 Today, we're going to be talking about stress and anxiety and depression as a developer. I hope you're having a great time in Chicago. My name is Peter Picarchic. I'm actually from here, born and raised, and you can find me on Twitter at GitHub at Peter PME. So stress, depression, anxiety as a developer. It's been a taboo in our industry for so long, right? We never really talk about it because it's like, oh, I have anxiety, how do I deal with it? But if we start bringing awareness as a community, it'll only make everyone's life easier because think about it. We work on complex and tedious problems all day long. If you've ever worked in the browser or with JavaScript, you know exactly what I'm talking about, right? Plenty of things to get stressed out about. So carpenters, for example, may stub their toes or fall off ladders, right? But we have mental injuries, right? You can't continue to use your brain 24-7 and not have it kind of like go out every once in a while, right? And that's totally okay, right? OSHA is not showing up on our job sites and making sure that we're doing the right thing. So who's checking up on us? Who's checking up on the mental side of things, right? It's up to us to make that happen. And a lot of this starts at the company, right? So company culture can make or break your life and your career, right? Like deadlines, crappy managers, unfriendly co-workers, if you've been in that situation before, it sucks, right? It's not easy to deal with. Find a job that makes you happy, especially as developers in this day and age. You can find something out there. Don't worry about, you know, like your skill level or where you are in your career or anything. You'll find something that works. And at the end of the day, there's nothing wrong with trying. So as developers, we're pretty introverted, we're shy, right? We make fun of each other for being passive aggressive. And time we start working on that, speak up and communicate. Because as soon as you get something off your chest, you feel so much better, right? And you've got a support system that you can lean on too, whether those are co-workers, friends, family. Sometimes it's easy to come home after a rough day at work and snap, right? But just apologize and keep going. Makes life so much easier, you know? Don't take it out on them. And there's easy ways to relieve stress at work, too. Go on a coffee walk. Go pick up some LaCroix, you know? Do whatever it takes to get out of the office. Set up some one-on-ones with your managers and your co-workers and make a pact. Let's check in every two weeks. I won't throw you under the bus if you don't throw me under the bus. Let's vent, you know? And if you work from home, which a lot of us do these days, use your commute or use your lack of commute as exercise. And by exercise, I don't mean lift heavy dumbbells and do 20 miles on the elliptical. I mean, exercise your right to get away from the computer screen and work and just chill, right? If you're working from home, go for a long walk. Explore a new part of town on a bike or just chill outside in your backyard for a little bit and breathe, you know? Take a few seconds or a few minutes or even an hour to yourself and just say, I don't care about work right now, I'm gonna do my own thing. That's totally fine. It's so important to clear your head and breathe. We're forgetting about ourselves and each other because we're constantly working. It's so easy to pull out your computer and work from anywhere. But you know what, we can't do that. It's important to listen to your body. Sometimes you wanna watch that episode of Rick and Morty before you go to sleep. And your body's screaming, I wanna sleep, listen. Or, hey, I wanna get some more work done, stay late tonight. Go and eat dinner or something, do something else. And between social media and TV shows, there's no shortage of distractions, news feeds to scroll through or shows to binge watch, right? Like between Narcos and Bojack Horseman, I barely have time to show up to work anyway. Be honest and real with yourself. Sometimes you'll have stress and distractions in life. We always will, but turn a big problem into small little problems, right? You're all here today, believe it or not, that's a huge win as it is, right? Working nights and weekends for a company that you don't own will never pay off. I don't care what your manager says. You can just give him my email and I'll tell him to fuck off if they say otherwise. For real, take care of yourself. Surround yourself with friends that chill you out and not stress yourself out. Significant others that support you and they won't bring you down. And co-workers that challenge you instead of throwing you under the bus, right? Do something for yourself. Life is short, take care of yourself, do whatever it takes to really enjoy your career and your job and make sure you keep it that way. Thank you very much, everybody.