Advice to developers: Take a break from being awesome.

I’ve been in the industry as a software developer for the past 3 years and I’ve learned so much from not only my own journey but also that of others that are on a similar path as mine. I super love what I do and always try my best to take my skills to the next level. Whether you’re building apps for a company you work for or for your own startup there is this indescribable beauty in seeing what you’ve built take life. To receive positive (and sometimes not so positive) feedback from users all over the world is next-level awesome. Knowing that you’re putting something awesome into the world makes you want to do more like: write articles, give talks and just share as much as you can with the developer community and the rest of the world. All the great stuff I’ve mentioned above, done to the extreme does, however, come with a price and that price is called “Burnout”

Burnout

Ruin one’s health or become completely exhausted through overwork.

I’ve been following some amazing developers on social media and I’ve learned so much from them in terms of technology. Seeing how they push out great applications and also make time to freely share their knowledge with the community is nothing less than astounding. But besides the technology, there are times when they share something deeper that touches you on a human level and makes you feel a little more normal and understood. A tweet by Sam Edwards did just that.

He explained how he hit a wall while giving a talk and had to walk away for some time just to regroup. He then continues to explain how much pressure was on him to complete other duties and also prepare for his talk. This made me evaluate myself and realize that I too have been putting large amounts of pressure on myself to always know the latest in the Android world. Furthermore, I would always stay at work late to make sure that I finish work weeks ahead of time and would put pressure on myself to write more articles and give more talks. After reading the above-mentioned tweet I realized how tired I actually am and how little time I spend with family and friends. It made me think of how we at times sacrifice our health by taking on more than we can handle and feeling a bit guilty when it feels like we can’t handle the load.

I think it’s import to know (and Sam also mentions it in his tweet) that it’s okay to not always have it all together. It’s important to forgive yourself for not being perfect at all times. We’re human and though we love what we do we should take a break and focus on other important things such as family and friends.

Here are some of the tweets in his thread:

I wrote down some key points as a reminder to myself:

1. It’s okay to not have it all together.
2. Even though you love what you do just take a break every now and then so you can come back stronger.
3. Spend more time with family cause work will always be there.
4. Take care of your physical and mental health because this is the only vessel you have.
5. Know yourself enough to know when it’s time to step away and rest
6. Don’t take on more than you can handle
7. Forgive yourself when you make mistakes(It’s okay)
8. Sleep
9. Be kind to other people because just like you they’re human and might be facing something you don’t know about.
10. And most importantly be kind to yourself.

Conclusion

Burnout is real and even though we love what we do I think it’s important to take a break from our awesome lives as developers. In doing so we can recharge, come back stronger and make an even bigger impact at work and in the community. I’ve realized that it’s important to take care of not only your physical but mental health as well. So go on a guilt-free holiday, forget about work, spend time with family and friends, take care of your health, come back and be awesome again.😌

Here is the link to the thread on Twitter: Click here