How a Senior Developer Rescues Himself From Serious Back Problems

We were lucky to have a talk with Vadim, a senior developer from the land of Vodka - Russia, and discussed about his habit forming journey. 

Alan

Hello Vadim, could you share with us the habits you are forming?

Vadim 

I didn’t have a huge list from the start, but I added each and every one along the way. My most common habits are:

• Don’t drink energy drinks, coffee
• Don’t work before sleep
• Go to bed on time
• Get up on time
• Exercise
• Don’t take sugar
• Meditate
  

Alan

Why did you decide to form those habits, or should I say, break some bad ones?

Vadim

One and a half a year ago, I started to listen to myself. I soon realized that there are many bad things in my life that affects my health and my job as a developer. 

For example, I always thought that drinking alcohol is good for relaxing. It’s not entirely true. In fact, I only feel good drinking alcohol with friends on holidays or special events. On work days, though, alcohol makes my sleep uncomfortable, and I always wake up late with a heavy headache. The same for energy drinks or coffee. They all make me very unproductive and hence I cannot concentrate on getting things done.

Alan

What has changed for the last 1.5 year?

Vadim

My whole life, actually (laugh)

Habitify was very helpful in helping notify me complete the habit list that continues to grow big every day. As I have said, I pick up things I want to change gradually, so at some points I couldn’t remember them all and had to resort to the app. And Habitify is just perfect for that. 

Right now I have around 30 habits and I complete them every day. 

I have to say Habitify is what starts this whole journey and it makes me think that I’m on my own way to changing for a better life. I don’t know if it’s Habitify or not, but I do see aggregated results. As I see more results, I start to feel more motivated and hence I keep on going. 

The biggest impact in my opinion is a better posture at work. I am a developer, you know, I have to sit all day in my chair. I set a reminder in Habitify every hour to nudge me to sit straight. After some time my back problems are significantly alleviated. For me this is a real game-changer. Together with not drinking energy drinks, alcohol and coffee, I feel way more productive at work! 

Alan

Great to hear! Besides the reminder, what do you find helpful in the app as well, for a developer like you?

Vadim: 

Ah, I love the fact that Habitify is available on 3 platforms: Mac, iPad and iOS. As a developer, I use them all the time and they keep my habit forming journey in a continuity. I am able to set a lot of reminders and will not forget a thing no matter which device I am on. The app is quite user-friendly on those platforms.

Alan

Sweet! So as someone who has been forming habits for 1.5 years with over 1000 completions, what is your advice to newbies of Habitify?

Vadim

The most important thing in forming new habits is you have to listen to yourself. I started this whole journey just by listening to how my body responds to certain things like energy drinks, coffee or alcohol. Then I move on to see what else. 

It’s really important to observe and track how certain things impact you. You can read blogs and see people recommend you form several habits, but when you try them yourself, you’ll see that not all habits fit you well. 

People function differently, and so no habit list is similar to the other. Make your own list, by your own self, with your own body. 

Alan

Wise words, Vadim. Thank you so much for your time!