Why I built Calyvento

I stopped whenever it stopped hurting

For a long time I had headaches and neck pain that wouldn’t go away. My doctor found the beginnings of a herniated disc in my neck — nothing that needed surgery, but something regular movement could keep under control — and sent me to a physiotherapist.

The physiotherapist told me not to keep turning my neck while I worked, and to set up my screen so I wouldn’t have to. Then came a few exercises to do every day: simple things, like pressing my head into my hand in four directions, one after another.

I did them for a while, and the pain went away. Then I stopped. The pain came back, badly; I got through it with painkillers and swore I’d keep the exercises up this time. Once the pain was gone, I forgot again. One day on, then nothing. That loop went on for years.

Eventually I saw it: pain was my only reminder. When the pain went, so did the reminder.

Alarms didn’t work

I tried alarms. The trouble is that the moment an alarm goes off is rarely a moment I’m free. It would ring in the middle of some important piece of code, and I’d dismiss it and carry on. Within a few days I didn’t even hear it anymore.

A reminder that picks its moment

That’s why Calyvento isn’t an alarm. It watches for the right moment. It counts real work: if I step away on my own, it starts counting again, and a video I’m sitting through doesn’t count as a break. It holds off while I’m in a meeting and steps back if one begins. When I’m waiting on an AI to answer, it nudges me to use that minute — and the moment I start typing, the wave slips away.

When it’s time, waves rise from the edge of the screen: never in my way, just a little more noticeable until I respond. For me, that turned out to be the whole trick. Most days I find a free moment before they grow much, and I do the move. I didn’t become more disciplined. I just don’t have to rely on discipline anymore.

My “two-minute” breaks

Something else surprised me. I work from home, and during the day I’d wander off for a “two-minute” chat, or lie down for “two minutes”. Calyvento’s day view showed me what was really happening: those two minutes were forty or fifty. Close to three hours a day went that way, and my workday spilled into the evening.

Now my breaks are five or ten minutes, and I take one long break a day. The workday ends when it should.

An evening workout wasn’t enough

Most of us assume that sitting all day is fine as long as we work out in the evening. I did too. Then I read the research. An evening workout doesn’t fully make up for a day of sitting (source), and short movement breaks spread through the day did better on some measures than a single 30-minute walk (source, source).

I found that genuinely motivating. I still exercise — but now the day itself moves too. Alongside Calyvento’s movements, I get on the elliptical for five minutes every two hours. Calyvento is what got that organised, too.

Where my time goes

Work areas turned out to be more useful than I expected. How much time each project gets, which breaks keep running long — I don’t guess anymore. I can see it.

I built Calyvento for myself first. If it helps you as well, I’ll be glad.