Work-life balance is one of the most debated topics on the internet; you will find hundreds of articles providing tips on how to improve your life and achieve something close to it.
Naturally, programmers get caught with the work-life balance tussle. You may work at home and often don’t need constant input from your colleagues so can work solidly for hours and often days with little break.
Sounds, familiar? Eventually, you lose track of your life and live a life of a permanently exhausted pigeon. To try aid you in your attempt to balance how your time is spent here are a few tips specific to programmers and developers.
Find a different hobby
Developers are seriously passionate about what they do. It’s not just work, or their job, but it’s their hobby. Most people would love to be in the position where they really love what they do, but it can have its drawbacks!
So you spend the day working, perhaps even through your lunch break, get home and continue working, have some food and do just a little more work, which can carry on into the early hours. Even though you’re enjoying it you’re not actually getting a break from work and allowing yourself to switch off or think about something different. It’s important to have a hobby separate from your work to give you a break and a chance to recharge the batteries.
Socialise with people who aren’t programmers
Depending on where you work, you may find yourself surrounded by other developers. Unsurprisingly you all share the same hobbies and interests, and when you’ve finished work and are just hanging out, how much of your conversation is dominated by the things you’ve been working on all day? Hang out with people who aren’t developers! This is again really important, if you stop working but spend all your spare time on the topic of work, you’re not really switching off. This goes for anyone in this position, change the topic and take your mind away from work.
Switching off
When you’re work day is over don’t reply to emails or take work calls! You might be noticing a trend here, but it’s so fundamentally important to separate your work and personal life. On Another Number, we have a nifty little feature that allows you to set your work number to ‘Do Not Disturb’ and can then set a custom timer for however long suits you. If callers leave a voicemail you’ll automatically receive a transcribed version, so you can easily see if it’s something urgent that really needs your attention or can be dealt with tomorrow.
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