How To Improve Mental Health For Software Developers

With World Mental Health Day behind us, I considered how challenging it may be to be psychologically well in the IT business. Working remotely, especially under unusual circumstances, might exacerbate an already challenging scenario. I've been working remotely in technology for more than a decade, and I'll give my advice on how fast-paced technical companies should look after their software development talent.

At its finest, software development is a creative activity. To do high-quality work, developers require a certain amount of comfort. Even in the best of circumstances, dull work, noisy offices, and too many meetings can stifle productivity.

Health, on the other hand, is a more fundamental need, almost at the bottom of the hierarchy of needs, which includes mental health. To do their jobs, software developers need to keep their brains in excellent health, and when things aren't going well, we may see it in our colleague's code before the genuine problem is even stated.

This is made more challenging by the scattered nature of remote startup teams. When you work from home, you don't have access to the office services that can help you support your team's well-being. It can be difficult to recognize whether a colleague is having a difficult time, not simply because of the complimentary fruit and coffee or the bean bags. It's tougher to tell who's coming in late, leaving early, or just seems a little... flat when we're not all in the same place.

It's also more difficult to see if someone is doing well when there isn't a watercooler talk going on. However, if you're unsure about someone and want to check in with them, my suggestion is to always contact out. We need to communicate more as remote teams, and when it comes to mental health, it's preferable to say something and find out someone is fine, rather than letting them reach a breaking point on their own.

1.Give the gift of autonomy

For more than a decade, I've worked remotely – by choice, for a variety of major and small companies, as well as my own freelance consulting. Working from home gives me the most flexibility, especially since my work as a software developer is more on the maker's timetable.

I discovered a number of life hacks that enabled me to accomplish more of my best work, such as going to the gym at 11 a.m. after a long day at the office or pre-heating dinner before the last meeting of the day. This freedom to have a little more "life" outside of work has been beneficial to my personal health, particularly when I've been struggling.

The major drivers of motivation are autonomy, mastery, and purpose, according to Daniel Pink's book "Drive." Successful software development work requires motivation, recognition, and confidence. It's incredibly pleasant to be able to use your abilities to contribute to a larger purpose, and this can be especially satisfying for developers at startups where they have greater leeway in choosing and prioritizing tasks.

According to Haystack study, 83 percent of developers express burnout, therefore be sure to set realistic goals for your software workers. When there is no physical workplace, it is more difficult to send people home at a respectable hour, therefore such expectations must be clearly stated, especially when there are flexible working hours and it is easy to allow major tasks take over.

2. Education says you care

Because the market evolves so quickly, developers must be perpetual learners. They invest in themselves, their knowledge, and their abilities on a regular basis.

You can also invest in them as persons as an employer. Some employers provide significant training budgets or vacation time. I used to work for a tiny software business that didn't have a study budget, but you could schedule one day per month to learn something new and either help yourself to the textbook shelf or request a one-hour tutorial from someone else to get you started on a new topic. Although it didn't cost the corporation much, I had the impression that they wanted me to succeed.

3. Freedom to work

Money doesn't work as a motivator for developers, but providing them time and trusting them to use it for something other than direct product engineering work can have a significant influence.

Google is well-known for allowing employees to devote 20% of their time for whatever they find interesting. It even resulted in some helpful products, but the most important thing is that engineers felt engaged and trusted at work. Atlassian is also known for doing something similar, requiring all workers to work for 24 hours on projects of their choosing, resulting in unexpected discoveries and improvements that would not have been released otherwise.

Many developers devote a significant amount of effort to open source projects. I've tried a few times to explain this to folks in other fields, and it turns out that hacker culture is perplexing.

Developers, on the other hand, strongly identify with this world, with 91% saying open source is in their future. Allowing developers to contribute to open source can help them feel more appreciated. Open source communities can be a vital element of a developer's social and support networks, as well as their identity, which is important for their overall well-being.

4. Lessons from open source

In the way we enable others to participate alongside us in projects, our modern workplace can learn a lot from open source. Open source projects provide a good example of how a genuinely remote workflow might work.

Some of our software's core building blocks were created by folks who only knew each other through a mailing list or an IRC channel. Software was developed, but maybe more importantly, strong bonds were formed.

Today's remote software teams, whether by choice or circumstance, have access to far more amazing technologies. Source control and collaboration technologies are now more than just a mailing list, and we can all communicate by text chat, audio, or video call at any time. Using screen sharing or technologies like VSCode Live Share, we can even link apps remotely.

All of this connectedness, on the other hand, might contribute to increased stress and notification fatigue. Keep in mind that software developers are all unique; one person's working style will not be the same as another's. Open source projects work in a way that respects everyone's time and doesn't demand someone to be available at any given time — rather, within a predetermined time slot.

Setting expectations about how quickly anybody is expected to respond to Slack messages — and scheduling as few meetings as possible that leave large periods of thinking time — can actually help to foster a peaceful working atmosphere for remote teams performing complex technology work.

5. Work-life balance

When the epidemic halted our daily commutes, many of us were left with less-than-ideal work environments. Many of us found it difficult to concentrate while parked on the sofa or at the kitchen table, possibly with other family members around. Increased levels of burnout were widely noted.

Even if your developers have been working from home for a while, it's never a bad idea to double-check whether they need a new display, a backup power supply, or a new keyboard. Many businesses now provide work-from-home budgets, but when it comes to ensuring that your developers have the tools they want, a little goes a long way.

Take some time at work to mingle with your coworkers. Corporate team building should hopefully be a thing of the past, but several easy internet activities might help lighten the mood. If your organization has an EAP (employee assistance program), make sure all of your employees are aware of it and how to use it. It's not a bad idea to remind managers that the programs are available to them as well, not just their employees.

A startup can be a difficult place to be when it comes to mental health. They're fast-paced, with multiple plates to keep spinning and frequent modifications. My best suggestion is to watch out for one another, and I don't simply mean managers watching out for the people who work for them. We can all help by keeping an eye out for others and taking care of ourselves.

There are warning indicators that we are about to burn out. We need to figure out how to make our employment long-term sustainable and something we do alongside our healthy lifestyles. It's easier said than done, but busy startups must remember that their employees are important.

If you or someone you know is struggling with depression or has had thoughts of harming themselves or taking their own life, The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255) provides 24/7, free, confidential support for people in distress, as well as best practices for professionals and resources to aid in prevention and crisis situations.