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BREAK — Take a break without being judged
BREAK - Mac menu bar app that lets you take a break without that co-worker giving you that "does this guy even work?" look.
I made this app for a designer friend of mine that worked with a ton of judgemental jerks that don't know the benefit of taking a break from your screen every now and then.
Hope you like it.
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Replies
Harold Cummington
This already does this for free: http://fakeupdate.net
Plus has a variety of OS options, and you don't have to download an app to your computer or clutter up your menu bar.
Also doesn't take a genius to realize you're updating your computer too much.
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I made this super dumb simple app for a good friend of mine. She was so worried about getting judged by her coworkers that she couldn't even take a break during work hours. This really bothered me, so I figured there had to be a product solution to this. So here's what I came up with.
@anna_0x Thanks so so much! Hopefully someone gets some use out of it. It was really fun to make.
@raydawg88 for me it's useless as I mostly work alone but I've worked in environments where people are pushed to work all the damn time, so I see the utility here! Very smart.
@anna_0x Yeah that's another benefit of being able to customize your own icon for the "updating" screen. You can just make it your lock screen and watch dancing pandas jump around on a black screen 😉
@raydawg88 The product is great but isn't it better to help her figure out how to resolve some of her anxiety and earn the respect of her colleagues, maybe even take her breaks with them?
@erikig 100% that is better! And I did a lot of that with her, but unfortunately she worked remotely in another state with a much older group, that didn't really understand what she did there (which is a whole other issue). This wasn't meant to solve the problem fully, just a quick stab and helping her.
@raydawg88 I read your medium post, great post btw, there's actual science behind taking mental breaks. I love that you figured out a way for people to get this benefit without feeling guilty about it... I am curious though, why Apple rejected your submission 4 times?
@stevenray So the original version I had...when you start your break...showed the Apple icon (so it was very legit)...but apparently that's not legal :) So what I did was add a way to add your own custom icon, so you can make it legit as you want or as a crazy as you want.
@beaulebens You're welcome! Glad I could finally build something that helps you take a break at your home office 😉 Is that your way of saying that your wife has been judging you?
@raydawg88 Haha yes. Perfect 5 minute breaks. The only catch is you should have a mouse handy as trackpads take away all the fun!
@jennifer_wu1 Yeah when I was doing some research looking around, I was totally shocked that there wasn't something like this already. Well...now there is 😃
Man, this is great! I work in an open office and always have nosey work people looking at my screen. This is perfect for when I need to start my creative juices flowing or a food break.
