Stress! The release date is coming. The client is changing the requirements at the last moment. QAs are reporting bugs. Everything breaks. You work long hours, and you still have a ton of work (but meanwhile, you have two meetings you must attend). Sounds familiar, right?
So, how do we survive that and keep our sanity?
I won’t preach to you how you should meditate, eat healthily, do sports, etc. Of course, these things are essential, but today I want to share my approach with you—my philosophical point of view.
Just embrace the stress
I know this sounds ludicrous but let me finish.
No matter where I have worked, the workload has never been perfectly balanced. And that is normal. Some weeks are very hectic. In others, you are looking for any work just because you are getting bored.
Developers are not perfect. Managers are not perfect. And, of course, clients are not perfect. Sometimes even with the best planning, things are going downhill. Then the stress kicks in.
What can you do about it? Not much or everything. It depends on your attitude.
Be colder then your Ex’s heart
Stress peaks have always existed, and they are not going anywhere.
That’s why you should train yourself to take them as something normal that happens from time to time.
When I enter such a period, I try to give my best without panicking. I know that this period will end sooner or later, and the only important thing is how good I acted during it.
Is it possible to fail? Sure, but at least I know I did the best I could.
It sounds easy, but in reality, it is not. It took me years to change my mind in that way.
The most important thing you should remember is that this is normal. Don’t fight it, and don’t give it more power than it has. Embrace it and be a part of it. Consider it as a challenge you are going to beat. Beat badly!
Practicing this way of thinking, you will notice how your actions are more organized with every new stress period, and you are calmer.
When to quit?
As I said above, stress peaks are typical to happen from time to time. But if you work in constant stress and toxic environment, that indicates that something is very wrong. Don’t put up with this.
P.S.
Every time I hear the words “stress” and “software development” in one sentence, that image comes to mind 😊.
