Software developers’ New Year’s resolutions
Are you planning to find a job or improve your fitness in the new year? Take inspiration from our article. The last day of the year is inherently associated with fun, celebrations and the midnight countdown. It’s when we say goodbye to the old year, turn over a new leaf, and welcome the new year with joy and hope. Everything that is new, after all, should be better, more beautiful and more successful. Take a look at the most common resolutions (not only) for programmers and read our guide on how to keep them throughout the year. With the start of the year comes a special feeling of new beginnings, which is associated with the chance to make a change. We make resolutions in the hope that we can fight back and improve on the things we don’t like about ourselves. Do you want to lose weight, quit smoking or learn how to program in C# even though the concept of HTML doesn’t mean anything to you? These are admittedly bold plans, but they tend to evaporate as quickly as bubbles from a toast if you set them on New Year’s Eve. Resolutions need to be planned in advance and, most importantly, you need to find a way to keep them. Then you can leave the real changes for the first days of the New Year and enjoy the New Year’s Eve celebrations.
In the article you will learn:
Eat healthier
You know it, the project deadline is approaching, the boss is expecting a presentation, the code is reporting hidden bugs and the program is not working properly. Stress, hunger, time pressure. At times like these, you often eat up some fast food or whatever jumps out of the fridge at you. The last time you read about a healthy and balanced diet was in a magazine. But it definitely shouldn’t always be that way, because your body will do the math later. Steering towards a healthier diet can be done in a non-intrusive and quite comfortable way. Nowadays, every restaurant does takeaways and the choice is unlimited. Just have a good portion of fresh vegetables with every meal and skip the sugary drinks, they hide a lot of unnecessary calories. Try a fruit smoothie instead, which is packed with vitamins. Tastes best when it’s fresh. We also promote a healthy lifestyle in our company. As a Christmas present, colleagues had the opportunity to choose a pack of nutritional supplements or a smoothie shaker to give them the right motivation to take better care of their bodies from the inside.
A healthy mind in a healthy body
Sedentary jobs are one of the most serious factors that negatively affect our health. If you do not do manual work for a living, you spend about eight hours a day sitting. Going to squash once in two weeks is a good start, but it doesn’t solve the problem. Nor does it help if you buy an annual gym membership in a feeling of enthusiasm and then don’t use it. Such rash resolutions usually end as quickly as they started. Instead of making radical changes, try adding one “health” walk to your daily routine, even around the house. It will help you improve your fitness if you take more opportunities to get around on foot. Regular exercise is really important. If we don’t move enough, our bodies can become impaired in fat metabolism, develop hardening of the blood vessels and develop cardiovascular disease, become overweight to obese, and this in turn can lead to diabetes. Even an hour’s walk after work will make sure you meet your minimum daily exercise limit. Regular sports activity is a great bonus. In our team, we also maintain a sporting spirit thanks to the company gym – Fitlandia, where we regularly go to work out. Colleagues who prefer group exercises or the swimming pool use the multisport card and do sports when and where they like.
Proper sitting and posture help the spine and act as a preventive measure.
Get rid of back and joint pain
Sitting all day will sooner or later take its toll on you. The first symptom is likely to be back pain. Experts have known this for a long time, and better work chairs are being produced. They have properly shaped backrests and most parts can be adjusted and customized. If you often work from home, you can be sure that a good quality chair, although a big investment, is definitely a good investment in yourself. There are also special hard ‘U’ shaped chair cushions on the market to reduce pressure on the tailbone, and mouse or keyboard pads to prevent carpal tunnel syndrome are certainly worth it. As a preventive measure, it is advisable to do regular back exercises. They are easy and only take a few minutes a day. Definitely read our article Healthy back. msg life Slovakia takes care of stiff muscles of its employees with regular massages, which clearly belong to one of the favourite employee benefits.
Have more free time
Setting up the right time management is quite an art. How much time is appropriate to work and how much to spend on free time activities? Most of us have strictly limited working hours, so you just need to get everything done that’s in your job description. Here are some tips to help you work more efficiently and avoid procrastination:
- Ignore social media – turn off notifications when you’re working. Don’t even try to look at the screen. You don’t need a lot of the stuff you’ll find there anyway, and you can check out the important information at home after work.
- Use a “to do list “ – it doesn’t matter if you use an app or a diary. If you have written down what you need to do, you’re close to being organized. It’s also a good idea to mark tasks with a level of importance and always start the day with those that need to be done as soon as possible.
- Start with the hardest task – do the thing you least want to do first. Because once you’ve done that, every other task will be easier and more manageable. Otherwise, you’ll waste a lot of time procrastinating, looking for anything just so you don’t have to tackle an unpleasant task. And consequently, you’ll be late even with the easy ones.
