (read more about Macros in chapter 13). It is advisable to not select this option from the menu, but by pressing the described key combination: Ctrl+Shift+Arrow up (this key combination can be changed in the 'environment.ini' file).
Play Quick Macro (Ctrl+Shift+Down)
- By selecting this option, the play-back of the Quick Macro will begin (read more about Macros in chapter 13). It is advisable to not select this option from the menu, but by pressing the described key combination: Ctrl+Shift+Arrow down (this key combination can be changed in the 'environment.ini' file).
Change speed of Quick Macro
- If one selects this option, a screen will appear with which one can change the speed of the Quick Macro (read more about Macros in chapter 13).
System Macros
- This is a sub menu. When it pops open, all system macros will become visible. By selecting one of these system macros, it will be executed (read more about Macros in chapter 13).
My Macros
- This is a sub menu. When it pops open, all your personal macros will become visible. By selecting one of these macros, it will be executed (read more about Macros in chapter 13).
'Keyboard -> Mouse'

By putting a check-mark in front of this option, the mouse can be controlled fully by using the keyboard (read more about the Auto mouse click function in chapter 12)

Auto Mouse Click

By putting a check-mark in front of this option, the Auto mouse click function will be turned on (read more about the Auto mouse click function in chapter 11).

Next click is Drag-And-Drop
- By selecting this option, the next automatical mouse click will not be a -normal- left mouse button click, but the left mouse button will stay down till the next automatical mouse click. With this you can perform a Drag-And-Drop action (read more about the Auto mouse click function in chapter 11).
Next click is Right Click
- By selecting this option, the next automatical mouse click will not be a -normal- left mouse button click, but the right mouse button will be clicked instead (read more about the Auto mouse click function in chapter 11).
Next click is Double Click
- By selecting this option, the next automatical mouse click will not be a -normal- single left mouse button click, but the left mouse button will be double clicked (read more about the Auto mouse click function in chapter 11).
Exit
- Use this option to stop RSI-Shield. After this RSI-Shield will no longer force breaks or keep statistics. We strongly advise against using this option. RSI-Shield will only be temporarily disabled, though. The next time you start the computer, RSI-Shield will be active again.

Postpone breaks
It is possible that a break comes at a very bad time. For example, because you want to show something to somebody else, on your computer. In such a case, you can press a special key combination to postpone the break. RSI-Shield calls postponing breaks 'snoozing' (just like an alarm clock). RSI-Shield will go back in time , as it were, until exactly after the last break. You will get the same amount of time to work as you would normally get between two breaks.

The default key combination for postponing breaks is Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Space bar (simultaneously keep the Ctrl-, Alt- and Shift-key pressed while pressing the space bar). If you prefer another key combination, you can change it on the 'Advanced settings' screen in the settings program (in chapter 7 we will get back on this extensively).

Because it is unhealthy to postpone breaks, there is a consequence to snoozing: A certain part of the working period will be counted down accelerated. This way you will get more breaks than normal, so you will think twice before you snooze.

If you snooze a break once, the following 2 working periods will pass by twice as fast. If you snooze a break 2 times though, the following 3 working periods will pass by twice as fast. The number of working periods that passes by twice as fast, is always 1 more than the number of times a break is snoozed. The number of times you can snooze is limited though. By default, you can snooze a break only 3 times.

This option is meant for ''emergencies'. We strongly advice against postponing breaks regularly.

Start the counter
The counter always starts automatically when the computer is started.

If you have stopped the counter and want to start it again, you can follow the following steps:

Change the appearance
The default appearance of the counter (look at picture 6.1) can be changed. You can choose between several, so called, skins and change the appearance of the counter completely. In picture 6.6 you can see one of the available skins. How you can change the appearance of the counter will be explained In chapter 7.