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Discussion on: I've been a programmer for over 20 years, watched the internet the grow up, ask Me Anything!

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gmartigny profile image
Guillaume Martigny

Can you expand on how relaxation help you as a developer ? How can it solve problems ? What's the basics if one want to try ?

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mortoray profile image
edA‑qa mort‑ora‑y

Relaxation, and the various ways to achieve it, like mindfulness, meditation, and exercise, reduces your stress. Stress is bad for developing for numerous reasons:

  • it reduces your ability to focus, often directly through anxiety, or through preventing you from eating right, thus depriving yourself of minerals needed for proper brain function
  • a stressed body endures physicals pains such as headaches and muscle stiffness than limits how many hours you can work, particularly on a computer
  • stress reduces sleep, leaving you tired and unable to concentrate, it can also inhibit recall -- a critical skill in working on code

Relaxation gives a pause to your day, giving your body a physical chance to recover, and your mind some clarity. Often coding challenges can be solved by freeing your thoughts of clutter, taking a step back, and calmly reevaluating the situation.

Here's a quick, and basic activity. Sit in a chair away from your desk, preferably a quiet area (noise makes this harder). Set a timer on your phone for 5 minutes. Close your eyes and try to think only about your breathing until the alarm rings. Increase the time to 10, or 15 minutes as you do this.