📺 Develpreneur YouTube Episode

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Taking Breaks to Boost Developer Health and Productivity

2024-11-12 •Youtube

Detailed Notes

In Episode 8 of Building Better Developers Season 23, hosts Rob and Michael explore the importance of taking breaks for health. This episode, part of the “Building Better Habits” season, offers strategies for integrating breaks throughout the workday. From using the Pomodoro Technique to taking short, mindful walks, Rob and Michael show how stepping away can prevent burnout and improve focus.

*The Episode Challenge: Three 5-Minute Walks*

We challenge listeners in this episode to take three 5-minute walks during the workday. These breaks aren’t for casual tasks but for deliberate, intentional walks. We emphasize the importance of a conscious break to reset and recharge. Whether it’s a quick lap outside or around the office, these three walks boost physical health and mental clarity.

Read more: https://develpreneur.com/taking-breaks-to-boost-developer-health-and-productivity

*Stay Connected: Join the Developreneur Community*

We invite you to join our community and share your coding journey with us. Whether you’re a seasoned developer or just starting, there’s always room to learn and grow together. Contact us at [email protected] with your questions, feedback, or suggestions for future episodes. Together, let’s continue exploring the exciting world of software development.

*Additional Resources* * Pomodoro Technique: Boost Your Focus and Productivity with Time-Blocking (https://develpreneur.com/pomodoro-technique-boost-your-focus-and-productivity-with-time-blocking/) * Staying Healthy and Exercise for The Insanely Busy (https://develpreneur.com/staying-healthy-and-exercise-for-the-insanely-busy/) * Essential Habits for Software Developers: Boosting Productivity and Career Growth (https://develpreneur.com/essential-habits-for-software-developers-boosting-productivity-and-career-growth/) * Supercharge Your Focus and Productivity: Expert Tips for Success (https://develpreneur.com/supercharge-your-focus-and-productivity-expert-tips-for-success/)

*Follow-us on:*

* https://develpreneur.com/ * https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZOuFN_LhczvGyT2KSItH_g/featured * https://facebook.com/Develpreneur * https://twitter.com/develpreneur * http://linkedin.com/develpreneur

