A freelance coder that works from home and lives alone, often the only social interaction they have is on a 10 minute break that they spend in an IRC channel talking to other coders in a similar situation. Without that, they can begin to feel a bit too isolated and wrapped up in their job. There is an emotional cost involved if you restrict them from social interaction on breaks.

Some people have a problem returning to work if they take a complete physical break, especially chronic procrastinators that have to finish a task they would rather not be doing. Walking away could give them an opportunity to find something to use as an excuse not to finish. I know people that went and started building furnature on a break and didn’t return to their work for a week. (yeah, I’ll finish that report, right after I give this another coat of varnish)

Some have a problem focusing on work when their mind is wandering to thoughts of checking their email and other things. So if they can do those things on their break, then it frees up their mind not to think about it when they are supposed to be working. Students are especially prone to this while studying. How focused can you be on studying when you are thinking about MySpace and Facebook instead of biology or chemistry?

Boring, repetitive work can sap your energy and put you to sleep rather quickly, and no amount of coffee in this world can prevent it. Walking away for a 10 minute break can turn into a 4 hour nap. (it has happened to me too many times!) A quick game of solitaire every 20 minutes can go far towards keeping you awake long enough to finish the job.

LOL, that’s hillarious. Imagie his happening on the middle of some important task

It also doesn’t allow mind breaks, only physical ones, where you can’t use the computer for fun on a break. (reading blogs isn’t allowed on your breaks, nor is playing a quick game of solitaire, nor IMing a friend to talk about non-work related things)

Originally, it was designed as a procrastination hack based on Merlin Mann’s (10+2)*5 concept, but it also is great for RSI prevention, helping people with ADHD stay focused, and it also helps work-a-holics spend more time with their families.

The version I made is very simple, but a lot more flexible than most similar utilities. (and it has my own brand of humor, built in, to make it a bit more fun to use)

http://appsapps.info/instantboss.php

In all seriousness, this looks like a cool application, though I bet I would just snooze it over and over until it became just another nuisance. Probably because I’m not a Mac user.