Burnout affects 83% of developers, plus wellness advice for Mental Health Week

It has become evident from listening to developers' input in recent years that members of our community struggle with anxiety and burnout and are looking for methods to enhance their general health and wellbeing. If you've been in the developer and tech communities for a time, you may have seen that there is a greater need to address these issues in your own community.

What better method to find out more about the experiences of our developers than to ask them? We conducted a developer well-being survey in Q1 and are prepared to share the findings with everyone in the industry!

State of Developer Wellness Report

With this week being Black Mental Health: What You Need To Know it seems fitting to announce the launch of our State of Developer Wellness report. The report provides insights from our Developer Nation community including workplace experiences, burnout, mental wellbeing, happiness and lifestyles.

The report is intended to increase understanding of the significance of work well-being for developers and artists and to stimulate more dialogue within developer communities.

The inaugural State of Developer Wellness Survey has 870 participants from 91 different nations. Report topics include:

1. Developers are distributed according to their workplace configuration. How does remote work effect developers' mental health? Do they believe their companies genuinely care about their well-being?

2. developer burnout How frequently have developers experienced burnout over the past three months, how do they relax and deal with stress, and how well do they handle pressure at work?

3. Developer Happiness and Health Lifestyles We encourage everyone to read the report and share it with their colleagues and peers. If you’d like to invite share it with developers in your community, here is the original announcement from Developer Nation.

How developer community builders are addressing developer wellness?

While working on the survey, we also reached out to the members of our DevRelX community, comprising of Developer Advocates, DevRel practitioners and community builders, asking if they’re addressing burnout and overall wellness in their respective developer communities, and here are the results.

The overwhelming majority (62%) of the respondents are not addressing wellness within their communities. On the positive flank, 38% to some extent include wellness-related topics in their community activities, of which 60% are actively promoting wellness within their developer programs.

Wellness tips from our team

A big thank you to all developers and developer community builders who supported our first survey and the team, without whom this report would not have been possible. Here are wellness tips from some of our team members.

Get your thoughts, ideas and worries out onto paper, break your tasks into manageable chunks, learn breath work, get out in nature, stay hydrated, keep moving during the day, listen to a fun podcast, and start every day with the question "how can I be of service to others today?" - Vanessa Measom, Developer Success Executive

Organise your thoughts, your day, and your tasks. Stay active and don’t hesitate to reach out for help.

Anastasia Alexopoulou, Senior Partnerships Manager

For folks working remotely: invest in a good work desk and chair and separate it from your leisure space. Having a good essential aromatic oil in a diffuser also helps lighten the mood sometimes 😉. Don’t hesitate to change your work scenery; cafes, mountains and co-working spaces can be great places to work from.

Ayan Pahwa, Developer Advocate

It's ok to feel overwhelmed. It's not ok doing nothing about it. Find your passion and let it fill up your batteries. Fight energy draining with energy-boosting activities. Motorcycle rides do that for me.

Stathis Georgakopoulos, Product Marketing Manager

If you work remotely, adopt a pet. They will be your companion, distraction and a reminder of a different, stress-less way of being. If you're an anxious type, consider alternating your coffee with decaf - it also helps your nutrient absorption!

Viktorija Ignatavičiūtė, Sr. Community Lead

Find your optimal work hours. Discover the time of day when you’re most productive and build your schedule around it. Also, remember to take regular breaks. Coffee or Tea breaks work ☕️.

Gottfried Moh, Community Lead

Let’s build on a culture of wellness that promotes the mental, physical and emotional well-being of the developer industry!