Transcript Text
[Music]
record hey and let's see what do we got
here I
think couple through throughout last
time so one I was thinking
maybe um a little bit of like a break a
little bit but like fun and Recreation
how to figure some of that stuff in um
or possibly
exercise um another one was meeting
prep um interesting one and then resume
or brand enhancement those are a couple
that came to mind last time around was
trying to think of some stuff to throw
out
there I like the fun and excite and like
exercise because one of the things I've
had to do lately is when to walk away
like get up take those you know like
we've been doing the
Pomodoro and one of
my um things with the Pomodoro is after
like 25 35 minutes I get up and I walk
for five or 10 minutes and then I sit
back down so no I like that that's a
good one because if we don't move around
we get stagnant our knees get bad and
our backs get bad and all that fun stuff
and the I'm not sure about the resume
one yet but I like the other one what
was the other one the
meetings meeting prep yeah I like that
one all right we'll start with um I did
not bring water so this should be
interesting so we'll start with the ex
exercise and and breaking things up a
little thing cuz that yeah that does
work pretty well I think for the
Pomodoro so we'll do the little three
two one well hello and welcome back we
are continuing our season when we are
building better habits we are building
better developers we are develop anur I
am Rob Broadhead I am one of the
founders of develop preneur and I am
also a founder of RB Consulting where we
go out there and we take your technology
mess and all of that stuff that's out
there that sort of like junk drawer that
you have of Technology we help you
figure out what you have how to use it
how to leverage it integrate it automate
it simplify it and make it run better
for you so you can get the most out of
your investment and the make the most
out of your time uh and productivity
there from your technology side uh good
thing bad thing uh this time around uh
good thing as we record this the
elections are over so I have not had a
single thing on my H maybe I had one I
think I've only had one text today that
said I need to give money to save the
world or something like that so that is
a good thing uh let's see bad thing bad
thing is it is November like the year is
almost out and there are so many things
I want to get done this year that were
like on my list it's been one of those
years has just been a train wreck of
stuff so uh trying to get everything
done in the last little bit is going to
be a little bit of a challenge uh
speaking of
challenges I cranked up uh in the last
week I've cranked up my pomodoros
initially the challenge was do One A Day
I do two a day and found it to be very
helpful uh I tend to do them almost back
toback so I'll just do one do a quick
break do another one and it has worked
out very well for me there's been a
couple times that it's just I need that
little bit of time to just focus and get
something done because otherwise the day
gets very distracting very quickly uhu
see on the other ones I am still I've
got on my to-do list which is one of
those lists um I'll talk about list in a
second but I am still on need to figure
out my automation I actually have two or
three things I want to automate I just
got to find some time to do it because
hey that's how life is and as far as
list go I found that it has been very
valuable to me a little bit of a tweak
on what we we had talked about is uh I
start with about three to four five
items depending on the day usually it's
three that I try to keep it to that are
my like work rated stuff and then I have
a separate little list that is about
four five items that is my life related
stuff now some of those are things I do
every day like for for example my
Pomodoro type thing to make sure that I
knock a couple of those out but it's a
nice way to sort of distinguish between
the things that I just want to get done
today and the things that I are more
important that I have to get done today
as we will say one of the things I have
to get done today because otherwise
we'll run out of time is passes on to
Michael so he can introduce himself go
for it hey everyone my name is Michael
molash I'm one of the founders
co-founders of developer ner building
better developers and I'm the founder of
Envision QA where we essentially take
development and put testing first we do
test driven development we help small to
midsize companies build software that
meets their needs through essentially
use cases user stories so you are
essentially getting what you need and
there are no surprises at the end of the
race good thing bad thing I'll start
with the bad thing um had a major water
leak at my house uh literally today just
spent about the last 6 hours with the
plumer digging about a 3ft hole we
finally found it that's the good thing
and it's finally fixed on top of the bad
thing I now have to go to the water
company and try to recoup some of the
cost from uh about 100 gallons of water
that got uh washed away through this
wonderful uh leak in my hydrant um as
far as challenges go I've been cranking
the Pomodoro uh loving it it's
actually I I started feeling bad cuz the
weather's kind of getting cold so we're
stuck in inside more I've been using it
to make sure that I get up from my desk
and I go for a walk I get up I move
around uh in between those little brakes
so I'm stepping away from the computer a
little bit more than I used to which is
good because there could be weeks where
I end up essentially stearing at a
computer screen for 80 hours a week and
don't move and your body doesn't like
you when you do that uh moving on to
some of the other challenges uh I've
been building onto my kitchen sync app
I've been uh working on some more Django
python uh kitchen sync kind of tools
I've been building up some HTML uh
templates which are going to be very
useful and I haven't really done too
much with the automation simply because
I have a project coming up that really
is going to require a lot of automation
so I'm in the prep works for that but I
haven't started it yet because I'm just
waiting on some features and some
information to come in before beginning
that
and with that I'll pass it back to
youo so as as he mentioned uh one of the
things that is important is getting up
