TL;DR
Tech has taught me many things over the years. It taught me how to learn new technologies, build projects, apply for opportunities, and kee...
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I spend most of my time posting technical stuff, but honestly it's the non-technical habits that keep me shipping. Sitting with a book, or just being in the garden with dirt on my hands instead of a keyboard. Getting soaked in the rain no matter where I'm headed. Cooking for people I care about and watching them enjoy it. Sitting with my eyes closed, not thinking about anything at all.
Good read, this one.
I really smiled reading this. I love how you described the little things that help you recharge. Cooking for people you care about, getting your hands dirty in the garden, even getting soaked in the rain... those are the kinds of moments we don't talk about enough.
Thanks for sharing this, Shubhra. I hope someone reading the comments is reminded to make a little more time for the things that make them feel like themselves too ๐งก
The little things in life really give our life meaning
There's a saying where I'm from โ "your body is the capital of your revolution." And there's another one: "man is iron, food is steel. One meal skipped and your whole system crashes." We treat our bodies like they have infinite uptime, but even the best server needs maintenance. Appreciate this one, Hema. Real talk.
Read this and decided not to stay up tonight. Going to sleep now. Good night. ๐ฅฑ
I love those sayings. They fit this article so well, especially the one about treating our bodies like they have infinite uptime.
And I'm counting this as one small win for the article if it got you to choose sleep tonight ๐
Good night!
Good night @xulingfeng
Take care
kept running on 'post-launch I'll slow down' for two years straight. the goalposts just kept shifting. what changed was treating energy like sprint capacity - you can plan around a fixed budget, you can't plan around an endless IOU.
Thatโs such a good analogy.
โYou can plan around a fixed budget, you canโt plan around an endless IOUโ really made me think. I think a lot of us assume weโll always have more energy tomorrow, until we realize thatโs not how it works.
Thanks for sharing your perspective, Mykola!
yeah the IOU thing came from a few years of exactly that - post-launch I'll rest, on repeat. once I treated it as a real fixed budget the math got unavoidable. helped to track it visibly too, otherwise it's easy to rationalize the deficit.
I hadnโt thought about tracking it visibly, but that makes a lot of sense. Itโs easy to convince ourselves that weโre fine when we donโt notice the pattern building over time.
Thanks for sharing more about what worked for you.
exactly โ once it's visible, you stop making the same bargain. invisible budgets always get spent twice.
In tech, we're constantly optimizing our code, portfolios, and careersโbut it's easy to forget to invest in the person behind all of it. A successful career means little if it comes at the cost of your health, peace of mind, or the relationships that make life meaningful.
The reminder that self-care isn't a distraction from growthโit's what makes sustainable growth possibleโis something more people need to hear.
Thank you for sharing such an honest and thoughtful perspective. Wishing you continued success, good health, and a career that's just as fulfilling as it is impactfulโค๏ธ
Thank you so much, Divyanshi โค๏ธ
Reading this honestly means a lot because it tells me the message came across the way I hoped it would. We spend so much time talking about growth in tech, and I hope we can keep having more conversations about taking care of ourselves too.
Thank you again for your kind words and wishes. Wishing you the very same ๐
Great post about health! ๐ Good mental and physical health should be one of our top priorities. However, because we can't always see our health, we tend to take it for granted. We often don't realize how important it is until we've already lost it. That's why we should always remember to take care of our health before it's too late.
I completely agree. I think that's what surprised me the most too. It's so easy to take our health for granted because, most of the time, it quietly supports everything we do without asking for attention.
Hopefully more of us remember to take care of it before we're forced to. Thanks for sharing your thoughts ๐
I think what I appreciated most is that you never turned this into productivity advice disguised as self-care.
It felt much more personal than that. It wasn't "rest so you can work harder." It was "take care of yourself because you're worth taking care of."
That distinction really stayed with me.
I've also noticed something similar over the past year. The moments where I've grown the most weren't always the ones where I worked the hardest, they were the ones where I had enough energy and clarity to actually enjoy what I was building.
Thank you for writing something that reminds us the person behind the keyboard deserves just as much attention as the projects they're building.
Thanks so much, Aryan.
I'm happy that came across because that's exactly what I hoped people would take away from the article. It was never meant to be "rest so you can work more." It was simply about taking care of ourselves because we matter.
