you need to relax a little developers
Tags: vscode, javascript, typescript, productivity
Published: 2021-02-20 10:52:57

hello friends, you know what is the best thing about vs-code? you can configure it the way you want & develop something to expand upon it. well in that context, today we at [opendevs](https://opendevs.in) are introducing a new product: [relax a little](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=open-devs.relax-a-little). as the name suggests, this free extension tells you to relax in a way that you want.

![relax a little marketplace listing](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*mdRirRdIsRC2-DRumw-sNQ.png)*relax a little marketplace listing*

## Wait, What do you mean in a way you want 🤔?

well like a good but strict friend it can remind you to take a break from all the coding you're doing & tell you to drink a little water or tell you to stop typing for a while, or straight up make the coding so uncolored that you have to take a break... but it asks you every detail about it first.

## How can I use it 📜?

just configure it using the various ways available to make it more stubborn than you are so, it'll take care of the rest.

## What exactly can I configure ⚙?

whatever you want:

### at what time you want to take a break

![minutes till break setting](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*Dlqxj9by1ogldhPmAcfxIQ.png)

### how long break duration should be

![break duration minutes setting](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*3JJeZHIoSfmmY-_jXD0igQ.png)

### how long should it take color to fade out completely

![wind down duration minutes setting](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*i4Xh4rZI4QCCCJUwdbXoCw.png)

### at what rate colors will change?

![color change frames setting](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*YJhLMrCSYNy4ISyQu0y5Gw.png)

### color change frames setting

if you forget to drink sufficient water (like us), then at what duration it should tell you for a little water break:

![minutes till water break setting](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*aqOCUNhByLFlR8Y1jdT_KA.png)

### minutes till water break setting

finally, our motivation behind it is to not put 1000 blocking notifications on your screen as [we know how much some of you hate annoying popups](https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/issues/63460), we did our homework:

![blocking notification setting](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*r63m-tYNFCYRHhNTnDCrnw.png)

also, each feature can individually be turned off, so if you are good at your water amount or you're saving water for the environment you can tell the extension so:

![commands available](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*ZiQ8AabvsWxXvSaqx_oCjQ.png)

### [Full Demo](https://github.com/open-devs/relax-a-little#-demo)

## What's the story or motivation behind this❓

well on a fine lockdown Sunday we were working on some freelancing work, we were at it for a few hours at that point in time not realizing how much time has passed, one of us remembers sitting at our laptop after morning break and when he looked out of the window next, people were taking their dogs out for evening stroll 🤦‍♂️🤦‍. we knew we had to do something about it & we definitely show some of our friends having the same issue. we added this extension to our roadmap.

## I can simply ignore these notifications, no use to me 😑

if you want you can contact us & we might give you a call from time to time (on skype or other free platforms of course) but that's all we can do right? after all self-control is the key thing to learn while being a developer.

## Can I contribute to make it better 😎 ?

of course, you can. we will love it for you to come up with ideas to improve fellow developers' health without being disruptive to their work & then implement those great ideas with us or fix some critical issues.

## Are there some ideas you have in mind that I can develop as of now 🤩?

we do want to have a theme changer feature in it in near future to change the theme based on the time of the day, we also want to include some random quotes in breaks to make it fun to look at, of course, all of these features should be individually turn off-able.

![[https://www.buymeacoffee.com/opendevs](https://www.buymeacoffee.com/opendevs)](https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/2000/1*4aMS8SsV3Hj05yH30Ml6DQ.png)*[https://www.buymeacoffee.com/opendevs](https://www.buymeacoffee.com/opendevs)*

### so save on all those medicine 💊 costs & give this project an ⭐ at [github](https://github.com/open-devs/relax-a-little) & [visual studio marketplace](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=open-devs.relax-a-little) or buy us a coffee?