and moving around we can like sit there
and we can have really muscular fingers
from typing but that doesn't really help
us in the grand scheme of things so what
I want to talk about this time is taking
a break is finding a way to within your
day find some ways and some tools and
some ways for you to stay halfway
healthy at least even if not yeah maybe
developers are not known as the most
healthy people but some of them are some
of them do really good now there's a lot
of things out there and it has become uh
it's definitely become almost its own
little industry is finding ways to stay
healthy to stay active even if you have
a sedentary type of job now some of the
things that come to mind are uh there's
there are situations where you can have
a desk that's got a um you know some
sort of a a bike underneath it or or
something along those lines standing
desks are very helpful uh especially if
you've got one where you can sort of
move it around so maybe you sit part of
the day maybe you stand part of the day
if you do if you have a lot of meetings
it may be very helpful for you to walk
around a lot to maybe you know stand up
during and and do a little bit of
movement during that meeting uh those
are kinds of things that typically you
may be just sitting there drinking your
coffee or whatever but if you just add a
little bit of movement it makes a big
difference now one of the other things
that is very helpful is literally just
going for a walk now this is one I
really want to I'm going to sort of like
zero in on because it doesn't take much
time at all you can take five minutes
for example at the end of a Pomodoro you
can take five minutes and go for a walk
whether it is uh walk around the
building if it's a small building or
your house or something like that or if
it's a walk to the kitchen if it's on
the far side of the the house or just
walking a lap inside your you know walk
around your desk a few times or
something like that just spending a few
minutes just getting up moving and
walking now the benefit to
this is actually more than just the
health Kind part of it is from a vision
point of you getting up and not staring
at a screen for a little bit is very
helpful for your eyes it's going to help
you like especially if you can go look
outside or distance things look out a
window those kinds of things are going
to help quite a bit another thing is it
helps
you it helps you think it helps you
reset it helps you sort of step away
from the environment you're in and
particularly if you're in a situation
where you're like struggling with
something is it helps your mind reset a
little bit to get that different uh the
different visuals different point of
view and they end up in a situation
where you are now uh like I said
mentally reset able to maybe take a
different perspective on that problem
you're trying to solve and a lot of
times I found that it will help you work
through that problem there have been
many a time that I've gone on a walk and
I'm not sometimes I want to go to 15
minutes walk three minutes later I'm
like I got to hurry back because I just
solved that problem those kinds of
things do happen quite often and so it's
and part of it is it's a benefit of just
like getting the blood flowing and not
getting too sedentary but it also is
going to keep you a little more healthy
a little more awake and in the long run
it's going to make you a much better
developer by itself because a healthy de
developer is a happy developer is a
better developer if you're laying around
if you're in pain if you're sore if you
have sick days all that kind of stuff is
not going to help you out so take a
little bit of time and literally it's
not a lot of time to do this and get a
little bit exercise thoughts on
that yeah and I'm also going to kind of
zero in on the Pomodoro a little bit
here because one of the problems I've
had which has led to my stagnation which
is why I love the fact we're doing the
Pomodoro and I'm using my brakes
actually to walk is because sometimes
our jobs get us stuck in meetings where
people block meetings for an hour they
always run over and you have another
meeting right after that you got to run
to one of the things you can do with
your pomodora which will help with your
walking or exercise to make you feel
better is schedule your meetings to
either start 5 minutes after the hour or
end 5 minutes before the hour so you get
a little break between the meetings and
you have to kind of work the meetings a
little bit to get that five minutes in
so you can get up and step away take a
walk the other thing I'd like to kind of
build on what Rob said is also when you
get up and go for that walk leave your
phone at your desk do not take any
digital devices with you use that time
as a break step away walk away it's not
just for your physical health but it's
also your mental health because if
walking away like Rob said if you're not
looking at something you're just walking
around you start to think you can think
about a problem you can think about
something else that's going on and maybe
you trigger another thought it's like oh
hey I looked the way I figured this out
the other thing is walking around the
building if you have other co-workers if
you're not remote and you're in an
office the other thing you can do is a
buddy system so if you have a team of
developers or you just work with some
people in the office you like work with
them you know kind of schedule time with
them to dedicate hey let's go for a
15minute walk every like maybe four
hours or like every two hours let's get
up maybe go get coffee if it's on the
other side of the building have a little
you know water cooler chat and then come
back to your desk use those times to get
up and move around but you can also use
those time to communicate on nonwork
specific
issues and that is the thing is it's it
go back to being able to just like get
out of I don't want Tock but it is it's
I guess sort of getting out of your rut
getting out of your lane for a little
bit changing gears while we do talk
often about the the cost of Switching
Gears of going from one project to
another and those mental costs and the
little spin up and spin down that we
have mentally to go from Project a to
Project B to project C and how batching
things together can be very Pro
productive there is also a value in not
getting stuck too long on something is
that we we start getting a little bit
