The Solution of Restful Work

“You do not rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems. Your goal is your desired outcome. Your system is your collection of daily [integrated] habits that will get you there.” James Clear, author of Atomic Habits

Well, what about corporate wellness programs? A randomized clinical study from Harvard University shows that wellness programs offer “No significant differences in other self-reported health and behaviors; clinical markers of health; health care spending or utilization; or absenteeism, tenure, or job performance after 18 months.”

Therefore, the solution to burnout will not be found solely in company wellness programs and health insurance offerings. A solution to this growing issue requires an industry-wide re-imagination and reconstruction of how we work fundamentally, as well as a true self-evaluation that addresses the unspoken expectations and artificial pressure we create for ourselves.

We believe that a real solution is possible when a collaborative approach is taken by individuals and the organizations that they work for.

If we are to integrate our daily habits into our work life, we need to start by massively challenging and reconstructing our current thinking and assumptions around work, such as the assumptions that may be leading us down the path of burnout. The assumptions that hold our career back from the growth we really want and the personal lives we want to see alongside our career. Society and family structures teach us so many faulty ideas about work. They are ingrained in us and hard to shake. However, Developer Health OS is a step toward self-reflection and discovery that can help us identify, break down, and cultivate a new understanding of ourselves and our work mentality.

Rest & Recovery

As a reminder, restful work encompasses both a physical time and place as well as a state of mind where we are enabled to put forth our efforts. Restful work allows us to devote our mental and physical resources to our jobs, yet also the freedom to pull back and acknowledge that work is just one part of our life.

Our society has a toxic relationship with the idea of rest, one that weighs us down with guilt and feelings of unworthiness. We need to change that narrative. Rest is not something to be “earned” after working hard or making great achievements. It’s fundamental to the pursuit of productivity and quality output. Peak-performance athletes do not selectively or optionally decide to rest. Rest is fully integrated into their workout routine. Sleep and recovery are as much a part of an athlete’s practice as strength training, endurance, and conditioning. We want to integrate this expectation as tech workers and fully adopt rest and self-care as the foundation of an amazing and fulfilling career. Our vision is to grow the ability to work restfully, to experience what it feels like to be calm and relaxed as our default mode, and not as a fleeting anomaly.

Developer Health OS is a framework for how to systematically (1) challenge our thinking around work, (2) change our work habits, and (3) rewire our neuroplastic brains. While these shifts happen throughout the curriculum, our goal is to help create an environment (that is, an operating system) where restful work is much easier to produce consistently. This restful work operating system leads to a reinforcing loop that creates positive emotions and thought patterns, which in turn allow us to make better decisions and produce better work sustainably and enjoyably. As our environments become more stable and well-defined based on our needs and roles in tech, we may find that rest spills into our personal lives as well. With our energy bank fueled, we may become more exploratory in our personal lives, consequently increasing our mental and physical health, and enabling creativity and productivity in our work.

A discussion on burnout would not be complete without acknowledging that both the organization and the individual cause burnout. While we will provide an overview of the role that large teams and organizations play in burnout in Section 3: Team Health, we will focus primarily on what we as individuals can control and create within our own environments that will be conducive to restful work, regardless of our workplaces.