Over the years of coding and working daily as a software engineer, I’ve seen a lot of people falling into many unhealthy habits. And some of these are so bad that they actually hurt their career. I’ve seen senior people who were in the industry for years — dealing with depression and burnout, wishing they’d made different choices earlier on.
To be honest, working at a desk for long periods of time is not aligned with how humans have evolved. In the past, we had to work hard with our muscles and whole body just to survive and get food. But with the advancement of technology, this reality has been ignored. Most people love to sit in a chair for hours. And the worst thing is that when they are bored, they consume more and more unhealthy things that give them short-term pleasure to maintain their state of comfort.
I mean, this is a vicious cycle, right? When this cycle goes on and on, finally, after years have passed, it eventually causes real damage — That is hard to come back from.
I’m going to give you advice on my personal experience about how to maintain good mental and physical health. And trust me, you will feel incredible and motivated like never before.
Tip 1: Embrace Boredom
What is the last time you sat on a chair without your phone or laptop, just look around the nature and surroundings, and let your thoughts take over? Were you even bored lately?
Attention is the new currency. Billion-dollar companies like Meta and TikTok are engineering products that are heavily addictive, and then they engineer mechanisms in their product that align with human psychology of how our brains work, so if you are addicted to any kind of algorithmically suggested content, it is not 100% your fault. But acknowledgment is necessary, and you should be mindful when using these products.
Info: During boredom, the mind naturally drifts from one thought to another, connecting unrelated concepts you learned throughout the day, leading to creative insights. Your mind connects the dots while your brain is in an idle state.
So if you are distracted constantly, the brain mechanism for creativity is switched off.
If you are not creative and your brain is fully cluttered and anxious? How will you be able to engineer complex solutions? Think wisely.
Tip 2: Build Moving Habits
I think everyone has experienced back or neck pain at some point while sitting for a long time. Then most people say, “oh man, I need a better chair.”
Warning: Solution is not a chair. Solution is movement. Your muscles need to stretch, relax, and work like they are evolved to do, otherwise your bones are getting so much unwanted force, and over time, that leads to joint pain and all kinds of other issues.
I personally do a lot of sports: Running, Hiking, and Strength training. But I’m not telling you to be like me. It took years for me to build these habits. You can start today. Then gradually build those habits. It will drastically improve your mental clarity, too.
Regular aerobic exercise, like running, helps use up excess adrenaline and lowers cortisol (stress hormone) production, which improves recovery after stressful events and enhances overall stress resilience. Running also supports brain health by improving neuronal connections (flow state), which further helps the body cope better with stress over time.
Tip 3: Connect with People and Do Not Isolate Yourself
I will give you tips I personally used to socialize more and connect with people. Humans are social animals, and we are really happy when we are with other people. And our ups and downs are more meaningful and tolerable when we share them with our close ones. Happiness is real only when shared.
What I did to connect with more people:
- Sign up for a gym and slowly introduce yourself to the people. Join running clubs or any form of sports club you like. There are plenty of them.
- Talk to friends from school, campus, or early days, send them a message. They may be surprised because these days people do not genuinely talk with others, otherwise they need something from you.
- Meet with people. Show up for gatherings. You may miss so many things in life because of your ego stopping you from meeting people.
- When you see stories of people going outside and travelling, reply and like to them, showing your enthusiasm, and slowly tell them to include you as well.
Note: Please be genuine; do not use people to your advantage. If you are such of person, this article is not for you (and others know that too).
The Most Important Tip
The most important tip among all is doing things without reading posts or watching endless videos about self-improvement or stoicism. Most people know what to do already, but they do not execute them (including me). So stop scrolling, stop watching YouTube, stop stimulating the brain, and execute the plan.
See ya.
This article is 100% written by human. Perplexity AI is used only for research. Grammar corrected by Grammarly.
Image is generated using Gemini Nano banana image model.