myopic we get a little too focused it's
just like if you stare at a spot on the
wall for too long and suddenly like you
know colors will change it gets all
trippy and there's all kinds of like the
uh stereograms and stuff like that that
you can go look at and it's because
you're focused at a single place for too
long that if you can't get away from it
uh it sometimes it can cause you to not
consider some of the things that you
should but also it can be a little bit
unhealthy because then you end up a
little too focused a little too stressed
and it's sometimes a little better to
just take that step back take a deep
breath change gears and then you're able
to like you know come back and refresh
and and step back into it just like you
if you get the end of a long day and
you're just about to solve that project
and you end up staying up an extra eight
hours instead of get some sleep come
back the next morning get it done you
have the same kinds of things and it
does have it there's so many there's
studies and research and stuff like that
there that just doing simple things just
like 15 to 20 30 minutes of walking not
running not carrying weights not
climbing mountains or anything like that
just that will help immensely as far as
mental health physical health blood flow
and all of the things that all do help
you become a better developer they are
more healthy than just slamming you know
sugar and caffeine trust me and you'll
be a better looking developer because
you'll be able to lose weight and all
that kinds of other stuff and you can be
like you know super studly just like a
Bill Gates or something like that okay
maybe not a good example but
still that being said another way that
you can be super studly and have all of
your friends love you and just say you
are so awesome is if you let them know
that you have sent us an email send us
an email at info developer.com give us
some feedback even if all your friends
don't say it we will we will be more
than happy to sing your Praises not
literally because you don't want to hear
us sing but to you know give you as many
you know booya and and Kudos as possible
because we want to hear from you we want
feedback we want this to to be a
community that that feeds into not just
what we are looking for and what we see
but also you guys give back to the
community and give and give us some good
feedback so we can help you can help us
help you get better you can also check
us out on our Facebook page you can
check us out on X you can uh wherever
you get your podcast you can leave
comments you can leave feedback of of
any sort there you can go out to the
contact form on developer.com you can
also check us out on youtube.com out in
the develop andur Channel you can see
this in Prior episodes and future
episodes if you wait long enough and you
can also go back and see stuff from uh
some of our training some of the
tutorials we've done some of the mentor
class U examples that we've had from
over the years where we've covered a
broad range of topics some of them so
much that we've actually covered them
multiple times as those technologies
have advanced that being said we're
going to wrap this one up let you get
back to it go out there and have
yourself a great day a great week and we
will talk to you next time bonus
material
so one quick thing did we actually give
a
challenge we did
not this is why I need to get up and
walk
around all right for those of you in
bonus content your challenge for this
week is to take some time 5 10 minutes a
day use that Pomodoro Technique and get
out of your desk and go for a walk and
let us know how you feel feel uh for the
bonus stuff though to add to that my
wife actually just started um picked up
an app because you know with her back
and her health issues she can't do too
much so she's actually using uh like one
of those yoga like charity yoga apps to
stay in her seat and actually move
around and do things uh to help build
her muscle strength and uh endurance
again so there are now I I know I keep
mentioning you know when you take these
breaks step away from technology but
sometimes you can use technology for
small little things like that do a
little bit of yoga at your desk do a
little running exercises you know if you
have an Apple Watch or an Android there
are uh sports apps or athletic apps on
there for you to kind of register hey do
a five- minute walk do a jog uh do
yoga don't necessarily run from
technology but you know use a lot
utilize it when you need it so it
doesn't become another burden make sure
that whatever you're doing helps release
the stress not add to it yeah and that's
actually the key is there's a lot of
those little apps and there's things
like you can just like you know do desk
push-ups and some things like that and
some calisthenics that will help get the
blood flowing but and there there's some
great apps that will they'll remind you
like your W you know Apple watch will
say like get up and walk around and
stuff like that which is great but
there's a point where some of those
things get annoying or they are they're
too stressful they they end up in a
instead of helping you be better they do
get in the way uh but that's actually
that that would be a perfect
example and that does go to just that
goes to the the uh the challenge is just
pick a couple times a day spend a little
time walk just like like I'm a a lot of
times I'm in an office building that's
got I don't know probably it's probably
about a I don't know maybe a thousand
foot walk if I just walk around the
building or something like that about
the around there and that's great just
to do that if you can go outside and get
some fresh air even better that being
said I'm going to try to get enough
fresh air to be able to do a better job
in the next I'm going to get better in
the next episode as always shoot us some
feedback wherever you can and we will
get back to you next episode we're still
going we're not even close to we're not
even halfway through the season so we
got plenty of habits to continue to
develop you've already probably heard a
couple of them that are upcoming so hold
your breath be ready for the next
episode and uh well maybe you don't want
to wait that long but we will be back
with the next episode with some more
habits and we'll talk to you then until
then have yourself a great one
[Music]
Transcript Segments
1.35

