Becoming a Happy Developer
In my previous article, I tried to discuss the stress and perturbation most of the developers face in their career and also some golden rules to overcome them. While this covers the ways to overcome the anxiety part, happiness needs a little more attention.
Being a developer means you need to be mentally very strong to face multiple challenges including but not limited to learning new frameworks/technologies, meeting tight deadlines and long meetings to sit in etc. It’s a continuous and never ending cycle, yet we need to find as small portion of happiness as we can in everything we do so we can enjoy and make most of this career.
In this article, we’ll be exploring some most proven ways of keeping yourself happy being a developer.
Work for projects/domain that satisfies you!
Software development has more demand than supply. Most of the companies out there are looking for some sort of software to be built, resulting in endless opportunities, but not necessarily all opportunities going to fulfil you or resonate with your interests.
If you are working for something like that, try to find a way out and find something satisfactory for you.
For example, you might be sort of a person who does not like to work with products revolving around betting or gambling. You are more interested and believed building something which makes the user’s life better rather just about making the money.
Try to communicate this with your line managers or the concerned authorities in a non-conflicting way.
Work in a Tech-Stack you enjoy the most!
In a world of above 700 programming languages, find a stack that you enjoy working in which has a lot of room for learning. This will help keep you engaged from a growth perspective but also keep the work fun.
Working in a stack which makes you bore is going to kill your interest, attraction and enthusiasm to grow or elevate your skills.
Find the right stack for you, at this point in your career, and make the most of it.
Avoid conflicts, leave your ego at home!
Everybody has an ego. No one can deny that as it’s natural.
The problem comes in when we let our egos drive us. We use it to try impress everyone else around or to protect ourselves from criticism. It’s not healthy.
In order to stay happy in your day to day routine, try to forget about your ego. Don’t always try to appear smart and rather ask questions when you don’t understand something. Don’t fear comments on your pull requests but rather embrace the opportunity to learn and grow.
Calming your ego will lead to more learning, less stress and a happier experience.
Be the leader your team deserves!
At some point in your career you’ll find yourself in charge of a project or team.
This is an amazing opportunity to make a real difference on a project and a team but it can also have an impact on your outlook and attitude.
Remember: be the leader like the one you always wanted to have!
Some of us were lucky enough to have great leaders and mentors to make our careers better but not everyone is so lucky. Actually, most aren’t so lucky.
It is guaranteed that you will find far more satisfaction and fulfilment from helping others grow their careers than writing code yourself. Realize that your role as leader is not to output the most features but rather nurture the team.
Seeing those around you begin to blossom brings about a level of happiness that is unmatched.
Hopefully these simple traits will help you out in becoming a fulfilled, satisfied and happy developer.
See you in the next article!
Disclaimer:
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