The dark side of being a developer/engineer 👩‍💻

The dark side of being a developer/engineer 👩‍💻

4 months ago
5 min read
6 reads
862 words

From the outside, the tech world looks beautiful.

A clean desk setup.

RGB lights glowing like a spaceship.

Two or three monitors open.

Mechanical keyboards sounding like machine guns.

Tweets about “building the future.”

People posting salary screenshots in dollars and talking about freedom.

To many young people, becoming a developer or engineer feels like escaping suffering.

And honestly?

Tech can absolutely change lives.

But hidden behind the memes, coffee cups, and GitHub commits is a dangerous reality many people ignore:

Some developers are slowly destroying themselves while trying to build successful careers.

Not because coding is evil.

Not because laptops are cursed.

But because modern tech culture quietly rewards unhealthy living.

---

The Culture of “Grinding”

Today, exhaustion has become a badge of honor.

The less you sleep, the more “serious” people think you are.

A developer proudly says:

> “I slept at 4AM debugging production.”

Another responds:

> “Bro, I haven’t touched grass for three days.”

Everyone laughs.

But over time, the joke becomes reality.

Many engineers now live in permanent survival mode:

sleeping late

eating poorly

sitting all day

stressing constantly

barely seeing sunlight

always thinking about work

The body keeps absorbing damage silently.

And the scary part is this:

Most developers are young, so they assume they’re safe.

Until one day the body starts fighting back.

---

The Human Body Was Never Designed for This

Think about how human beings lived for thousands of years.

People moved constantly.

They walked long distances.

Worked physically.

Interacted socially.

Slept according to natural light.

Spent time outdoors.

Now compare that to modern tech life.

A developer can wake up and immediately stare at a screen.

Morning:

laptop

Afternoon:

laptop

Night:

laptop

Midnight:

still laptop

Some engineers only stand up when:

the charger is too far away

food arrives

WiFi disconnects 😭😂

Even weekends are no longer rest days.

Someone is either:

learning a new framework

fixing freelance work

preparing for interviews

chasing...

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The dark side of being a developer/engineer 👩‍💻 | Soma Stories