Mountain Air

Taking a deep breath before jumping back into work sounds simple, but it's surprisingly easy to forget. Mountain Air is a Chrome extension that reminds you to do it automatically.

Every time your screen wakes up, a quiet overlay appears and walks you through a short breathing exercise. It takes about a minute. Then it disappears and you get on with your day.

You have two options for when it triggers:

Screen wake: the overlay appears after your computer has been asleep or locked for a set amount of time. Good if you step away from your desk regularly.

Inactivity: the overlay appears after a set period of no keyboard or mouse movement. Good if your screen stays on but you zone out or walk away without locking it.

You choose which mode works for you, and you set the time threshold for both. When the overlay appears, hit space to begin the exercise or escape to dismiss it and get on with your day - no mouse required. Everything else runs automatically in the background.

It's a small thing, but those transition moments -- coming back from a break, unlocking your laptop, sitting back down after lunch -- are actually a good time to reset. Mountain Air just makes it a little easier to do that.