As I posted last week I have been hit with very sore arms, which is very likely to be RSI related. There has been no specific trigger but my arms are very sore when driving and using the PC. As a result my specialist recommended that I refrain from driving and take two weeks off from my full-time job as a software engineer.

As a self-confessed geek, staying away from the PC is actually very difficult to do. I was in the middle of a couple of deals, which meant I had to check my e-mail at least a few times.

I’m still experiencing a lot of pain, but I am getting treatment and I have a load of physiotherapy exercises to that will help strengthen my wrists and arms. Having been off from work two weeks I have discovered a few things RSI and myself.

1. There is such a thing as too much daytime TV

I do enjoy watching property TV programmes and films, but after a few days I started to get bored of them. When you’re watching something on TV every day you soon realise that it’s all very similar.

2. Even with free time, I procrastinate

Admittedly with the wrist pains I shouldn’t be overdoing it anyway. However, despite having a long list of chores to do I found I wasn’t doing any of them really. So therefore I have decided that I hate chores!

3. My name is Dan. And I’m an addict.

I don’t know if it’s habit or an addiction, but it didn’t feel quite right not being allowed to use a PC. Apart from these two deals there really wasn’t any reason to check my e-mail, but still I missed it.

4. Escaping from technology gives you time to think

With not being at work or allowed to use the PC, I found that I had a lot of time to think. I spent a lot of time working out what my true goals are, what sort of things I enjoy and where I want to take my career. Only needing to work three days a week would be in my top three goals, as I have enjoyed having time to do whatever I like (except for driving or using a PC of course).

It does raise the question “are we addicted to technology as a society”? Technology constantly interrupts what we do, such as phone calls, text messages, e-mails, as well as newer distractions such as RSS feeds and social networking. I’ve also heard of a few people who are so addicted to social networking that they preferred their online friends to friends in real life.

5. Idea generation needs practice

Before I hit the issue with RSI, I found that my head was buzzing with fresh ideas. Having not been involved in the webmaster world for a couple of weeks, it appears my ideas have dried up. It seems as if my active involvement in the webmaster world is where I get my ideas from. So it seems that for me idea generation is something that needs practice and nurturing.

Now what?

At least for the time being, I have to be selective with what ideas I develop to reduce the strain on my arms. Therefore I am focusing on the ideas that I feel will be more profitable, and outsource the work until I am able to the work myself. Hopefully using the PC less will mean that I recover more quickly but I still get to develop ideas I feel are profitable.

I will still publish articles on PowerDosh when I can. I am currently using dictation software (Dragon NaturallySpeaking) to write this article, which doesn’t really take much longer than using a keyboard. If you experience discomfort when using a keyboard for writing articles, take frequent breaks and consider using dictation software to give you arms a break.

Thankfully I don’t yet depend on the money from my ventures, so I can focus on getting well.


  • Filed under: Personal Progress