Embolism

Animating is low-impact work. There are definitely times you're getting up and acting stuff out, don't get me wrong. But 90% of the job is shuffling pixels around on a screen. That means long hours sitting. If you're like me, that also means getting fat. And because I'm the sort of person who will work upwards of 14 hours a day, it puts me at risk for blood clots. A couple of months ago, one of my legs started cramping. A couple of weeks ago, I started coughing blood and getting chest pains.

The cramping was a blood clot. It's in my lung, now. Gross.

I have what's called a pulmonary embolism. Left untreated, there's a 26% chance that one of those will kill you. Mine is being treated, which puts me at closer to 0.5%. I have this potentially life-threatening condition because I spend a lot of time in a chair. So this post is aimed at other animators (and anyone else who spends long hours sitting at a desk).

Move Around!

Once every two hours, get up from your desk and do some exercises and stretches. Focus on your feet. Blood clots sometimes form because there isn't enough muscle pressure returning blood from your extremities to your heart. You literally need to get your blood flowing. Jump, skip, alternate standing on your toes and your heels. Get those calves working. 

Find a Balance

Working as much as I can, and having a few computer-based hobbies, means I spend a lot more time sitting at a computer than I should. Animation is a tough business, and there's a lot of pressure to do as much as you can in a short period of time.

But you need to do other stuff. There is no healthy way to spend all of your waking hours sitting. Animators tend to be workaholics, but for our health we need to sometimes go outside and play. Go for a walk for an hour. Go to a park and climb on some equipment. Go dancing. Do something, anything, that males you get up and move. 

And maybe hang out with your family or something.

People talk about work/life balance as though it's something you get to have in a good job. It isn't. it's something hour body needs to live.

Listen to Your Body

I started coughing blood weeks ago. My chest started hurting a few days after that. It still took my wife convincing me to go to the doctor that got me there. If my wife were coughing blood, I'd have freaked the eff out, but because it was me (and because it was often more uncomfortable than painful), I ignored it. That could have killed me. That was extremely dumb. Don't do that.