Although our team is 100% globally distributed, there are numerous global events, disruptions, news stories, and changes that have been impacting all of us for much of 2020. Iβm sure they are affecting you in various ways as well. π
Weβve been working extremely hard this year on a variety of important initiatives. Between unveiling Forem, generalizing the platform, building out the systems side for hosting, organizing hackathons, launching podcasts, and everything else we all have going on, weβre a bit exhausted and need a quick rest.
Thatβs why we decided to plan a company-wide vacation next week (Sep 21-25). Most of the team will be fully offline to recharge, while some of us will continue working to serve the community (including moderation, support, and content distribution).
Hereβs some additional context on this team break and why we feel itβs important to share with you.
DEV/Forem Team Mental Health Break
When it became clear that the COVID-19 pandemic was going to grow into a serious and ongoing threat to public health, we knew that we wanted to give the team a chance to unplug and prioritize their mental health during a dedicated break. This is always a goal here (flexible PTO and personal time is very important to us), but sometimes a planned company holiday is necessary -- you know, the kind that isnβt tied to THE Holidays.
The goal of the optional mental health vacation week is not for the team to return and work harder than ever. Instead, Ben, Peter, and I are hoping that the DEV/Forem team will get a chance to reset and meditate on what they need more and less of in their day-to-day lives. Itβs a time to get away from the computer, knowing that most of our teammates are doing the same.
What to expect on DEV next week.
Donβt worry! Weβll still be maintaining our focus on moderation and safety, answering support inquiries, sharing the weekly newsletter, announcing the winners of the GitHub Actions Hackathon (on Wednesday, September 23) and delivering most of what you expect from this team.
However, with the company vacation in effect from now until Monday, September 28th, you can expect the following temporary changes:
- Fewer outgoing social posts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Linkedin
- No Top Comments Post on Thursday, September 24th
- Our DevDiscuss and DevNews podcast release-schedule will resume the week after next
- Slower response times on our GitHub repositories
Building Better Mental Health Habits as a Community
While we canβt demand that every workplace gives you the week off (believe me, if I could, I would!) maybe you can find small ways to join our team in taking next week to improve your work-life balance. In many ways, 2020 has been an extremely taxing year and itβs important to prioritize your own needs and mental health.
In that spirit, the team has selected a few of our favorite work/life balance-focused posts and resources that provide some truly useful tips and practical advice.
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Thanks for continuing to support one another along your coding journeys and lives as developers.
Top comments (17)
This is a great forcing function for my own break, which I don't take enough of. And the big thing about doing it in this manner is to reduce FOMO. There will be much less going on while many folks are offline. It's just going to be pretty nice. Then we'll all come back very ready to be productive!
Good on DEV for raising awareness for mental health at work!
Enjoy your break and thank you for the post!
I support this 100%, mental health is the most important thing.
This is an act of community leadership that I've no doubt will echo beyond just the Dev/Forem team's mental health - we need behaviour modelling like this, so thank you.
One of the temptations when you have a job or project that means a lot (as Dev undoubtedly does) is to turn it into everything. Humans need novelty and rest. Giving your mind away from task work is a crucial part in the productivity cycle. I'm lucky to work for a company that gives every third Friday as a paid leave day.
Kudos for doing this, and for this announcement.
It's not common for many companies to recognize Developer burnout. For most people, we are just sitting in front of a computer reading majority of the time and typing away a little bit. It's great you guys are recognizing the problem especially given the current situation. It's indeed taking a toll on everyone's mental health. Regardless how tough we pretend to be on the outside. It's a constant battle with self dialog within. I hope you guys find a way to truly disengage from work. I have noticed that it's really hard for me to not use holidays for other programming stuff. Side projects, learning programming related stuff etc Luckily my daughter is big enough to point that it's not a work day and I shouldn't be using my computer and I should be playing with them. πββοΈ
Just ππππππππππ
Enjoy it. You deserved it and now more that Hacktoberfest is coming.
You guys deserve a break. Enjoy π
Awesome!