55
cjbatz
6y

I vehemently despise the popular image of developers as borderline autistic savants living on junk food and working 24 hour days!

You see, I bought into that vision and became that person. When I first started working as a developer, I would work crazy long hours, eating junk food while neglecting my health and personal life. This behavior was encouraged by my boss and co-workers, and became expected, with the sales people boasting about it to the clients, like is somehow proved I was a better developer.
It's no big surprise that this kind of life comes at a cost and can not be sustained. I burnt out, my life fell to pieces and my body fucked out on me.
It's taken me years to repair the damage and I am still doing so.
I now work at a company that understands the importance of a healthy work/life balance, and I take full advantage of that.
Perhaps if I had a wise mentor when I first started, I could have worked smarter instead of harder and respected the needs of my mind and body.
I am that mentor now.

Developers are smart people, we should stop glamorising a stupid lifestyle.

Comments
  • 10
    This has to be pinned
  • 12
    @psukys Even if this post only saves just one young developer from destroying their life this way, I will be happy.
  • 4
    I wish I could see how. I'm stuck in that lifestyle with no sleeping pattern, little motivation, not a lot of cash flow.

    It'll definitely improve, but its kinda hard to see the wood for the trees at the moment.
  • 3
    This post! I see development as a creative endeavor bordering in art! It takes good sleep, proper light, mood (has to do a lot with sleep!) and working conditions to be able to solve the difficult problem in an effective and creative way!

    I recently had a talk with my boss because it's almost impossible to really create or innovate if you don't like what you are doing or have peeves with your job.
  • 2
    I've gone down the same path, currently struggling to get myself back into working condition. I think I'm slowly starting to get better, but fuck me this is hard...
  • 1
    Same thing happened to me, you have my sympathies, best wishes and best of health.
  • 0
    Triple plus!

    Have a check for @TravelCodingNinja on Instagram (or some name like that). She's leading the way in mixing style and DevLife
  • 4
    I couldn't agree more. It happens even to independent developers like me. I went through that, and took me more than one burnout to understand that is not acceptable.
    Still today, I have to be strong to avoid be dragged by pressure and demands.

    It's sad to see how this unhealthy lifestyle is considered the norm for technology jobs. Nobody talks about that. We must spread the word, and make people aware that things shouldn't be this way. We all deserve better.
  • 0
    @nzeetee Thanks, will check @TravelCodingNinja out
  • 0
    @cjbatz just looked it up. Think this should work. https://instagram.com/travelcodingn...
  • 1
    @nzeetee @cjbatz Its just some pics of a girl! Whats so special.
  • 0
    @kalippu just someone who is promoting a more healthy portrayal of life as a Dev, than having no friends, working until you puke and losing your health. Not special, just better
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