Learn a new (programming) language
As many languages you know, as many times you are a human being. Learning a new language, even a programming language, is always a good decision. It’s just kind of hard to get started. You can learn programming languages online, just like you can learn foreign languages. You just need to choose the right online course. We’ll tell you where to find both free and paid courses in our article Coding tips for beginners. Set aside an hour a day, or at least half an hour if you really can’t do more. Just a few dozen minutes a day. You’ll find out that it will put only a minimal time pressure on you, and you’ll notice quite quickly how much you’ve already learned and that you’re getting better and better at the subject. And that, in turn, will motivate you to learn even more.
Improve your soft skills
The labour market has long valued so-called “soft skills” over “hard skills”. It makes sense. Learning to code is only a matter of time. Even if it takes longer for someone, it can be done. And most importantly, it’s a fairly “measurable” skill. Soft skills are those skills that basically can’t be measured. They include, in addition to the mentioned time management, for example:
- communication and presentation skills,
- teamwork,
- stress management,
- conflict management,
- flexibility and proactivity,
- positive thinking and attitude,
- responsibility,
- self-motivation.
Although these skills are difficult to measure, you can try to learn them. It certainly never hurts to take a course that will help you improve your presentation skills, for example. Courses are easier and more effective than you might think, and since they are mostly done in a playful way, you’ll probably enjoy them too.
Maintain and improve team relationships
Every company tries to strengthen relationships in the workplace, mostly through team-building activities. But these are practically impossible in a pandemic, so you could try to do it yourself. People who get along in private also perform better at work. You don’t have to bake cakes for your colleagues; friendly, open communication is perfectly sufficient. Ask them on a video call or chat how their weekend was or how their kids are doing. A short discussion in which you show genuine interest can not only help you to perform better at work, but also to improve the overall atmosphere at work. Even though working fully remotely or in a hybrid form has become an everyday reality for us, our colleagues still keep the office door open at all times. A chat over a coffee with colleagues always improves the mood in the workplace. In the same way, our colleagues can also organize a team-building activity, which will be covered by the company.
Find a better job
There is a major labour shortage in the IT sector today. According to the job portal Profesia the least competition for candidates is in IT. This is due to the fact that the pandemic has moved most of life (including work) to the online space. It is therefore not at all difficult to change jobs, even for people who have never worked in IT before. Right now is a good time to start in this field. Before you definitely decide to change jobs, you should set your priorities. Today, few people make decisions when changing jobs based on salary alone. If you don’t like only part of your job, try to open a debate with your manager on the subject. If you’re an important member of the team, it’s possible that they will adjust your job description. However, if you feel demotivated, lack a sense of recognition, are stressed and have health problems, it’s time for a change. There are plenty of options, also at msg life Slovakia. Take a look at our latest job offers.
Take care of your health
A good diet and regular exercise are not enough to take care of your health. Equally important are regular preventive check-ups, which many of us have been putting off during the pandemic. When working with a computer, the eyes suffer. If you feel that something is wrong, it needs to be addressed as soon as possible. Do you have poor eyesight, eye or headaches? Don’t ignore your body’s signals and put yourself in the hands of experts. Unaddressed problems tend to get worse over time.
Learn to say “no”
Most people have a problem to say no. Rejecting someone can seem negative as most of the time you are trying to help and accommodate. But as the saying goes, too much of anything is bad. An irresponsible colleague isn’t exactly the kind of person you should always go out of your way to accommodate. You have your own timetable and that is the most important. If you have time, there’s nothing wrong with helping someone out once in a while. However, you should be able to recognize exploitation.
Tips on how to keep New Year’s resolutions
- Start with small goals. Any long-term sustainable change is a long process. If you want to lose weight, your goal doesn’t have to be to win a fitness competition right away; try making it a goal to eat more vegetables.
- Give your resolutions the right reason. If you’re not really convinced about something, it will never be a priority for you. On the contrary, if you justify every resolution in detail, the chances of you keeping it will increase.
- Document your progress. Try writing your resolutions in a list in your diary in a place you can’t miss and keep writing down your goals. It will definitely increase your motivation to keep going.
- Be patient. No one is perfect and we all make mistakes or slip off the right path from time to time. If you need a break from training, feel free to take it, but don’t forget to keep your eyes on your long-term goals.
- Reward yourself. Following a strict diet or working out at the gym is difficult. So don’t forget to reward yourself for your performance from time to time. Go out for a nice dinner or do something that makes you happy.
- Share your resolutions with loved ones. If you tell friends, colleagues or family about your resolutions and the goals you want to achieve, they can help you when you slip off track. If you eventually manage to lose weight or start running regularly, it’s great motivation for them to do something good for themselves too.
- Common goals are easier to manage. Make the same resolution with a colleague, friend or partner to motivate each other.
Are you already inspired enough to keep your willpower and keep your New Year’s resolutions? Great, the first step is successfully behind you, because beginnings are always the hardest. Wishing you good luck, determination and a strong will to improve in your private or professional life!
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