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Programmers: Is screen-time something you worry about?
Hi, long time lurker, first time poster here. This is a topic that causes me anxiety sometimes: screen-time.
I've been in the industry for 3-4 years now, and from my experience at least, the screen-time of a programmer/developer/engineer in industry is way more than what I was used to while studying computer science.
It's 8 hours a day on weekdays, mostly just coding and reading. Then when I get home, there's loads of life-admin stuff I do on the computer: buying, planning, accounting, tracking things, etc. With my locality's COVID lockdown, friends now want to video call after work, and I feel myself drawn into screen-based hobbies, since they're so passive and easy (NetFlix, YouTube). These are very tempting ways to kill time after a day's work.
I've considered the possibility that my screen time isn't as big an issue as I think, and that I'm just living in this awkward transition between generations: the last generation viewing screens as invasive sources of addiction, and the new generation viewing them as background tools, sort of like paper and pen.
I worry so much about screen time, I've begun using paper and pen for things: writing notes outside of office hours, keeping recipes. I write long letters to friends and attach the scanned document to emails, just so I can cut that one hour or so out of my screen time tally. This quirk looks mad, but people generally understand when I explain that my work involves sitting in front of a screen all day, so I'm trying to minimise that pattern outside of work.
I read here about people doing side projects. Do you not get burned out? Do your eyes not start to sting? I've tried doing side projects when I was in a bit of a slump regarding job satisfaction, but I'd always end up wired in too late, having sleeping problems, and abandoning the code in the end.
Anyway, I suppose I just thought I'd check if others are in a similar mind to me about this. Any tips? Any wisdom?
- PragmaticPulp 6y agoWe reduce the topic to a singular metric (time spent in front of screen) but the actual problems are more complex. It's better to address them individually. Sitting in front a screen implies sedentary behavior. You're not going anywhere, so you're not getting any exercise. Writing a long letter on paper and then scanning it doesn't solve that problem. In fact, it makes it worse because you need to spend even more time sitting. Unless you feel you write better on paper, you'd be better off typing the letter out so you can move on to the next thing, or get away from the desk altogether The other big problem with screen time is that it starts to detract from other activities. It's easy to go from working to socializing to consuming entertainment in front of a screen, but the real question is what are you giving up? Instead of consuming more NetFlix and YouTube, try substituting another activity like cooking or walking or exercising for an hour per day. If you're less happy, you can always go back to Netflix. However, I think you'll find that you're happier and healthier when you use free time to do something other than sit in front of a screen and consume. Sitting and staring at a screen can also cause physical issues. You should get up and walk once per hour (Apple Watch or similar can help if you forget), adjust your monitor height to reduce neck strain, get a quality chair and adjust it to encourage proper posture, set brightness levels as appropriate, and other minor tweaks to your environment.
- seanh-sh 6y agoYeah, good point about the letters being no better, and it boiling down to sedentary behaviour. Thanks for this response.