Jeffrey Kunkel talks about “Oh my GAD (General Anxiety Disorder)” in this episode of ColdFusion Alive podcast with host Michaela Light.

By our nature web developers are prone to anxiety. Web development takes a monumental dedication to continuing education, networking, and being an expert source for many of your coworkers. Learning to manage stress early can be one of the most indispensable skills for a long healthy career in web development. Be it FOMO, Impostor Syndrome, Analysis Paralysis, or just generally feeling overwhelmed, developers of all levels can benefit from learning to take a step back and allow themselves to relax and be productive.

I will focus on my perspective of being a web developer with anxiety in today's web development world. I'll talk about using "Fake it 'till you make it" philosophy to help combat the anxiety of keeping up with the ever evolving web. I also plan to delve into "Impostor Syndrome," and more specifically how to foster self confidence in your ability without cultivating an ego. By the end of my talk I'd like people to leave with the stress management skills and frame of mind to increase their productivity and overall job satisfaction.

This talk is ideal for developers feeling the weight of career and having stress and anxiety productivity issues.QB

Show notes

Why this matters to all CF Developers

20% of general population

60% of CFers sometimes have Anxiety Disorder

Introverts

Stressful profession

Anxiety

Stress → bad for health and happiness

Can follow you home

Can lead to suicide

Bad for productivity

FOMO

Impostor Syndrome

Late to Git

Fear of being accused of being a fake, not knowing the topic

Just start learning it

Ok to admit you don’t know something and learn it

Stackoverflow

CF slack channel

Google

Ask

Impossible to know everything about everything in full stack development

Self confidence in your ability without cultivating an ego

Remember what it was like to be new to this

Analysis Paralysis

Overwhelm

Too many tasks to do

Lack of priorities

Planning up front save time in the end

Lots of tabs → more anxiety and distractions

Turn of speakers - so chat notification don’t interrupt my train of thought

Perfectionism

Adding bells and whistles to code

Ok to come back to less important issues later (add to todo list)

Limited perfection to top priority issue

Is anxiety all bad

Advantage of double checking

OCD = Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Interruptions → anxiety spikes

Save where you where

Todoist note

Git Stash

Self medication

Alcohol

Food

Caffeine

Can be bad for your health

Negative feedback loop

Conferences

Alcohol

Stress management skills

Take a break

Wrist tracker reminder

Deep, slow breathing

Yoga

Reach out to developer friends and CF Community

Getting Things Done method

Music while I work

Turn off sound notifications on computer and phone

Mindsets

"Fake it 'till you make it" philosophy

You never learn if you panic before you start

CF Community

Standing desk

Exercise

Sleep

Naps

Earlier to bed vs later getting up

Less Caffeine

Family time

Female CFers more anxiety

Talk about your anxiety

Why are you proud to use CF?

WWIT for you to make CF more alive this year?

What are you looking forward to at Into The Box?

Mentioned in this episode

CF Suicide episode

Into The Box Conference

Todoist

Getting Things Done book by Dave Allen

Introverts guide to conferences article

Getting Real with Women in Tech with April Graves 

Brain.fm

Melatonin

Railo

Lucee

Node.js

JSconf

CFObjective

Tech Has an Anxiety Problem. This CEO Is Working to Combat It

STRESS & ANXIETY IN THE TECH INDUSTRY  

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