How I Manage Stress as a Software Developer with Mindfulness

I’ve been a software engineer for 11 years. Over this time, I’ve observed (and been a part of) a lot of change within the industry. The field of software development has grown in popularity and importance as technology plays an ever-growing role in our lives. The frameworks developers use every day have changed, expanded, and in some cases, been replaced. Our teams have become cross-functional and global. From the perspective of a developer, the world has become one dominated by tech startups, with software development at the center. 

Throughout my career, I’ve become accustomed to the constant stress of my profession: delivering high-quality solutions on tight timelines, keeping my skills sharp amid the regular emergence of new technology stacks, managing competition (from both other companies and developers), releasing hotfixes on the fly for multiple companies, and working with demanding clients, to name a few.

For me, this pressure hasn’t been limited to fast turnarounds. Nor is it just the expectations I place on myself and have placed on me by others. It has also been the result of technological advancement. The emergence of tools like Slack and Zoom allowed us to build teams that spanned not only countries but the entire world. While this strengthened our ability to collaborate, it also made us available any time of day or night. Combined with the rise of technology in our personal lives, we are so connected that we flood ourselves with information, constantly switching between platforms, tools, apps, and websites. I can’t help but feel hyper-connected. 

I’m sure that we all experience this hyper-connectedness and its side effects to a degree. As software engineers, we are part of a hypercompetitive space. Stress is part of our day-to-day, and overconnectivity is a fact. While I believe this to be true, I also felt there had to be ways of adjusting my inner world to cope with the outer one. 

For me, this is called Mindfulness. 

Through my research, I’ve come to believe that neuroscience holds some answers on how to mitigate the effects overconnectivity might produce on our bodies by understanding how our brains work. 

In this article, I will share what I’ve learned about mindfulness, how it helped me meet the stressors of my daily life head on, and share a few ways you might apply it in your life.

What Makes Software Engineering Such a Stressful Job?

The software development industry is full of challenging and stressful situations. We are expected to meet exceedingly high expectations by delivering a written piece of code that should be “infallible.” High quality is expected, technical debt should be reduced to its minimum, and tight deadlines are just part of the equation. This is how the industry works. While we love what we do, it has become a hyper competitive space. Therefore, the pressure is always on, and burnout is just around the corner. So, how can we continue to enjoy what we do?