---
title: "How Developers Destroy Brain Health"
url: https://daily.dev/posts/how-developers-destroy-brain-health-ohpov2ai7
source_url: https://dev.to/ssukhpinder/how-developers-destroy-brain-health-4kgd
type: article
source: "DEV"
author: "Sukhpinder Singh"
published: 2024-09-18T12:01:54.947Z
updated: 2024-12-09T13:00:32.012Z
tags: ["webdev", "productivity", "mental-health", "work-life-balance"]
reading_time: 6
upvotes: 1464
comments: 118
language: en
---

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# How Developers Destroy Brain Health

**[DEV](https://daily.dev/sources/devto)** · [@codewithsukh](https://daily.dev/codewithsukh) · 6 min read · 1464 upvotes · 118 comments

## Summary

Software developers often undermine their brain health with habits like marathon coding sessions, lack of physical exercise, neglecting mental stimulation, and social isolation. These habits can lead to cognitive decline, mental burnout, and emotional depletion. Incorporating regular breaks, physical activity, continuous learning, and social interactions can greatly improve cognitive function and overall well-being.

## Full article

daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: <https://dev.to/ssukhpinder/how-developers-destroy-brain-health-4kgd>

## Community discussion

Top comments from developers on daily.dev.

**@andrijatrosic** · 150 upvotes

> In my case 20-20-20 rule is really helpful. Essentially 20-20-20 rule means that you should pause your screen time every 20 minutes, and look somewhere further then 20 meters, for at least 20 seconds. This rule is designed to rest the eyes but in my case it rests the brain too.
>
> Weird thing about burnout is that sometimes for you to not experience burnout you should code more. For some time during my working hours I had to do some repetitive and boring tasks and the only thing keeping me from having burnout is getting home and working on something that excites me. Usually things about coding...

**@rb\_** · 25 upvotes

> Yeah pomodoro helps a lot. But there are some cases where you think you're so close to finding and fixing that pesky bug and it just keeps evading you. Then by the time you notice several hours have gone by and you're just too deep to stop 😂.
>
> A big win is to recognise some of your bad habits and consciously try to improve!

**@qwertydiy** · 23 upvotes

> We are experts at ruining ourselves aren't we

**@jsruinedking** · 9 upvotes

> Summary: Go touch some grass more!

**@santosism** · 4 upvotes

> It's easy to get into bad habits and bad routines just to crunch stuff out and to keep going. That's why I try to walk more in the afternoons and meditate twice a day before doing any coding

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---

Tags: [#webdev](https://daily.dev/tags/webdev), [#productivity](https://daily.dev/tags/productivity), [#mental-health](https://daily.dev/tags/mental-health), [#work-life-balance](https://daily.dev/tags/work-life-balance)

[View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/how-developers-destroy-brain-health-ohpov2ai7)