Healthy Habits – How to Become a Better Developer and Live a Happier Life

As a junior developer, I was a wreck. My typical day looked like this:

Wake up groggy after less than 6 hours of sleep. Gulp down coffee and a sugary pastry on the way to work. Hunch over my desk for hours debugging, subsisting on energy drinks and vending machine snacks. Deliver subpar, buggy code. Go home and veg out in front of Netflix with beer and pizza. Stare at screens until 2am. Repeat.

Within months, I had gained 20 pounds, developed chronic back pain and wrist strain (the dreaded carpal tunnel!), and was constantly irritable and anxious. My work performance tanked. I was a shadow of my former ambitious, optimistic self.

Perhaps you can relate to some degree? The unfortunate reality is that many developers sacrifice their physical and mental health in the pursuit of shipping code. But grinding ourselves into the ground serves no one. After much trial and error, I‘ve discovered that investing in my well-being makes me a better programmer and a happier human.

In this article, I‘ll deep dive into five essential healthy habits for developers, sharing research-backed benefits and practical tips from my experience in the trenches. I‘ll also share strategies for making these habits effortless and automatic, so you can upgrade yourself as a programmer and a person with less struggle. Let‘s dive in!

The Dismal State of Developer Health

We developers are not a healthy bunch, statistically speaking. According to a 2021 health survey from Stack Overflow:

• Over 50% of developers are overweight or obese
• 71% report experiencing back pain in the last year
• 23% have chronic wrist pain or RSI symptoms
• 32% classify themselves as physically inactive
• 15% smoke cigarettes and 27% are dependent on caffeine

Mental health issues are also rampant:

• 33% of developers report having mood disorders like anxiety or depression
• Over 60% say they feel burned out or emotionally drained from work
• Only 25% say their work-life balance is good

As someone who used to embody all those stats, I‘m not here to judge. But I am here to say that adopting healthier habits can dramatically increase your performance and fulfillment both on and off the job. Specifically, there are 5 areas every programmer should optimize.

The Big 5 Health Habits for Developers

1. Fueling for Peak Cognitive Performance

As knowledge workers, our brains are our most valuable assets. And the quality of our thinking depends heavily on the quality of our diets.

Multiple studies have shown that diets high in processed, sugary, and fried foods impair memory, focus, and overall brain function. Nutrient-dense whole plant foods, on the other hand, enhance mental performance on almost every metric.

So what should developers be eating? Here‘s what the research suggests:

Brain-Boosting Foods	Serving Suggestions
Leafy greens (spinach, kale, collards)	Salads, smoothies, sauteed as side dish
Berries (blueberries, strawberries, etc)	Oatmeal/yogurt topping, snacks
Nuts and seeds (walnuts, pumpkin seeds, etc)	Trail mix, salad topping, nut butters
Fatty fish (salmon, sardines, trout)	Grill, bake, use in fish tacos/burgers
Whole grains (brown rice, oats, quinoa)	Grain bowls, pilafs, breakfast porridge
Legumes (black beans, lentils, edamame)	Veggie chili, dahl, hummus, roasted chickpeas

Some specific nutrients to emphasize include:

• Omega-3 fatty acids (DHA/EPA) for brain cell health
• B vitamins for neurotransmitter and energy production
• Antioxidants and polyphenols for fighting inflammation

Many popular diets can work for enhancing cognitive function, as long as they include these nourishing foods and minimize empty calories. I personally follow a whole-food plant-based diet, which research suggests may slow age-related mental decline. Other developers swear by keto, paleo, or intermittent fasting. The key is finding an eating pattern that leaves you energized, satiated, and clear-headed.

Here‘s what a typical food day looks like for me:

• Breakfast: Overnight oats with berries, chia seeds, walnuts
• Lunch: Massaged kale salad with lentils, sweet potato, tahini dressing
• Snacks: Baby carrots and hummus, apple and almond butter
• Dinner: Buddha bowl with brown rice, roasted vegetables, tofu, peanut sauce
• Dessert: Square of 85% dark chocolate

Eating this way has greatly improved my ability to focus for long periods and solve complex coding problems. Give your brain premium fuel and it will thank you!

2. Getting Physical to Boost Mental Output

The stereotype of the sedentary, out-of-shape programmer hunched over a keyboard is all too accurate. But countless studies show that regular movement is essential for peak mental performance.

Cardiovascular exercise like brisk walking, cycling, dancing, and swimming increases blood flow to the brain, supplying it with energy and enabling the growth of new brain cells. Resistance training with weights or bodyweight exercises has also been shown to sharpen memory and lift brain fog. Even just standing up and stretching can provide an immediate boost in concentration.

The current Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend that adults get at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity exercise (e.g., fast walking) or 75 minutes of high-intensity activity (e.g., running, swimming laps). We should also do muscle-strengthening activities at least twice a week.
I‘ll be honest – I used to think I didn‘t have time to work out as a programmer. Now I realize I don‘t have time not to! Exercise is what enables me to show up mentally and code my best.

Here are some ways I fit movement into my busy workdays:

• Bike or walk to work when possible
• Use a standing desk or treadmill desk for part of the day
• Take the stairs instead of the elevator
• Do 5-10 minute mini workout breaks – pushups, air squats, yoga flows
• Go for a walking 1:1 meeting or brainstorm stroll
• Play beat saber or dance dance revolution for cardio on rainy days

The key is to make movement a non-negotiable part of your routine, like brushing your teeth. Start small with a daily 5 minute walk and scale up from there. Your programming brain will become faster and less buggy!

