How developers can avoid brain shrinkage
Tags: Wellness
Last year on a demanding project, I hit a point where I was getting burned out from working on a computer for too long. I'd still saw daylight and exercise and spent time with family, but the twelve hours of computer time a day developing Domino apps seemed somehow related to the feeling that part of me was wasting away. I recalled having better attention and focus when I was a kid. Back then, I used to mix it up so much more: playing games, exploring in the woods behind my house, music lessons, building stuff with Legos, breaking and fixing stuff, household chores, etc. Was it the monotony of my current routine, or was I starting to age!!!?
I read You: The Owner's Manual, a great empirical study on how our health reacts to various choices we make in our daily lives. One chapter is devoted to mental health. This section hit home: "...avoid living on autopilot - that is, doing the same routine day after day. If you can find ways to stretch yourself mentally, you'll actually avoid brain shrinkage. The classic way to do this is to learn something new -- whether it's learning how to speak Spanish, play Sousa tunes on the harmonica, or rebuild a car engine. The point is for you to use parts of your brain that you noramlly don't use. Like muscles, your brain grows when it's working outside of its normal routine."
Despite the workload, I made time for some sports, several household repairs I would have otherwise outsourced, and I started learning to play guitar. What an amazing and immediate difference it made in my happiness, acuity, and even my motivation to get more done when I was working. If you feel like you're a slave to your office chair, try mixing it up a bit throughout the day... or at least at some point each day.
And speaking of sports, if you're looking for a casual but fun after-work sport that is not too athletically demanding, check out organized adult kickball. I played in WAKA for six years, on both purely social as well as highly competitive teams. There are hundreds of divisions totaling about 100,000 members around the US and spreading to other parts of the world. It's mostly the 20's and 30's professional crowd, about equal counts of men and women, including lots of IT folks. You'll spend an hour on the field, followed by a few more hours in the sponsoring bar... a real blast. Stressed out professionals reliving their childhood with a bouncy red playground ball on a grassy field is a great way to mix up your routine.
Last year on a demanding project, I hit a point where I was getting burned out from working on a computer for too long. I'd still saw daylight and exercise and spent time with family, but the twelve hours of computer time a day developing Domino apps seemed somehow related to the feeling that part of me was wasting away. I recalled having better attention and focus when I was a kid. Back then, I used to mix it up so much more: playing games, exploring in the woods behind my house, music lessons, building stuff with Legos, breaking and fixing stuff, household chores, etc. Was it the monotony of my current routine, or was I starting to age!!!?
I read You: The Owner's Manual, a great empirical study on how our health reacts to various choices we make in our daily lives. One chapter is devoted to mental health. This section hit home: "...avoid living on autopilot - that is, doing the same routine day after day. If you can find ways to stretch yourself mentally, you'll actually avoid brain shrinkage. The classic way to do this is to learn something new -- whether it's learning how to speak Spanish, play Sousa tunes on the harmonica, or rebuild a car engine. The point is for you to use parts of your brain that you noramlly don't use. Like muscles, your brain grows when it's working outside of its normal routine."
Despite the workload, I made time for some sports, several household repairs I would have otherwise outsourced, and I started learning to play guitar. What an amazing and immediate difference it made in my happiness, acuity, and even my motivation to get more done when I was working. If you feel like you're a slave to your office chair, try mixing it up a bit throughout the day... or at least at some point each day.
And speaking of sports, if you're looking for a casual but fun after-work sport that is not too athletically demanding, check out organized adult kickball. I played in WAKA for six years, on both purely social as well as highly competitive teams. There are hundreds of divisions totaling about 100,000 members around the US and spreading to other parts of the world. It's mostly the 20's and 30's professional crowd, about equal counts of men and women, including lots of IT folks. You'll spend an hour on the field, followed by a few more hours in the sponsoring bar... a real blast. Stressed out professionals reliving their childhood with a bouncy red playground ball on a grassy field is a great way to mix up your routine.
Comments
Posted by Joe Litton At 03:08:05 PM On 01/31/2008 | - Website - |
Nice to see you on a blog...Will catch you here from now on
- Sudhir
Posted by Sudhir At 07:38:43 AM On 02/01/2008 | - Website - |
Posted by Chris Miller At 12:18:52 PM On 02/01/2008 | - Website - |
Posted by Francis Flores At 03:47:33 PM On 02/04/2008 | - Website - |
Posted by Daniel Alvarez At 11:17:57 AM On 03/09/2008 | - Website - |