💚 Code Calm: Stress Buster
Words < 1000 - Read time < 5 mins
Introduction
Stress can feel like an unavoidable side effect of the job.
🔴 Tight deadlines
🔴 Complex coding tasks
🔴 Navigating feedback
You find yourself in the grip of stress's unwelcome embrace.
Let’s talk about how you escape.
Key Takeaways 🔑
✅ Stress triggers our body's "fight or flight" response, but prolonged activation can lead to anxiety, restlessness, and burnout.
✅ Stress accumulates like objects filling a bucket.
Whether they're small pebbles or hefty boulders, you reach a tipping point where even minor stressors can overflow your bucket and impact your mental and physical wellbeing.
✅ You can manage stress with breathing techniques that induce a parasympathetic state, such as the physiological sigh.
It acts as a physiological reset button, reducing stress levels, promoting relaxation, and enhancing overall wellbeing.
The Fight Against Stress
Stress is an occupational hazard.
Our stress response used to turn up in life-threatening situations.
These days, it responds to various triggers:
🟣 Preparing to receive feedback on an important pull request
🟣 Diving into a complex coding task
🟣 Impending deadlines…
It's your body's way of saying, "Get ready!"
The Sympathetic Nervous System
Our bodies naturally respond to heightened stress by activating the sympathetic nervous system.
This response is often called the "fight or flight" mode.
It's a survival mechanism that prepares us to deal with threats.
The sympathetic state comes with a surge of adrenaline and heightened alertness.
Your heart rate increases, your muscles tense, and your senses sharpen.
This response is useful in life-threatening situations.
It's not sustainable for prolonged periods.
It’s less useful in the general day to day of software development.
It can leave you feeling anxious and restless and even lead to burnout.
Understanding Stress Accumulation
Picture this: Your mind is like an empty bucket at the start of each day.
Throughout the day, stressors fill your bucket.
🔵 It could be a small pebble, like a minor bug.
🔵 Or a larger stone, like a looming project deadline.
🔵 Boulders can represent major life events or personal challenges.
Tipping Point
Here's the thing…
Small pebbles can fill your bucket as much as a single hefty stone can.
When your stress bucket reaches its limit, the next stressor will cause it to overflow.
No matter what size it is…
This is when stress negatively impacts your mental and physical health.
You could manage sizable stones all day…
Get home, and a small pebble might tip you over the edge…
If only you could empty your bucket…
Breathing Techniques
During stress, one of the most powerful tools at your disposal is your breath.
Breathing techniques offer a simple yet effective way to manage stress and promote relaxation.
The Parasympathetic Nervous System
Employing appropriate breathing techniques helps you move into a parasympathetic state.
In parasympathetic state:
🟢Your heart rate decreases
🟢 Your muscles relax
🟢 Your body prepares for recovery and regeneration.
You regain a sense of calm and composure.
Effectively emptying some of the contents from your stress bucket.
Why It Matters 🤷♂️
If left unchecked, stress can have serious health implications.
It can have mental and physical symptoms, including:
👉 Headaches and muscle tightness
👉 Cardiovascular problems and digestive disorders
👉 Mental health issues and sleep disturbances.
It can contribute to broken relationships at home and work.
It can destroy your job satisfaction and erode your motivation.
Reducing productivity and creativity.
Leading to burnout.
Rendering you ineffective and unable to make a significant contribution.
Take Action 🔥
Several breathing techniques help reduce your stress levels and start emptying your bucket.
I even developed a breathing simulator to help you get to grips with them.
You can explore:
🟢 Equal Breathing
🟢 Box Breathing
🟢 4-7-8 Breathing
An additional technique for reducing stress is the physiological sigh.
The Physiological Sigh
The physiological sigh is a rapid double inhalation followed by a deep exhalation through the mouth.
This technique acts as a physiological reset button, shifting the body from the "fight or flight" response to the "rest and digest" state.
By calming the nervous system, the physiological sigh helps reduce stress levels and restore a sense of calm.
Here's how it works:
👉 Take a deep inhale through the nose…
👉 Now, without breathing out, quickly take another inhale through your nose (it will be much shorter)
👉 Finally, exhale deeply from the mouth ( a big sigh )
Practising the physiological sigh hits the brakes on your body's stress response and moves it towards a state of relaxation and wellbeing.
A few rounds of this technique can make a noticeable difference.
It lets you stay calm under pressure and regain control of your emotions.
Over time, you'll find that:
✅ Your stress levels decrease
✅ Your sleep quality improves
✅ Your mood becomes more balanced
Rich’s Recommendations
Check out my recommendations to improve your wellbeing, mindset, leadership or tech skills:
👍 The Upside of Stress by Kelly McGonigal
This is a great book to help better understand stress and how your thinking can change its impacts.
A great way to get started with breathing techniques.
👍 NK’s weekly newsletter to learn system design:
Newsletter: System Design Newsletter
👍Jordan Cutler’s weekly newsletter providing actionable advice for software engineers to grow faster in their careers:
Newsletter: High Growth Engineer
👍 John Crickett’s weekly coding challenge to help software engineers level up:
Newsletter: Coding Challenges
Closing
Stress is an inevitable part of the journey.
In small amounts, it can be healthy for growth.
Just as muscles need resistance to become stronger, facing challenges can help you hone your skills and capabilities.
You must keep an eye on the level of your bucket and find ways to reduce its contents when needed.
Breathing techniques are a great way to do this.
Mindfulness, prioritising self-care and contributing to a supportive environment are also great ways to prevent your stress bucket from overflowing. 👍
Remember
There's nothing more important than your own wellbeing!
Great tips, Richard! I tried different things, such as guided meditation and breathing techniques, but I settled with walks. I guess it's equally important to try a few of these until you find what's the most effective for you. Also, I work remotely, so getting in a 30-minute walk is not difficult.