I also love what you said about having enough energy and clarity to actually enjoy what you're building. I think that's something a lot of us forget while we're busy chasing the next milestone.
Thanks for adding this to the conversation ๐
For me, health issues are part of my life, and every time I think of myself as something else big,
they bring me down to where I am and what I am in real!๐
I can definitely relate to that feeling. Sometimes life has a way of reminding us to slow down when we least expect it, and those reminders can really change our perspective.
Wishing you good health, and I hope things get a little easier with time. Thanks for sharing your experience ๐งก
This is an important message to spread. Self care is so important. Thanks for sharing this and opening up about your own experience.
I consider self care as a fundamental building block for my career, it has become part of my routine. I start my day with movement and end my day with reading/learning.
I also block weekly evening time slots for writing and reaching out to friends/family.
One lesson I have learned over the years is that it's important ot have your own house in order to be able to effectively help others too.
I love that you've made self-care part of your routine instead of treating it as something you'll get to later. I think that's exactly what I'm trying to learn too.
I also really liked your point about taking care of yourself so you can better support others. I hadn't looked at it from that perspective before, and it honestly gave me something to think about.
Thanks for sharing this, Julien. I have a feeling it'll help someone else reading the comments too, just like it helped me ๐
This really resonated with me, Hema. In tech, it's so easy to treat our personal energy like an endless IOU or assume we have infinite uptime. I love the reminder that taking care of ourselves isn't taking time away from our careersโit's the foundation that makes the career possible in the first place. Thank you for opening up this conversation
Thank you so much, Srashti ๐งก
Reading your comment made me smile because that's exactly the takeaway I was hoping people would have. I'm still learning that myself, but it's changed the way I think about growth.
Thanks for sharing your perspective ๐
This is me some couple of years back. I decided to slow down last year and took a long break of 6month but this year i have started running back which is something i don't want. I am trying to break the cycle.
Thanks for sharing this, Konwo. I know exactly what you mean. I'm still trying to figure that out myself, and it's surprisingly easy to fall back into old habits.
Wishing you all the best. I hope we both break the cycle for good ๐
THank you
This really resonated with me. In finance and investing, we talk a lot about compound interest โ but the same principle applies to health and sustainability. Small, consistent habits compound over time just like returns. The developers who last decades are usually the ones who invested in their own wellbeing alongside their skills. At Vextor Capital (vextorcapital.com) we build financial calculators precisely because we believe understanding money is part of a sustainable life โ but none of it matters if the person using those tools burns out first. Thank you for this honest reflection, Hemapriya.
I hadn't thought about the connection with compound interest, but I like that analogy. It's easy to focus on compounding our skills while forgetting that our health benefits from those same small, consistent habits too.
That's something I'm trying to be more intentional about myself. Thanks for sharing your perspective ๐
A good career isn't built by opportunities alone, it also depends on having someone who listens, challenges you, and helps you grow in the right direction. The right guidance can make all the difference.
I agree. Having people who encourage us, challenge us, and remind us to keep growing can make such a big difference. I also think those same people often remind us to take care of ourselves when we forget to.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Henry ๐
This post made me think of a personal philosophy I hold: 'Dare to waste time on the people, things, and moments that truly matter to you. Even if others see it as idleness, as long as you feel solid and at peace in that moment, that is the greatest respect you can give to yourself.' Our careers are important, but the peace we carry is what keeps us going in the long run
Thanks for sharing this. That's a beautiful philosophy. "The peace we carry is what keeps us going in the long run" is such a simple thought, but it says so much.
I'm really enjoying reading everyone's perspectives in the comments, and this is definitely one I'll remember ๐
I had several moments in my life where life forced me to take a break (one of them 3 years long). They also coincided with the death of loved ones. But all of this heavy stuff led me to be happy now.
And that is, among other things, because I found mindfulness and the teachings of the likes of Jack Kornfield, Jon Kabat Zin and Andy Puddicombe (who is as close to an idol as I have). In their books and the app Headspace (which Andy cofounded), they taught me how to meditate and live in the here and now. Not for the here and now. In the here and now.
Because while often the here and now is pretty peaceful for me nowadays, it's also sometimes stressful, difficult, or even downright ugly. Mindfulness and meditation have taught me how to fully inhabit each moment. And that when you do that, even when the moment is ugly you can deal with it far better than when you run away from the moment, as we so often do with all our digital distractions nowadays.
