October 28th - Are you a healthy genealogist?

Photo by Bruno Nascimento on Unsplash

Are you a healthy genealogist? I don't  know if you read the health news, but several articles have been written recently about the hours many of us spend sitting at our desks, working at our computers. Getting exercise every day is a good idea (and a 30 minute walk does wonders to clear your mind or work through a genealogy brick wall). Some additional tips:

(1) Pay attention to the set-up of your work station - make sure your monitor and keyboard are at the correct height and viewing angle, and have a comfortable and supportive chair. 

(2) Have enough lighting in the room (shades open and lighting that does not reflect at your monitor) and through your monitor  (I use f.lux to adjust my monitor).

(3) Get up and MOVE - walk around, stretch, do some jumping jacks, do something else physical (get the mail, sort the laundry, yoga or meditation) - for a few minutes every single hour (take 5 every 55).

(4) Give some thought to varying the heights you work at - I can take my laptop to a standing desk area and I do that 2 days a week right now (slowly working my way to half my time standing). If you do that make sure you have a good mat to stand on.

(5) Don't use the excuse of being hard at work at your desk (sitting or standing) to mindlessly eat or drink. Take breaks for meals - and shut down those electronics/gadgets AND hydrate - drink plenty of water (forget the endless cups of coffee, tea and soda). 

Are any of us perfect? NO, but let's help ourselves by doing those little things on a daily basis to be healthy genealogists. It will give us more time down the road to keep doing genealogy and keep working in our Legacy family files!