Anyone who has worked an office job can tell you how big of a challenge it is to stay healthy at work. Whether it’s poor posture resulting from sitting at your desk hour after hour, eyestrain from long hours in front of the computer, or a general lack of physical activity, all these factors can take a toll on your mental and physical health.

We’re often quick to blame technology as the cause of these problems, but there’s many pieces of tech out there than can actually help alleviate these issues and keep you healthy – even at work! Whether it’s apps to get you moving, improve your posture, reduce eyestrain or recharge your brain, we’ve got you covered with some of our top picks below.

Take a break

Time Out

It’s so easy to get caught up in our tech these days, but with all those hours of staring at a computer screen, your eyes need a break. Time Out will help you take that break, slowly fading your screen out when it’s time for a break and materializing it back when the break is over. Breaks are customizable and can be skipped if they happen to catch you during a good workflow.

Awareness

The beauty of this app is in its subtly. Awareness will never nag you or force you to step away from your computer. Instead, with the sound of a Tibetan singing bowl, the app gently reminds you of how long you’ve spent on your computer without taking a break.

See clearly

F.lux

You know that eerie blue light screens emit in a dark room? That’s the same light you’re staring at during the day as you’re working away on your computer.

It’s no wonder our eyes feel strained after several hours in front of a screen, but fortunately there’s the F.lux app to help ease eyestrain. The app adapts your computer’s display to the time of day, making it warm at night and like sunlight during the day, easing the light pressure on your eyes so you can be healthy and productive.

Eyeleo

A great app that reminds you your eyes need a short break from the computer screen. The app is filled with great features including short breaks with eye exercises every 10 minutes, screen blocking longer breaks every hour, customisable features and much more.

It's important to give your eyes a rest every now and then

Get moving

Move

Remembering to get up and get moving during a busy day can be a task in itself. That’s why you need the Move app. The app is set to remind you to get up and move at selected intervals and can be tailored to your work schedule. Once the reminder goes off you’re tasked with a quick exercise – but those in an office need not worry about doing jumping jacks, the exercise can be as simple as a lap around the floor.

Stand Up!

If you’re looking for a guilt-free reminder app to get up and moving, Stand Up! is it. Similar to Move, you can set this app to remind you to get up and moving at regular intervals – but the rest is up to you. No exercises, no tasks. Just a simple reminder to Stand Up!

Fitbit

Fitbit makes wearables and smartwatches which can track movement and exercise to help you get into healthy habits. But you don’t need to use a Fitbit wearable to make use of their app as it can function by itself, recording and logging workouts and activity and helping you to measure progress to reach fitness and health goals.

Straighten up

Office Yoga MD

Yoga is well known for its focus on alignment, posture, mindfulness and strengthening flexibility, so why not take a quick stretch in the middle of your workday? A perfect relief for computer-fatigue, Office Yoga MD features over 20 effective poses that can be done in any workspace, with quick and easy to follow instructions to alleviate stress, while building strength.

DeskActive

Just because you’re tied to a desk doesn’t mean you can’t get a few stretches in every now and then. DeskActive helps you do just that. With over 300 stretches and exercises (many that you can do without leaving your chair), DeskActive brings healthy straight to your workspace.

Yes really

Recharge

Luminosity

With so much focus on physical exercise, our minds are often overlooked. Luminosity focuses on the mind, recharging and exercising your brain by taking traditional tasks used by neuroscience researchers and turning them into fun games designed to improve memory and cognitive abilities. Set aside a short break every couple of days and see the difference this app can make.

Headspace

Think of this app as a gym membership for your mind. Headspace is a meditation app for everyone, from beginners to those who regularly meditate. The app teaches meditation and mindfulness in just 10 minutes a day.

Subscribers can take an even more personalized journey through a variety of different collections to suit their mood and lifestyle. Best part, you can take this app anywhere and make it a part of your day at any time.

Feria Kazemi writes for Broadband Genie