3. Finding Flow Through Stress Management

Developers are all too familiar with stress. Unrealistic deadlines, complex legacy code, impatient clients, ever-changing tech stacks – it‘s enough to make anyone‘s cortisol levels skyrocket.

Chronic stress doesn‘t just make us feel lousy. It literally kills brain cells and shrinks the prefrontal cortex, impairing our abilities to learn, remember, and make rational decisions. We need healthy ways to defuse and prevent stress if we want to keep coding at a high level for the long haul.

Meditation has become my secret weapon for keeping a calm, focused mind under pressure. Research on programmers has found that regular meditation improves coding performance, work engagement, and overall well-being. Personally, meditating for just 10-20 minutes each morning noticeably improves my problem-solving speed and bug-catching vigilance.

Some other tactics I use to manage coding stress:

• Breathwork and stretching breaks
• Listening to classical or lo-fi beats while working
• Keeping a gratitude journal
• Making time for play – hiking, painting, board games with friends
• Talking through challenges with a therapist or coach

Stress may be an occupational hazard of programming, but it doesn‘t have to overwhelm us. With the right tools and habits, we can access the fast track to flow state!

4. Staying a Passionate Beginner for Life

When I first learned to code, everything was amazing. Each new language, framework, and development concept blew my mind. I couldn‘t get enough! But as I gained competence, some of that wide-eyed wonder faded. I started dreading the vast unknowns on my projects instead of being intrigued by them.

Then I learned about beginner‘s mind, a concept from Zen Buddhism. Beginner‘s mind means having an open, eager, and nonjudgmental attitude, even toward subjects we‘re knowledgeable about. It‘s the opposite of the jaded "know-it-all" mindset.

Cultivating beginner‘s mind has reinvigorated my coding career and expanded it into exciting new realms. Now when I encounter a thorny bug or have to learn a new language, I try to approach it with the same curiosity and can-do spirit as my novice programmer self. I also apply the concept to learning new skills outside of tech, like cooking, yoga, and foreign languages.

Staying a beginner keeps our minds flexible and young. Some ways to practice:

• Teach or mentor others in your areas of expertise
• Regularly learn and build with a new tech outside your comfort zone
• Read and listen to experts with differing views
• Ask lots of questions and embrace feeling silly
• Reframe challenges as opportunities to experiment and grow

Ultimately, mastering the skill of learning itself may be the ultimate health and performance hack. Let‘s never stop growing!

5. Prioritizing Rest to Do Our Best

As developers, our culture celebrates the late-night coder fueled by caffeine and adrenaline. But functioning in a state of sleep deprivation is like coding drunk – it leads to sloppy work that takes longer to fix later.

The research is clear: Getting sufficient sleep is essential for consolidating memories, regulating emotions, and thinking clearly and creatively. Most healthy adults need 7-9 hours per night. Regularly falling short of that dramatically impairs our cognitive abilities across the board.

Here are some tips for getting truly restful sleep:

• Stick to a consistent sleep schedule, even on weekends
• Create a bedtime wind-down routine free of screens
• Keep your bedroom dark, cool, and quiet
• Limit caffeine intake, especially later in the day
• Get regular daylight exposure to regulate your circadian rhythm

In addition to sufficient nighttime sleep, our brains need regular breaks throughout the workday to maintain peak performance. Focusing intensely on cognitively demanding tasks like programming is very depleting. Downtime isn‘t a waste – it‘s a vital way to replenish our mental energy!

Some of my favorite workday recharge hacks:

• 5-15 minute power naps
• Pomodoro time blocking with 5-10 min breaks between sprints
• Eating lunch away from desk
• Switching between focused work and less intense admin tasks
• Ending work at a consistent time each day with a hard shutdown ritual

When we truly prioritize high-quality rest, we gain the presence and stamina to do our best work!

Engineering Effortless Healthy Habits

Of course, knowing what to do is much easier than actually doing it consistently. Through much experimentation, I‘ve found a few key principles to be incredibly helpful for making healthy behaviors automatic, default, and even enjoyable.

One is habit stacking – attaching a new habit to an existing one. For example, I meditate right after brushing my teeth each morning. The existing habit acts as a trigger for the new one.

Another is friction reduction – making good habits as easy and frictionless as possible. I always keep healthy snacks like apples and almonds in my desk drawer so I‘m not tempted by pastries in the breakroom. I also have my yoga mat and last workout journal someplace visible when I walk in the door after a tiring workday.

Habit tracking has also been vital for me. I use a simple spreadsheet to log metrics like sleep duration, meditation sessions, and workouts completed. Watching the streaks grow is incredibly motivating. There are also many great apps for this like Habitica, Strides, and Habitshare.

Your Health Is Your Most Important Project

Fellow developers, we have a choice. We can continue to sacrifice our well-being at the altar of code and burnout, or we can build the habits that enable us to thrive and improve for years to come.

Mastering our physical and mental health is a worthy challenge on par with mastering any programming skill. It takes focus, consistency, and a willingness to start small and improve iteratively. But the payoff – feeling energized, clear-headed, and resilient in the face of any bug or deadline – is so worth it.

Let‘s apply the passion and tenacity we bring to shipping features to optimizing our own performance. Let‘s put our problem-solving abilities toward eating, moving, and resting in the ways that fuel our best work. Let‘s approach our health with a beginner‘s mind, stay curious, and never stop leveling up!

Our code can change the world. And so can changing our habits. Here‘s to becoming the happiest, healthiest, most effective developers we can be!