BreakTaker

BreakTaker is a lightweight application for Windows that reminds you to take breaks while working on your computer.

By encouraging you to take short breaks at regular intervals, BreakTaker can increase your overall productivity and can alleviate common workplace injuries resulting from fatigue, eye strain, and repetitive stress injury.

After launching BreakTaker, right click its icon to change the time between break notifications. The default notification delay is 55 minutes.

> Download BreakTaker

Author

Technical Information

  • BreakTaker is written in C#, WPF, and .NET 3.5.

Problems? Need Help?

Frequently Asked Questions

I’ve uninstalled BreakTaker, but when I restart my computer I receive a message asking me if I want to re-install it.

  1. Open the Start menu, select “All Programs” in Windows 7 or “Program Files” in Windows XP.
  2. Locate the “Startup” folder. Within this folder should be a shortcut to BreakTaker.
  3. Right click the BreakTaker shortcut and select “Delete”.

Change Log

Version 1.2.0.3 – 10/6/11:

  • BreakTaker now loads faster by checking for updates when it closes rather than it opens.
  • Minor updates to the About window

Version 1.2.0.0 – 6/28/11:

  • Performance improvements
  • Added “Pause timer when PC is locked” feature. If enabled, BreakTaker will automatically pause the break timer if you lock your PC. The timer will automatically resume when the PC is unlocked.
  • Added more tooltips to Settings window – hover over any text or controls to view details about each setting.

Version 1.1.0.10 – 5/11/2011:

  • Added: Gray icon when BreakTaker is paused. So you don’t forget, you know?

Version 1.1.0.9 – 5/10/2011:

  • Fix: Default color scheme was reversed (white background with orange text instead of orange background with white text).

Version 1.1.0.8 – 5/10/2011:

  • Added themes! 6 themes initially: Classic Orange, Monochrome Black, Verdant Green, Flamingo Pink, Eggplant Purple, and Techerator Blue. Try them out by right clicking the BreakTaker icon and going to Settings.New colors in BreakTaker Settings
  • Removed unused autorun code (now stores autorun in Program Files/Startup as detailed in version 1.1.0.1)
  • Changed multiple instance detection language in dialog

Version 1.1.0.7 – 3/29/2011:

  • From the previous update, missed a few criteria that could be inserted into the notification delay textbox that could crash the program. Using int.TryParse() instead of int.Parse() now so even if somebody does figure out how to insert a value that could crash the program, it will be properly handled and the program will continue to run with the previously set value. (Thanks to Ryan Nielson for finding this bug.)

Version 1.1.0.6 – 3/29/2011:

  • Fixed bug where program would crash if non-integer value was used for the notification delay (int.Parse() doesn’t like parsing doubles). Input is now sanitized so you can ONLY input numbers, no decimal points or any other characters. (Thanks to Ryan Nielson for finding this one.)

Version 1.1.0.5 – 3/29/2011:

  • Added a new icon for the Settings menu when right clicking the BreakTaker tray icon. This one has a darker border. (Thanks to Jon Paul who pointed out the other one looked very dim.)
  • Changing the notification delay in Settings no longer resets the timer. This makes sure you don’t miss any breaks if you adjust the notification delay. (Thanks to Jon Paul who requested this change.)
  • Added a link to the BreakTaker website in the About menu.

Version 1.1.0.4 – 3/24/2011:

  • Added a fancy-schmancy Pause icon to the “Pause BreakTaker” item in right-click system tray menu. Because it’s the little things that matter.

Version 1.1.0.3 – 3/17/2011:

  • Minor bugfix: The “Start With Windows” checkbox in the settings window was checked or unchecked based on the presence of the shortcut in the Start Menu –> Startup folder. Changed this to look at the value stored in settings instead, which is the correct functionality.
    • Thanks to Elton Muuga pointing this out.

Version 1.1.0.2 – 3/17/2011:

  • Minor bugfix: If changes to autorun settings were made, they wouldn’t take effect until the program was closed and restarted. Now the changes take effect immediately.

Version 1.1.0.1 – 3/17/2011:

  • In line with knowledge learned from Version 1.1.0.0, made more modifications to how the program autoruns.
    • Decided to use the Start Menu –> Startup folder method to autorun the program rather than use registry keys.
    • Added code that automatically checks for registry keys set in previous versions and removes them. Squeaky clean.

Version 1.1.0.0 – 3/17/2011:

  • Thanks to Ryan Nielson who pointed out a bug in how the autorun was configured. Basically, ClickOnce is very picky about how you launch it and if you launch the executable directly, it doesn’t see it as a ClickOnce application anymore. The app still runs just fine, but it won’t return the correct version number and won’t check for updates.
    • Rewrote autorun code to point to the ClickOnce shortcut which is a .appref-ms file.
  • A minor version number upgrade! Welcome to 1.1.