[Music]

28.8

record hey and let's see what do we got

31.679

here I

32.76

think couple through throughout last

36.239

time so one I was thinking

38.92

maybe um a little bit of like a break a

41.84

little bit but like fun and Recreation

43.559

how to figure some of that stuff in um

46.559

or possibly

47.84

exercise um another one was meeting

52.28

prep um interesting one and then resume

56.32

or brand enhancement those are a couple

57.96

that came to mind last time around was

60.519

trying to think of some stuff to throw

61.8

out

62.64

there I like the fun and excite and like

67.28

exercise because one of the things I've

69.4

had to do lately is when to walk away

72.36

like get up take those you know like

75.2

we've been doing the

77.36

Pomodoro and one of

80.119

my um things with the Pomodoro is after

83

like 25 35 minutes I get up and I walk

85.72

for five or 10 minutes and then I sit

87.52

back down so no I like that that's a

90.88

good one because if we don't move around

93.56

we get stagnant our knees get bad and

95.84

our backs get bad and all that fun stuff

98.84

and the I'm not sure about the resume

103.96

one yet but I like the other one what

106.079

was the other one the

107.24

meetings meeting prep yeah I like that

111.28

one all right we'll start with um I did

114.04

not bring water so this should be

117.88

interesting so we'll start with the ex

119.88

exercise and and breaking things up a

121.56

little thing cuz that yeah that does

122.6

work pretty well I think for the

124.24

Pomodoro so we'll do the little three

125.96

two one well hello and welcome back we

129.72

are continuing our season when we are

131.16

building better habits we are building

132.72

better developers we are develop anur I

135.2

am Rob Broadhead I am one of the

136.84

founders of develop preneur and I am

139.72

also a founder of RB Consulting where we

141.56

go out there and we take your technology

143.56

mess and all of that stuff that's out

145.84

there that sort of like junk drawer that

148.12

you have of Technology we help you

149.48

figure out what you have how to use it

151.08

how to leverage it integrate it automate

153.2

it simplify it and make it run better

155.64

for you so you can get the most out of

157.2

your investment and the make the most

159.08

out of your time uh and productivity

161.56

there from your technology side uh good

164.04

thing bad thing uh this time around uh

168.159

good thing as we record this the

170.159

elections are over so I have not had a

172.68

single thing on my H maybe I had one I

175.519

think I've only had one text today that

177.04

said I need to give money to save the

178.64

world or something like that so that is

181.12

a good thing uh let's see bad thing bad

184.92

thing is it is November like the year is

187.599

almost out and there are so many things

189.28

I want to get done this year that were

190.56

like on my list it's been one of those

192.159

years has just been a train wreck of

195.04

stuff so uh trying to get everything

197.159

done in the last little bit is going to

198.599

be a little bit of a challenge uh

200.84

speaking of

201.84

challenges I cranked up uh in the last

204.599

week I've cranked up my pomodoros

206.72

initially the challenge was do One A Day

208.72

I do two a day and found it to be very

212.04

helpful uh I tend to do them almost back

214.08

toback so I'll just do one do a quick

215.799

break do another one and it has worked

218.76

out very well for me there's been a

220.12

couple times that it's just I need that

222.12

little bit of time to just focus and get

224.959

something done because otherwise the day

226.879

gets very distracting very quickly uhu

230.72

see on the other ones I am still I've

233.2

got on my to-do list which is one of

235.04

those lists um I'll talk about list in a

238.319

second but I am still on need to figure

240.159

out my automation I actually have two or

242.04

three things I want to automate I just

243.2

got to find some time to do it because

245.2

hey that's how life is and as far as

247.36

list go I found that it has been very

249.159

valuable to me a little bit of a tweak

250.879

on what we we had talked about is uh I

254.239

start with about three to four five

255.879

items depending on the day usually it's

257.6

three that I try to keep it to that are

259.6

my like work rated stuff and then I have

262

a separate little list that is about

263.36

four five items that is my life related

266.32

stuff now some of those are things I do

267.919

every day like for for example my

269.96

Pomodoro type thing to make sure that I

271.6

knock a couple of those out but it's a

273.639

nice way to sort of distinguish between

275.28

the things that I just want to get done

276.759

today and the things that I are more

278.919

important that I have to get done today

280.6

as we will say one of the things I have

282.199

to get done today because otherwise

283.56

we'll run out of time is passes on to

284.96

Michael so he can introduce himself go

287.24

for it hey everyone my name is Michael

289.8

molash I'm one of the founders

291.32

co-founders of developer ner building

292.88

better developers and I'm the founder of

294.919

Envision QA where we essentially take

298.68

development and put testing first we do

300.88

test driven development we help small to

303

midsize companies build software that

305.639

meets their needs through essentially

308.16

use cases user stories so you are

311.8

essentially getting what you need and

313.639

there are no surprises at the end of the

315.919

race good thing bad thing I'll start

318.68

with the bad thing um had a major water

322.84

leak at my house uh literally today just

326.56

