Stress is considered by the World Health Organization as the epidemic of the XXI century, and that is why it is important to manage stress. It is very common in these current times to hear our closest ones how they are suffering stress, even feeling ourselves in that emotional state for different reasons, such as the current pace of life, personal problems...

As developers, stress is part of our daily lives, and there are moments such as production deployments where stress peaks reach levels that can be harmful and that it is important to know how to manage so that it does not affect us both personally and professionally. That is why it is important to have tools that allow us to manage this feeling and that allow us to give the best of ourselves.

Many of the tools we are going to explain can be applied not only to web development, but can be used in any field. Asking for professional help is always an option if we are unable to manage stress.

Disconnect at the end of your day

Many times as developers we tend to keep the work computer turned on and placed in such a way that we have it very close to us to continue with some task that we have left pending after finishing our day (or because we want to advance work). Rest periods are very important to be able to recover after eight hours (or more) programming, and one of the keys to be able to rest better is the ability to separate when we work and when we rest, and having the computer there can prevent us from being able to make that separation.

Turning off and putting away the computer (in case it is a laptop) can help you not to be so dependent on the computer and be able to disconnect and rest. If you telework it is important to have a space where you work that is your workspace separated from the rest of the spaces, so that when you leave the workspace you are no longer in work mode. The latter depends a lot on your personal situation since not everyone can afford to have a separate space, in which case I recommend turning off the computer.

Exercising

Physical exercise produces endorphins (amino acids produced by the brain that contribute to pain relief and a sense of well-being), dopamine and serotonin (hormones that produce feelings of well-being and happiness). This sense of well-being can help alleviate the effects of stress and anxiety. In addition to this, taking care of our body is important because we are in a sitting posture for a long time and it can cause long-term problems.

Yoga, going to the gym, contact sports, running, mountain hiking, swimming... Any option is valid, the important thing to choose a sport is that you like it and that it motivates you, and not to do something you do not like. The idea is that by taking care of our body we are able to take care of our mind.

Meditation for stress management

There are different studies that show that meditation has beneficial effects on our brain, from improving the connection between the temporal and parietal lobes to improving memory, as well as reducing stress. As the basis of meditation is the ability to pay attention (to breathing, to our emotions...) this improves with practice, which also helps us to be able to be more attentive and have a more organized and focused head. It can also help us to slow down and rest.

It is not necessary to do very long days of meditation in order to have results. It has been shown that five minutes a day may be enough for the benefits of meditation to begin to appear. Nor is it necessary to follow rituals or specific religious beliefs in order to practice meditation, just by paying attention to your breathing you can become capable of a meditative state.

Practicing hobbies to avoid burnout

Closely related to attention, hobbies force us to focus on a specific task making us forget about the rest of things, even if we have had a very stressful day at work. Also, if we share those hobbies with more people, they are a very good way to meet people and socialize, very important for our mental health.

As with sports, the important thing is to have a hobby that we like. Nowadays there are hobbies of any kind, and many times it is not necessary that they are in the same city. Thanks to the Internet we can be able to find information about the hobby we are interested in and meet people who can help us to enjoy it more.

Managing stress in web development

Stress management is something very important for our health, so it is something we have to take into account in our daily lives. Nowadays everything goes very fast, and knowing how to manage that speed and knowing how it affects us and what we can do so that it does not (or as little as possible) will improve our quality of life and we will be able to avoid the feeling of being «burned out» and be able to work with a good attitude.

Tools such as Pomodoro can help you better manage your time while working and avoid excessive mental workload by helping you plan breaks throughout your workday.

Another way to avoid burnout and manage stress is to work in a company that has a culture that respects family reconciliation, and in Secture we care about taking care of this very much. Here is an article about how we achieve this. here.