Coding may just be the single hottest skill on the job market right now, with far more companies looking for it than workers boasting it in their CVs. While this urgent demand leads to all sorts of goodies in terms of salary and company perks, there is sometimes a risk that it may promote a \u201cwork before life\u201d sort of culture \u2013 one in which programmers are told that being stressed, overworked or under pressure is \u2018normality\u2019. (Spoiler: it isn\u2019t).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you are new to this world, then word to the wise: do not underestimate this. Being passionate about what you do is awesome, but if you don\u2019t give yourself enough room to breathe and time to recharge, then on the long term you won\u2019t be doing any favours to yourself \u2013 nor to your career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, here are six golden rules to make sure you are leading a balanced, sustainable lifestyle in the often frenzied world of coding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nope, you can\u2019t wriggle out of this one. Coding being exclusively a mental exercise, it\u2019s only too easy to fall into a routine of bed \u2013 work desk \u2013 sofa \u2013 work desk \u2013 bed. But precisely because your body isn\u2019t part of your job, you must<\/em> take care of it outside of that time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Go for walks or swimming, or do yoga or Zumba, or play football or basketball \u2013 heck, pick up Japanese kendo if that\u2019s what makes you happy. The how and the how much are up to you, as long as you do it regularly. Remember: your creativity and concentration don\u2019t magically appear out of the ether \u2013 they sustain themselves directly on the physical energy produced by your metabolism. The mind functions well only when the body does too \u2013 so don\u2019t let the latter go untended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s a little motto to take to heart: your salary is the reward for your work \u2013 not its purpose. You may think you have the grit to take any job in coding, or that you can power through years of menial tasks as long as they are well paid. Take our word on this: if you bring yourself to a place where you\u2019re doing work that is not morally meaningful to you (or worse, morally questionable<\/em>), then no career boosts or bonuses will make it easier to get up in the morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Work on projects that let you give back to the world, and work itself will be invigorating. It will also be less stressful, if not totally stress-free. Finding meaning in what you create shouldn\u2019t be an afterthought of your coding \u2013 it should be the reason why you code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you work from home, then don\u2019t do it from the couch (or wherever it is that you usually unwind). The mind has a way of associating places with activities, so mixing up where you work and where you relax will make you distracted while doing the former and mildly aggravated when doing the latter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead, set aside a space to be used only for work \u2013 it can be a desk, or a whole room \u2013 keep it clean and tidy, and don\u2019t go there for anything other than work. Are you working and feel the urge to nab some cookies? Cool. Leave the work-station and enjoy your snack somewhere else, giving yourself as much time as you need. When you\u2019re ready, go back to where work happens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Good work isn\u2019t just about what you do for someone else \u2013 it\u2019s also about you, and how it makes you grow. Sometimes this is already happening as part of your job, but if it isn\u2019t, make room for it: spend 10 to 20% of your working time learning something, or doing something outside of your minimum requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If this isn\u2019t an option, then set time aside to do something creative outside of work. Keep a journal, learn to craft or build things, take up cooking or meditation. Just make sure that you are investing in yourself. You should never be working so much that you don\u2019t have the time for it, and if you are, then that\u2019s your cue to lighten the workload<\/p>\n\n\n\n You are not working alone, even if it can sometimes feel that way. If you code in an office, make it a habit of inviting a colleague to a coffee break once a day. If you work from home, be proactive in organising regular drinks or dinners with colleagues, or at least with others working in coding. Having a relation with others who share your work (or field thereof) is key to feeling part of something meaningful<\/p>\n\n\n\n Programmers are in demand, so take advantage of that. Don\u2019t just settle for the first job you\u2019re offered, but make sure you work for a company you have no reservations about. As importantly, ensure you are under good management. You will usually be interviewed by your future boss, but if you don\u2019t, ask questions about him\/her\/them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You should always value yourself more than your work. So work for people who value you as much as you value yourself. As the owner of those hugely valuable skills coding skills, but more importantly as first a person and then a programmer, you are precious<\/em>. Don\u2019t sell yourself cheap.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Successful programmers all have their rules \u2013 some of the most important ones, however, have nothing to do with coding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":2622,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-coding"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wbscodingschool.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wbscodingschool.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wbscodingschool.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wbscodingschool.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wbscodingschool.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46309"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.wbscodingschool.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":62646,"href":"https:\/\/www.wbscodingschool.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46309\/revisions\/62646"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wbscodingschool.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wbscodingschool.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wbscodingschool.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wbscodingschool.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Code out of love<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Divide your (work) spaces<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Leave room for creation<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Cultivate community<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Be selective<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n