spent about the last 6 hours with the

328.36

plumer digging about a 3ft hole we

331.08

finally found it that's the good thing

333.16

and it's finally fixed on top of the bad

335.52

thing I now have to go to the water

336.88

company and try to recoup some of the

338.24

cost from uh about 100 gallons of water

341.24

that got uh washed away through this

344

wonderful uh leak in my hydrant um as

347.639

far as challenges go I've been cranking

350.84

the Pomodoro uh loving it it's

354.52

actually I I started feeling bad cuz the

356.96

weather's kind of getting cold so we're

359.199

stuck in inside more I've been using it

361.759

to make sure that I get up from my desk

365.08

and I go for a walk I get up I move

367.56

around uh in between those little brakes

369.8

so I'm stepping away from the computer a

371.8

little bit more than I used to which is

374.4

good because there could be weeks where

376.56

I end up essentially stearing at a

378.44

computer screen for 80 hours a week and

380.919

don't move and your body doesn't like

383.88

you when you do that uh moving on to

386

some of the other challenges uh I've

388.08

been building onto my kitchen sync app

390.919

I've been uh working on some more Django

394.36

python uh kitchen sync kind of tools

397.039

I've been building up some HTML uh

399.479

templates which are going to be very

401.4

useful and I haven't really done too

404.68

much with the automation simply because

406.759

I have a project coming up that really

408.84

is going to require a lot of automation

411.199

so I'm in the prep works for that but I

413.199

haven't started it yet because I'm just

415.84

waiting on some features and some

417.759

information to come in before beginning

419.199

that

420.12

and with that I'll pass it back to

421.96

youo so as as he mentioned uh one of the

425.12

things that is important is getting up

426.8

and moving around we can like sit there

428.479

and we can have really muscular fingers

430.36

from typing but that doesn't really help

432.08

us in the grand scheme of things so what

434.44

I want to talk about this time is taking

436.28

a break is finding a way to within your

438.84

day find some ways and some tools and

441

some ways for you to stay halfway

443.56

healthy at least even if not yeah maybe

445.639

developers are not known as the most

447

healthy people but some of them are some

449.039

of them do really good now there's a lot

452.16

of things out there and it has become uh

455.72

it's definitely become almost its own

457.16

little industry is finding ways to stay

460.44

healthy to stay active even if you have

462.56

a sedentary type of job now some of the

465

things that come to mind are uh there's

467.479

there are situations where you can have

468.68

a desk that's got a um you know some

471.28

sort of a a bike underneath it or or

473.96

something along those lines standing

476.039

desks are very helpful uh especially if

478.4

you've got one where you can sort of

479.479

move it around so maybe you sit part of

480.8

the day maybe you stand part of the day

483.68

if you do if you have a lot of meetings

485.8

it may be very helpful for you to walk

487.52

around a lot to maybe you know stand up

489.24

during and and do a little bit of

490.759

movement during that meeting uh those

492.8

are kinds of things that typically you

494.08

may be just sitting there drinking your

495.919

coffee or whatever but if you just add a

497.8

little bit of movement it makes a big

499.72

difference now one of the other things

501.36

that is very helpful is literally just

503.599

going for a walk now this is one I

505.4

really want to I'm going to sort of like

506.919

zero in on because it doesn't take much

509.919

time at all you can take five minutes

512.24

for example at the end of a Pomodoro you

514.12

can take five minutes and go for a walk

516

whether it is uh walk around the

517.839

building if it's a small building or

519.36

your house or something like that or if

520.719

it's a walk to the kitchen if it's on

522.36

the far side of the the house or just

525.519

walking a lap inside your you know walk

527.519

around your desk a few times or

528.8

something like that just spending a few

530.08

minutes just getting up moving and

532

walking now the benefit to

534.04

this is actually more than just the

536.6

health Kind part of it is from a vision

539.16

point of you getting up and not staring

541.6

at a screen for a little bit is very

543.04

helpful for your eyes it's going to help

544.32

you like especially if you can go look

545.72

outside or distance things look out a

547.72

window those kinds of things are going

549.36

to help quite a bit another thing is it

551.6

helps

552.44

you it helps you think it helps you

554.76

reset it helps you sort of step away

556.6

from the environment you're in and

558.839

particularly if you're in a situation

560.079

where you're like struggling with

561.519

something is it helps your mind reset a

564.24

little bit to get that different uh the

566.36

different visuals different point of

568.36

view and they end up in a situation

570.72

where you are now uh like I said

572.8

mentally reset able to maybe take a

574.92

different perspective on that problem

576.2

you're trying to solve and a lot of

578.079

times I found that it will help you work

579.64

through that problem there have been

580.8

many a time that I've gone on a walk and

583.079

I'm not sometimes I want to go to 15

585.36

minutes walk three minutes later I'm

587.12

like I got to hurry back because I just

588.6

solved that problem those kinds of

590.6

things do happen quite often and so it's

593.44

and part of it is it's a benefit of just

595.16

like getting the blood flowing and not

