Top Tips for Healthy Coding

If I had to give junior developers one piece of advice, it would be this:

Get ChatGPT or GitHub Copilot and learn how to use it QUICK

If they then came back for more advice, I’d probably demand money in exchange for my experience.

After counting money, I’d give advice. This advice. Here.

Look after your health

This article details how software developers should look after their bodies. Your job security is effectively the time it takes to get another job, and your longevity is how long you can keep your biological systems going and generating income. 

That’s not just lifespan, it’s a useful productive lifespan.

Why you should care.

Did you just spend $300 on a single speaker? Bought a cool RGB keyboard to impress everyone you hang out with at weekends (i.e. nobody)?

Those are depreciating assets and suck up your money but won’t be worth anything in the end. You’ll throw that speaker in the trash when Apple stops supporting it and realize that people don’t actually think your keyboard is that cool.

Your body on the other hand? It gets worse over time. It takes more resources (money and time) to keep it running. The kicker? You can’t just replace it and send it to the deprecated pile.

Your mind is on a one-way ticket out of the world too. It degenerates over time, and you need to look after it.

You need to look after yourself now unless you want to spend your old age in never-ending pain and stupidity.

Save Your Mind: How to improve your posture

Cut the sugar

High blood sugar over time damages blood vessels in the brain that carry oxygen-rich blood. If your brain receives too little blood, cells die.

You know, those things you think with

Seriously, cut the sugar

Some people call dementia stage 3 diabetes. Sugar spikes are causing you damage, and you risk a sharp cognitive decline.

You know, that thing you code with

Be mindful

Studies suggest that focusing on the present can positively impact health and well-being. Mindfulness-based treatments have been shown to reduce anxiety and depression. There’s also evidence that mindfulness can lower blood pressure and improve sleep. It may even help people cope with pain.

So, get that App, and shape up your relaxation techniques

If you can’t sleep, you can’t code well

Save Your Back: How to improve your posture

Don’t take the lift

Take all the opportunities to move as you can. Walk. Get off the bus or metro one stop early. Stretch up as you move through doorways.

Your back will thank you

Get a chair. Or a standing desk. Or both.

Your employer should be helping you out here. Even if they aren’t, you only get one body so YOU should invest in its maintenance. So, either get:

That’s not a gaming chair either. Don’t get a gaming chair

Or a standing desk. Or sit straight and promise me to use an external monitor rather than that laptop.

Do you promise?

Make your everyday better

Cut the phone walk, talk, and sit

Your phone isn’t nearly as ergonomic as you might think. It has a massive effect on your head posture. Looking down at where your feet are

and doing in rather than getting OUT OF MY WAY

isn’t just rude, it’s damaging your whole posture.

You shouldn’t just stop using a phone. You should stretch your back. You should give your brain a reset too and think about things away from the computer screen.

Stretch

It’s free! I know you’re sitting in your chair with your Switch tempting you to play those new (old) Gameboy games. I know. Yet a stretch doesn’t take long. It’s portable.

If you don’t know how to stretch, go to a yoga class.

If you don’t know how to stretch, I don’t know how to help you

Oh, and only stretch on an out-breath.

Take it easy. You’ll be able to refactor that class later.

Breathe

Posture is about breath. It’s about anxiety. It’s about stress. Since you need to breathe anyway, you might as well get it right.

I control my breath and heartrate to get wins on Fortnite. Does that count?

You’ll need to breathe deeply into your diaphragm. Your whole body will appreciate you.

Move

The workday is just too long. Every hour you should be moving, not just standing up. Your mind and body are connected, and you should be using every opportunity to move into different positions and in different ways throughout the day.

Just do it

Is this article sponsored by Nike?

Conclusion

My Apple Watch just told me to stand. I did it, I’m looking after my posture.

Now go away, I’ve coding to do.