In this presentation, we explore the role of playfulness and hobbies in preventing burnout in the tech industry. Discover how integrating joy and creativity into our work routines can enhance innovation and well-being. Join us for insights and strategies to embrace a more balanced and fulfilling approach to technology work.
This talk has been presented at TechLead Conference 2024, check out the latest edition of this Tech Conference.
Jonny Feket is a software engineer and entrepreneur who started coding in high school and has a passion for the tech industry.
The main topic of Jonny Feket's talk, titled 'Rebooting Joy,' is about reigniting the initial excitement that brought individuals to the tech world using playfulness and hobbies.
Playfulness is important in the tech industry because it fosters curiosity, which activates the brain's reward system, aiding in creative thinking and innovation. It helps make mundane tasks exciting and combats burnout.
Mini hackathons can benefit tech workers by providing a fun, competitive, and collaborative environment to explore new technologies and ideas. They also serve as great team-building activities.
Pair programming involves two programmers working together on the same code. It can be used effectively not just for code review but as an exciting opportunity to collaboratively debug and creatively solve problems.
Curiosity hours are dedicated times for exploring new tech gadgets, experimenting with new programming languages, or diving into interesting coding challenges. They fuel curiosity and help maintain excitement in one's work.
Hobby projects allow tech workers to try out the latest technologies without external pressure, fostering creativity and innovation while keeping the passion for tech alive.
Helping others with tech issues can improve your mood and happiness. It provides joy by allowing you to investigate and solve challenging problems without the pressure of working on your own tasks.
Jonny Feket enjoys participating in and organizing hackathons, as well as helping friends with tech issues, as these activities bring out healthy competitiveness and joy without external pressures.
You can stay connected with Jonny Feket and access more resources and further reading by scanning the QR code provided during his talk.
Reignite your passion for tech by incorporating playfulness and hobbies into your daily grind. Organize mini hackathons, engage in pair programming, and dedicate time for curiosity hours. Helping others and participating in hack-a-thons are great ways to stay excited. What's one hobby or playful activity that could reignite your passion?
Hello, everyone. My name is Jonny Feket and I'm a software engineer and an entrepreneur. I started coding in high school and I immediately fell in love with the magic of it, the sheer joy of giving commands to a machine and then just watching it execute them. Sometimes not exactly as how you'd expect it, but that's the beauty in it. Am I right? I'm sure many of you can relate to that.
Today I'm here to talk about something we all need a little reminder of from time to time, finding joy in our work. My talk, titled Rebooting Joy, is about reigniting that initial excitement that brought us to the tech world in the first place using playfulness and hobbies. Because let's face it, we work in an industry that's fast-paced and very demanding. Did you know that over 80% of tech workers have felt burnout at some point during their career? And maybe you have felt it too. That's a lot of geeks out there. But you know what could help, besides obviously having less stressful jobs, bringing back playfulness so that the otherwise mundane tasks can become exciting once again. And why does playfulness work? Well, it's the fundamental way how we think and learn. And at the heart of playfulness is curiosity.
Psychological research shows that curiosity, the desire to know or learn about something new, fires up our brain's reward system. What does this mean? That when we engage in playful activities or pursue hobbies, we're not just taking a break. No, we're actually actively engaging parts of our brain that are crucial for creative thinking and innovation. And by nurturing our curiosity through play, we foster a mindset that's adaptable, eager to explore new challenges, and resilient to the pressures of the tech industry. So how can you incorporate this into your daily grind?
Well, you like tech and you like challenges. So why don't you organize mini hackathons where you and your colleagues can intensively focus on creatively solving projects with new technologies? These events are perfect for exploring new technologies, new ideas in a fun, competitive, but collaborative environment. And they're also great for team building. Or consider pair programming not just as a tool for code review, but as an exciting opportunity to collaboratively debug and creatively solve problems. Think of it as a dynamic duo adventure where you and your colleagues tackle code challenges together. Or dedicate time for curiosity hours where you can explore a new tech gadget, experiment with a new programming language, or just dive into some interesting coding challenge. It is best if it's not related to your regular job, so there are no expectations. It will fuel your curiosity and will help you stay excited. The same can be said about hobby projects because they are the perfect way to try out the latest and shiniest technologies without any external pressure to deliver.
I can do better than just talk the talk, so let me give you a couple of examples that worked for me. Helping others have many, many, many benefits to your mood and happiness and helping your peers when they are facing a challenging tech issue and stuck. Now, that's the real deal. Whenever my friends get stuck with something, I'm always the first one in line and quickly volunteer to help, and my inner child is back. I'm not working on my work, but theirs, so there's no pressure, only the joy of investigating that pesky issue or bug. Similarly, I really enjoy participating or even organizing hack-a-thons. The time constraint and the sense of community brings out that healthy competitiveness while there are, again, no external expectations. So, can you imagine having more fun in your workdays, sustaining your passion for this industry that we all love? I want to leave you with a question to ponder. What's one hobby or playful activity that could make your eyes shine with excitement and reignite your passion for tech once again? For those of you who are interested in diving deeper, I created a list of resources and further reading. Just feel free to scan the QR code, and let's stay connected. Enjoy the rest of the conference.
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