596.68

getting too sedentary but it also is

599.12

going to keep you a little more healthy

600.44

a little more awake and in the long run

602.839

it's going to make you a much better

604.16

developer by itself because a healthy de

606.6

developer is a happy developer is a

608.279

better developer if you're laying around

610.279

if you're in pain if you're sore if you

612.839

have sick days all that kind of stuff is

614.72

not going to help you out so take a

617.32

little bit of time and literally it's

619

not a lot of time to do this and get a

620.56

little bit exercise thoughts on

623.399

that yeah and I'm also going to kind of

625.92

zero in on the Pomodoro a little bit

627.92

here because one of the problems I've

630.32

had which has led to my stagnation which

632.64

is why I love the fact we're doing the

634.24

Pomodoro and I'm using my brakes

636.6

actually to walk is because sometimes

638.959

our jobs get us stuck in meetings where

641.56

people block meetings for an hour they

644.16

always run over and you have another

645.56

meeting right after that you got to run

647.04

to one of the things you can do with

648.88

your pomodora which will help with your

650.519

walking or exercise to make you feel

652.639

better is schedule your meetings to

655.079

either start 5 minutes after the hour or

656.92

end 5 minutes before the hour so you get

658.92

a little break between the meetings and

661.2

you have to kind of work the meetings a

663.399

little bit to get that five minutes in

665.2

so you can get up and step away take a

668.48

walk the other thing I'd like to kind of

670.8

build on what Rob said is also when you

673.36

get up and go for that walk leave your

675.6

phone at your desk do not take any

677.8

digital devices with you use that time

681.079

as a break step away walk away it's not

685.32

just for your physical health but it's

687.16

also your mental health because if

689.399

walking away like Rob said if you're not

691.399

looking at something you're just walking

692.92

around you start to think you can think

695.44

about a problem you can think about

697

something else that's going on and maybe

699.24

you trigger another thought it's like oh

701.16

hey I looked the way I figured this out

703.639

the other thing is walking around the

706.04

building if you have other co-workers if

708.56

you're not remote and you're in an

710.48

office the other thing you can do is a

712.92

buddy system so if you have a team of

716.2

developers or you just work with some

718.48

people in the office you like work with

720.76

them you know kind of schedule time with

723.04

them to dedicate hey let's go for a

725.519

15minute walk every like maybe four

728.36

hours or like every two hours let's get

730.76

up maybe go get coffee if it's on the

732.6

other side of the building have a little

734.32

you know water cooler chat and then come

735.959

back to your desk use those times to get

738.8

up and move around but you can also use

741

those time to communicate on nonwork

743.399

specific

745.44

issues and that is the thing is it's it

749.36

go back to being able to just like get

751.959

out of I don't want Tock but it is it's

754.519

I guess sort of getting out of your rut

755.68

getting out of your lane for a little

756.76

bit changing gears while we do talk

759.76

often about the the cost of Switching

762.36

Gears of going from one project to

763.88

another and those mental costs and the

765.44

little spin up and spin down that we

767.519

have mentally to go from Project a to

769.88

Project B to project C and how batching

772.36

things together can be very Pro

774.199

productive there is also a value in not

777.959

getting stuck too long on something is

780

that we we start getting a little bit

781.68

myopic we get a little too focused it's

783.92

just like if you stare at a spot on the

785.72

wall for too long and suddenly like you

787.32

know colors will change it gets all

789.12

trippy and there's all kinds of like the

791.279

uh stereograms and stuff like that that

793.16

you can go look at and it's because

794.839

you're focused at a single place for too

797.44

long that if you can't get away from it

801.279

uh it sometimes it can cause you to not

803.44

consider some of the things that you

804.56

should but also it can be a little bit

805.839

unhealthy because then you end up a

807.079

little too focused a little too stressed

809.16

and it's sometimes a little better to

810.519

just take that step back take a deep

812.92

breath change gears and then you're able

815.839

to like you know come back and refresh

817.56

and and step back into it just like you

819.92

if you get the end of a long day and

821.04

you're just about to solve that project

822.92

and you end up staying up an extra eight

824.32

hours instead of get some sleep come

825.68

back the next morning get it done you

828.16

have the same kinds of things and it

830.759

does have it there's so many there's

833.24

studies and research and stuff like that

834.92

there that just doing simple things just

836.759

like 15 to 20 30 minutes of walking not

839.399

running not carrying weights not

841.92

climbing mountains or anything like that

843.36

just that will help immensely as far as

845.959

mental health physical health blood flow

848.759

and all of the things that all do help

851.519

you become a better developer they are

854.519

more healthy than just slamming you know

856.68

sugar and caffeine trust me and you'll

860.519

be a better looking developer because

861.88

you'll be able to lose weight and all

862.959

that kinds of other stuff and you can be

864.519

like you know super studly just like a

866.92

Bill Gates or something like that okay

868.68

