Half of developers still at screens even during breaks
- Reference: 1652277605
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/05/11/stack_overflow_stress/
- Source link:
The Q&A programming resource surveyed 800 devs, and found most of the top five things they do when they need a break involve screens: listening to music (46 percent), visiting Stack Overflow (41 percent), browsing social media (37 percent), and watching videos (36 percent).
Actually talking with fellow humans did not make the top five, and 4 percent of respondents had some other outlet for stress (possibly angrily banging some really terse comments into the source).
[2]
Unsurprisingly, another of the takeaways from the survey was that the happiest developers had an employer that encouraged wellness, both physical and mental.
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Sixty-two percent of respondents' employers encouraged physical and mental wellness at work, and 75 percent of developers who described themselves as "happy" had just that type of employer. Alas, those figures mean that 38 percent of employers were not.
So, how should one relieve stress?
Physical exercise is a good solution and half of those polled took a walk or did some other activity when a break was required.
"It's one thing for an employer to encourage wellness; it's another for people to actually change habits to achieve their own wellness," noted the Stack Overflow team. Eighty-eight percent of developers surveyed were interested in improving their physical wellness, while 83 percent wanted improvement in their mental wellness.
[5]US is best place to be a software engineer, salary survey finds
[6]JavaScript survey: Most use React but satisfaction low
[7]IntelliJ IDEA plugin catches lazy copy-pasted Java source
[8]FYI: Code compiled to WebAssembly may lack standard security defenses
However, there is a difference between wanting improvement and actually taking steps to do so. After all, there are a good few gyms that seem to have business models based on users signing up and then never troubling a treadmill again.
As for the developers quizzed, 57 percent were trying to improve their wellness by simply drinking more water or improving their diet. Slightly fewer were prioritizing exercise while others intended to socialize with friends and family.
Stack Overflow cited [9]research showing that two out of five workers (of more than 32,000 surveyed between January and September 2021) showed a high risk of burnout. Sixty-two percent felt physically and emotionally drained, while 42 percent were considering quitting.
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"Preventing burnout in a fast-paced industry is always going to be challenging," observed the team. Employers can encourage workers to take breaks and prioritize wellness, but with more than a third of developers spending their breaks scrolling through social media, avoiding burnout means more stepping back from the keyboard is needed.
A trio of boffins last year advised software developers to [11]partake in mindful breathing to ameliorate their sense of well-being.
Unsurprisingly, it's not just folk in software that are feeling the squeeze of working long hours under immense pressure: [12]in 2020 nearly one in five infosec pros considered quitting their job due to overwork or burnout. ®
Get our [13]Tech Resources
[1] https://stackoverflow.blog/2022/05/09/new-data-developers-and-prioritizing-wellness-at-work/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Ynvdp26lQ8eRAXVi-UIhoAAAAIE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
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[5] https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/22/software_salary_survey/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/22/javascript_survey/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/05/intellij_plugin_java_code_copying/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/04/webassembly_stack_canaries/
[9] https://report.yerbo.co/
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Ynvdp26lQ8eRAXVi-UIhoAAAAIE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/17/software_developers_it_workers_relax/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2020/07/14/infosec_job_change/
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
No - this coming from someone reading the register whilst waiting for a meeting to start…. (It starts in 2minutes)
Take a hike
I always used to go for a half-hour walk at lunchtime, even if it was pissing it down outside. During particularly stressful periods I'd also take a short walk during the morning and afternoon, sometimes more than one. Then I realised it was better for my health if I just did the walks and dropped the work element entirely.
My boss did once challenge me about disappearing for ten minutes in the middle of the morning. I told him he could either accept that or spend his day dealing with the fallout of me telling an annoying client to fuck off.
Re: Take a hike
I always do that at lunchtime no matter what the weather go outside and have a walk if you are working from home or in an office you need a break from the screens and some quiet time. This does not involve using you phone either.
Mind you I will always take a lunch hour (where possible) otherwise I get very tired and at the end of the afternoon you are falling asleep.
Breaks?
Did something else break!? Arrgh!!
Sport and fun
While we all know we should do more sport/exercise, we all find ourselves often/occasionally prefering the couch.
I have found for myself that I need to combine the physical exercise with some fun activity. In my case, historical european martial art (HEMA), i.e., fencing, does the trick. While fencing in itself isn't particularly exerting, my club's weekly training begins with a 30 min. warm-up which really exerting. Without the fun part (playing with swords) I would not be motivated to do these 30 min exercise blocks every week. However, since it is part of the training, I am motivated.
Here's a random video from YT for all who are unfamiliar with HEAM, note that this shows a tournament. General training and sparring looks a bit different. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yVkVGwSSL0
Another thing I found over the years is that it also helps to combine sport with social activities. In my case, after the weekly training, the club members convene at a local pizza place. So, going to training not only means exercise and sweat but also pizza and chatting afterwards.
Sixty-two percent of respondents' employers encouraged physical and mental wellness at work
Yeah, more box-ticking nonsense.
How about setting achievable targets, not having an understaffed department, and listening to developers. We are the ones that do the work which pays everybody's salary after all.
When else?
When else are we supposed to catch up on TheRegister? During non-break time?
Does visiting SackOverflow count as taking a break? I thought it was a development process.