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Share a personal challenge you've faced in balancing your coding career with your mental health. How did you overcome it, and what advice would you give to others facing similar challenges?
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Top comments (11)
I don't know if this saying exists in english, but in french we have something along the lines "Who wishes to travel far, takes care of his mount". Basically, I think the same applies to us developers. Sure, you can push yourself and work tirelessly every day for months ...but at some point, you'll just become exhausted and mentally drained if you do that, too much for too long. The recoil might be even more severe if expectations are not met, leading to "burn outs" and a long recovery period. If you want to be in it for the long run, find your pace, slow down if necessary, and take care of yourself. Don't be lazy either, just don't overdo it. My two cents.
Exercise is my balancing act.
Feeding stray cats and watching cats videos on YouTube, those usually get me my balance back!
yess... cats is so therapeutic
Working remote or at a desk can have negative health effects if you don't stay active.
Not to mention depression can set in.
Just like #100daysofcode, 🤩 join your own exercise team or create one with close friends and start 🏃🏽♂️ #100daysofsweat!
Get into a routine that will benefit both body and soul. 🕊️
This helps me stay in a balanced mindset so I'm energetic even working from an office desk or at home.
I’m my 25 years as a software professional, I have found balance difficult to achieve. Our existing workplace norms establish really problematic expectations, and businesses have a nasty history of punishing workers who don’t measure up to those impossible standards.
There are a lot of companies which advertise work-life balance, but I don’t think they always know what that means. I’ve worked at places before that say that extra hours starts at 45, meaning they expect folks are putting in at least 45 hours a week. That’s a lot. Some of those places also tell you that lunches and coffee runs don’t count toward your work day.
There is a lot wrong with how we as people, particularly Americans, see work. Until we wrestle with that honestly, the workplace norms that very much still remain despite our more inclusive workplaces will continue.
The chair massages, yoga, Pilates, gym memberships, personal trainers, life coaches, financial planners, free haircuts, $50 Amazon gift cards, catered lunches, unlimited swag, and super-fun corporate retreats are a poor substitute for living a full life that you could build if you aren’t working so much.
i don't know if this out of "balancing" topic or not. but my challange that i've faced in my coding career currently is i'm struggling for being the only girl in dev team. at first i thought "how hard is that?" and it turns out, it's very hard.
it's like i had no one to share my things, stories or maybe my difficulties. and sometimes i feel like my teammate is underestimated me because im a girl (not always tho) 😥.
and how i did overcome it? i don't know, because i'm still struggling right now. when i had a breaks i just jump into instagram to watch some cute cat videos, or just watch friends to regain my mood to do the job 😁
I was going to put down a lot of things, but here are two: At work, ergonomics are important. Sitting and typing for hours can mess you up. I've used Emacs almost daily for almost 40 years, and keeping a neutral posture has made this possible.
Outside of work, I do things I enjoy, for instance: juggling. It's cheap, you can do it nearly anywhere, and it's good neuromuscular practise. It's like stimming, meditation, and exercise combined.
I teach Dayan Qigiong which is a moving meditation inspired by Bar-headed Geese, the worlds highest flying bird! Recently I started a mailing list called GooseGong to share insights and encourage more people to practice.
Exercise and relax.
Listening to Taylor Swift or Noah Kahan and being a main character in front of my mirror every dedicated time for a while