Version 1.0.0.38 – 3/16/2011:

Version 1.0.0.37 – 3/7/2011:

  • Notification titlebar turns red when you’ve ignored a break. Turns back to orange once a break is taken.
  • Added mutex to prevent multiple instances of application running. Fancy.
  • Changed support link to this site (http://techerator.com/breaktaker Modified in 1.0.0.38).
  • Started this change log!

Comments

25 responses to “BreakTaker”

  1. […] One downside to Launchy is that it can’t launch applications installed via the ClickOnce deployment method by default. ClickOnce is popular deployment solution for .NET applications, and is used by applications like MetroTwit and even my own BreakTaker. […]

  2. […] Editing can commence on December 1. Having said that you should remember to take regular breaks. BreakTaker, from our own Evan Wondrasek, is a free tool that reminds you it’s time to step away from the […]

  3. […] avete il tempo contato e vorreste sapere quando è necessario farlo? Allora per questo c’è BreakTaker! Un’applicazione completamente gratuita che vi farà sapere quando è tempo di fare una […]

  4. […] evitare tutte queste problematiche? Ebbene vi invitiamo a provare il nuovo tool BreakTaker. Si tratta di uno strumento davvero favoloso, che vi permetterà di ottenere ottimi risultati in […]

  5. […] giusto per prendersi una pausa? Vorreste qualcosa che ve lo ricordi? Allora per voi c’è BreakTaker! Un’applicazione completamente gratuita che vi farà apparire una notifica quando arriva il […]

  6. […] tutorial , vamos conhecer o gratuito BreakTaker, que, de forma simpática, avisa quando é hora de descansar seu corpo do uso prolongado do […]

  7. […] possibile anche impostare altro di questo programma, scaricabile da questo link. #dd_ajax_float{background:none repeat scroll 0 0 #FFFFFF;border:1px solid […]

  8. […] BreakTaker è un utility gratuita che permette di ricordare, con una piccola finestrella, quando è il momento di fare una pausa e rilassarsi, stando lontano dal computer. […]

  9. […] of it than you’d expect. Techerator’s own Evan Wondrasek created a useful tool called BreakTaker that will remind you to take a break at user-defined intervals and offer suggestions for your […]

  10. […] | BreakTaker No Related Posts Read more from Guide visualizzare appositi avvisi dal […]

  11. […] mai quando effettuare le nostre pause allora ciò che ci serve è un programma come BreakTaker. BreakTaker è un programma gratuito per Windows che permette di ricordare quando fare le pause dal computer, e […]

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  13. […] way past the break you should have taken to stretch and move around to avoid ergonomic injuries. Kim Kommando has a great download, BreakTaker, to remind you to stand up, move around, and get your body back into happy alignment. (Be […]

  14. […] you need to, automate reminders for these breaks with programs like BreakTaker for Windows, or Time Out for […]

  15. Ditto ps Avatar
    Ditto ps

    Is it possible to add custom messages in this?

  16. djayo Avatar
    djayo

    I right-clicked on the desktop icon, but do not get the window that says BreakTaker settings with the option to change the time, just the window that starts with “open.” Now what?

    1. djayo Avatar
      djayo

      It’s not the desktop icon: it’s the one of the hidden icons in the system tray on the task bar. I am disappointed that I received no reply, but I did learn something new on my own.

  17. Jacqueline Zühlke Avatar
    Jacqueline Zühlke

    I would like to have a counter for my daily work time too. So, if I worked for 8 h, the tool will give me a message to leave the office. 😉

  18. Steve Madden Avatar

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  19. Anthony Muscio Avatar
    Anthony Muscio

    Love your work, break-taker has been very helpful to me an My Partner who spend a lot of time on our computers. I also like the suggested activities and like previous comments would love to add a few additional messages to meet my own needs. Good work and thanks.

  20. Tara Davis Avatar
    Tara Davis

    Is there a log of responses to “I did it” or “no thanks” so people can review their progress?
    Do you have a list of all the tips?

  21. Tanguy Avatar
    Tanguy

    Hi, thanks for this tool. I’ve started using it today.
    Have you thought about publishing the code in open-source so that people can contribute to this project by making fork and pull requests?

  22. demnos Avatar
    demnos

    Excellent application! I use this everyday to help remind me to move around more. Thanks!

  23. Ashish Malhotra Avatar

    You sure that it is possible to it? It looks really great man.

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