A little bit of an unusual entry for this blog… but then this is “Just a random collection of things I thought it might be useful to know….“.  We’re into 2026, the start of a new year, and I’m back to work on Monday.  In the last month or so of 2025 I haven’t been feeling myself and a problem with superficial vein thrombosis (SVT) that cropped up around 2019 felt as though it wasn’t as settled as it has been.  Back in those days I was doing a ridiculous amount of travelling around the world and I put the problem down to that and tried hard to keep as active as I could, went on a natural path of self-medication based on Nattokinase and all seemed well.  Then Covid put an abrupt stop to my travelling after the TranslateCluj event in early 2020.  Between then and now I think I’ve only made one trip apart from long car journeys and certainly settled into the work from home ethic pretty well.

Yesterday I thought I should get my leg checked out and after a rapid appointment at the hospital made by my GP on the same day it turns out my superficial vein thrombosis (SVT) has now been promoted to deep vein thrombosis which is a little more serious. I’ll spare the details of the medication I’m now on and get to the point of this article, which I decided to write and share because this is something that could easily affect us all these days given the hours we spend tied to a desk and working on a computer.  Turns out that all that travelling prior to Covid at least forced me to move!!  Whilst I was pretty good for some time with a lot of walking and walking challenges to make it interesting… in the last year after a small stress injury (walking!) I have been less than active and have certainly been focusing even more time on the computer playing with all the new stuff we now have available to us as we learn more about AI.

So last night and this morning I used some of these new found (something AI lets us all do) programming skills to try and remind myself to get up and move by building a small application that can run on any monitor I choose in my set up, and tell me to get up and do some exercise every 30 minutes to keep myself reasonably healthy… of course all in addition to my new year resolutions to do better generally!  In this article, I thought I would share this with you all because most of you are probably as guilty as me for spending too much time in front of the screen and not exercising enough.

So, I have put the application here: https://multifarious.filkin.com/product/dvt-reminder/

The description in the app record is clear enough I think but for anyone that doesn’t click here’s a very brief overview and list of features:

• Configurable reminder interval – Set how often you want to be reminded
• Multi-monitor support – Choose which screen the reminder appears on
• 6 built-in exercises – Ankle circles, calf raises, knee lifts, walking, leg extensions, and heel-toe rocks
• Custom exercises – Add, edit, or remove exercises to suit your needs
• Exercise images – Simple visual guides showing how to perform each exercise
• System tray – Runs in the background without cluttering your taskbar
• Startup option – Can be configured to run automatically when Windows starts

There are basically two screens… the “Time to Move” screen:

This just tells you which exercise to carry out, and provides a button to tell the app you’re moving and close it for another 30 minutes, and a Settings button.  The Settings just allow you to set the monitor you want to use for popups (might be useful in case you are presenting on one screen normally and don’t want your popup to suddenly appear!); set the reminder interval – default is 30 mins; and add/edit your exercises.  I included six basic exercises to get myself started but you can add/edit as you see fit:

It’s lacking many things:

1. it’s unlicensed (deliberate… if anyone finds it useful I want them to use it with minimum fuss)
2. it’s only in English
3. it’s not as feature rich as it could be as it’s focused on reminders rather than advanced tracking or health analytics

I figured if I find people do consider this useful and would like it in other languages then I can do this as an update in the futures.  I could even add more features for fun:

Practical

• Snooze button – “Just 5 more minutes…” (we all know that feeling)
• Statistics – track how many reminders you’ve completed vs ignored
• Sound alerts – optional audio for when you’re not looking at the screen
• Do Not Disturb schedule – pause during meetings or focus time
• Multiple exercise sets – “Gentle”, “Moderate”, “I actually want to sweat”
• Integration with calendar – auto-pause during scheduled meetings (although this does risk avoiding exercising completely and I’m sure you can manage these when you’re not talking!)

Gamification

• Streak counter – “You’ve moved 47 days in a row!”
• Achievements – “Early Bird: Did your first exercise before 7am”
• Points system – earn points for each exercise completed
• Leaderboard – compete with colleagues (for the competitive types)

Going a bit further

• Team mode – synchronised reminders so the whole office stands up together
• Standing desk integration – detect when you’re already standing and skip the reminder
• Fitbit/smartwatch sync – “You haven’t moved in 2 hours, your watch is worried”
• AI exercise suggestions based on time of day – gentle stretches in the morning, energetic ones after lunch

Now we’re getting silly

• Passive-aggressive mode – “Oh, you’re ignoring me again? Fine. Sit there. See if I care.”
• Boss mode – shows a fake spreadsheet when someone walks past
• Guilt trip photos – pictures of sad legs with poor circulation
• Celebrity voice packs – Morgan Freeman telling you to do calf raises
• Dramatic countdown – Mission Impossible theme when the timer runs low
• Social shame – posts to Slack when you skip an exercise
• Literal nag mode – reminds you every 30 seconds until you comply
• Blood clot mascot – a friendly animated clot called “Clive” who gets sadder the longer you sit
• Jump scare mode – for when gentle reminders just aren’t working

Completely unhinged

• Smart chair integration – mild electric shock if you ignore three reminders
• Drone delivery – sends a tiny drone to physically tap your shoulder
• AR mode – virtual personal trainer appears in your office via headset
• NFT exercises – mint your completed exercises on the blockchain (please don’t)
• AI-generated exercises – “Now try the Reverse Flamingo with Jazz Hands”

I’d suggest the snooze button and statistics are genuinely useful.  Clive the Blood Clot mascot… maybe not definitely a good idea (v1.2.1)!

Seriously!!

This is not really about the app.

It is about recognising that sustained inactivity carries real risks, even for people who otherwise consider themselves reasonably healthy.  Desk work does not feel dangerous, but over time it can be.

You only get one body.  Regular movement does not need to be extreme or time-consuming, but it does need to be habitual.

If you already have good routines in place, this may not be for you.  If, like me, you sometimes lose track of time and remain seated for hours, a simple reminder might be enough to prompt change.

Make 2026 the year you take that seriously.  It is only too late when it is too late.