maybe not a good example but

870.639

still that being said another way that

873.399

you can be super studly and have all of

874.92

your friends love you and just say you

876.44

are so awesome is if you let them know

878.24

that you have sent us an email send us

879.92

an email at info developer.com give us

882.16

some feedback even if all your friends

883.839

don't say it we will we will be more

885.68

than happy to sing your Praises not

888.16

literally because you don't want to hear

889.32

us sing but to you know give you as many

892.639

you know booya and and Kudos as possible

897

because we want to hear from you we want

898.6

feedback we want this to to be a

900.44

community that that feeds into not just

902.959

what we are looking for and what we see

905.199

but also you guys give back to the

907.199

community and give and give us some good

908.839

feedback so we can help you can help us

911.199

help you get better you can also check

913.68

us out on our Facebook page you can

915.12

check us out on X you can uh wherever

917.399

you get your podcast you can leave

918.92

comments you can leave feedback of of

920.88

any sort there you can go out to the

922.44

contact form on developer.com you can

924.399

also check us out on youtube.com out in

926.68

the develop andur Channel you can see

928.68

this in Prior episodes and future

930.68

episodes if you wait long enough and you

932.36

can also go back and see stuff from uh

934.24

some of our training some of the

935.72

tutorials we've done some of the mentor

937.72

class U examples that we've had from

940.399

over the years where we've covered a

942.639

broad range of topics some of them so

944.68

much that we've actually covered them

945.88

multiple times as those technologies

947.56

have advanced that being said we're

949.639

going to wrap this one up let you get

951.72

back to it go out there and have

952.8

yourself a great day a great week and we

955.12

will talk to you next time bonus

958.56

material

960.6

so one quick thing did we actually give

963.36

a

964.88

challenge we did

971.959

not this is why I need to get up and

974.079

walk

975.519

around all right for those of you in

977.44

bonus content your challenge for this

979.92

week is to take some time 5 10 minutes a

983.6

day use that Pomodoro Technique and get

985.839

out of your desk and go for a walk and

988.12

let us know how you feel feel uh for the

990.12

bonus stuff though to add to that my

992.56

wife actually just started um picked up

995.12

an app because you know with her back

997.519

and her health issues she can't do too

999.279

much so she's actually using uh like one

1002.24

of those yoga like charity yoga apps to

1005.079

stay in her seat and actually move

1007.279

around and do things uh to help build

1009.88

her muscle strength and uh endurance

1012.12

again so there are now I I know I keep

1015.519

mentioning you know when you take these

1016.959

breaks step away from technology but

1019.48

sometimes you can use technology for

1021.92

small little things like that do a

1023.48

little bit of yoga at your desk do a

1025.24

little running exercises you know if you

1026.839

have an Apple Watch or an Android there

1028.48

are uh sports apps or athletic apps on

1032.559

there for you to kind of register hey do

1034.4

a five- minute walk do a jog uh do

1037.799

yoga don't necessarily run from

1040.12

technology but you know use a lot

1042.64

utilize it when you need it so it

1044.4

doesn't become another burden make sure

1046.799

that whatever you're doing helps release

1049.039

the stress not add to it yeah and that's

1051.799

actually the key is there's a lot of

1052.96

those little apps and there's things

1054.12

like you can just like you know do desk

1056.32

push-ups and some things like that and

1057.76

some calisthenics that will help get the

1059.32

blood flowing but and there there's some

1061.88

great apps that will they'll remind you

1063.48

like your W you know Apple watch will

1064.919

say like get up and walk around and

1066.32

stuff like that which is great but

1068.28

there's a point where some of those

1069.24

things get annoying or they are they're

1071.72

too stressful they they end up in a

1073.96

instead of helping you be better they do

1075.64

get in the way uh but that's actually

1077.799

that that would be a perfect

1079.84

example and that does go to just that

1082.039

goes to the the uh the challenge is just

1085.559

pick a couple times a day spend a little

1087.96

time walk just like like I'm a a lot of

1090.52

times I'm in an office building that's

1091.96

got I don't know probably it's probably

1094.32

about a I don't know maybe a thousand

1096.24

foot walk if I just walk around the

1097.76

building or something like that about

1099.159

the around there and that's great just

1100.32

to do that if you can go outside and get

1102.559

some fresh air even better that being

1105.36

said I'm going to try to get enough

1107.2

fresh air to be able to do a better job

1109.039

in the next I'm going to get better in

1110.76

the next episode as always shoot us some

1113.919

feedback wherever you can and we will

1116.159

get back to you next episode we're still

1118

going we're not even close to we're not

1120.08

even halfway through the season so we

1121.32

got plenty of habits to continue to

1123.28

develop you've already probably heard a

1125.28

couple of them that are upcoming so hold

1128.08

your breath be ready for the next

1129.76

episode and uh well maybe you don't want

1131.64

to wait that long but we will be back

1133.88

with the next episode with some more

1135.6

habits and we'll talk to you then until

1137.84

then have yourself a great one

1141.27

[Music]