This is the big thing I learned: Happiness, contentment, joy - all of these things can never be experienced anywhere else than in the here and now. There is always a "next thing" in our line of work - always a next milestone, a next feature, a next project, a next stepping stone on the career ladder.
And so we run, and we run, and we run by the most important thing in life - taking the time to be where we are, and appreciate what we have in this moment, fully.
So if I could tell my younger self anything, it is simply this: Focus on doing the best you can, for yourself and others, in the here and now. Because when it comes down to it, that is really all you can ever do. So focus on that and let everything else go.
But this is easier said than done. It is a process, one that is never complete, but in this is its power: We can grow in being able to do this our whole lives. It is a process that is supported by things like breath work, yoga, meditation, Tai Chi, Qi Gong, among other things.
All we really ever know is that we are here now. To make the most of life, and live as best we can, all we must therefore ever do is this: Do our best right here and right now, and let everything else go.
Thanks so much for sharing this, Andreas.
I'm sorry you've had to go through so much, but I'm glad to hear those experiences helped you get to a place where you're happier today.
I loved what you said about there always being a "next thing." I think that's something so many of us can relate to, especially in tech. It's easy to keep chasing what's next and forget to appreciate where we are right now.
I haven't explored mindfulness or meditation much yet, but you've definitely given me a few books and people to check out. Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. I have a feeling it'll give a lot of people something to think about, just like it did for me โค๏ธ
This really is a topic that isn't talked about enough. Just like a car, if it isn't properly maintained, even though it has a full tank, it will still break down. I also started reflecting on how I take care of myself while reading your article, it's important we learn to treat ourselves while hustling each day to build successful careers, else, we won't be able to enjoy what we are spending so much time building, and worse, end up wishing we had done things better. Lovely write up!
I love the analogy you shared. Having a full tank doesn't mean much if the car isn't being taken care of, and I think the same is true for us. Reading that the article made you reflect on how you're taking care of yourself means a lot to me because that's exactly what I was hoping it would encourage.
Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts, Yahaya ๐
Iโd love to hear your experiences. Has there ever been a moment that changed the way you think about your career or your health? Or is there a small habit that's helped you build a career that's more sustainable?
I have a feeling we can all learn something from each other's stories ๐งก
Reading everyone's comments has been one of my favorite parts of writing this article.
I'm still figuring this out myself. Lately I've been trying to be more intentional about going to the gym, eating better, reading more, and spending more time with family and friends. Nothing dramatic, just one habit at a time.
It's been really encouraging to read what everyone else is doing too ๐งก
Well written! A great reminder that the right mentor can make a huge difference in career growth. Thanks for sharing.
I do think having the right people around us, whether that's mentors, friends, or our community, can make a huge difference not just in our careers but also in reminding us to take care of ourselves along the way ๐
As a full-stack & AI agent engineer, this hits extremely hard. We endlessly chase tech stacks yet ignore ourselvesโthe core foundation of every sustainable career.
I couldn't agree more. We spend years building our careers, but it's easy to forget that we're the foundation everything else is built on.
Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts ๐
So glad we share this mindset! This reminder is truly priceless for tech engineers.๐ค๐ท
That "later" trap got me too. I kept pushing rest to the next deadline, then the next. Now I schedule it like a meeting and it actually works.
Scheduling rest like a meeting is such a simple idea, but I can see why it works. Otherwise, it's so easy to keep pushing it to "later."
I'm trying to be more intentional about that too. Thanks for sharing this, Richard. I hope it helps someone else reading through the comments as much as it helped me ๐
Thank you for writing this. Posts about frameworks get thousands of claps, but this is the conversation that actually determines whether we're still around to use those frameworks in ten years.
I love that perspective. It's easy to focus on the next framework or the next opportunity, but none of that matters much if we don't take care of ourselves along the way.
Thanks for adding this to the conversation, Hussein ๐
Thank you for the reminder.
In this regard, I recommend a book called The Healthy Programmer, which talks about some of the stuff we're reminded of here.
Thank you so much, Mohamed!
I'm always on the lookout for books like this. I checked it out after reading your comment, and it looks really interesting. It's officially on my reading list now ๐
Hopefully others who are reading through the comments discover it too.
Those who destroyed life now behaving as life lessons but in tons of some if can't take action than not in default.