Self-care

resources/self-care-ARTICLE.md

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+# Self care
+
+EDA is hard. It takes a toll on us, mentally, physically, emotionally, perhaps even spiritually. Our relationships may be affected, and our friends may wonder if we've been abducted by aliens!
+
+Some stress and fatigue is unavoidable, and in fact desirable. When we train a muscle we stress it intentionally, and once it recovers it is stronger than before. When we train our brains a similar process occurs.
+
+However, there's a point at which stress and fatigue become unhealthy. It's different for everyone, and though we can help you by voicing concern if we see you experiencing undue difficulty as you progress, the best judge of your own experience is of course you! It's essential  that you become adept at identifying your levels of fatigue and learn to treat it effectively with rest, nourishment, and play.
+
+Like all the skills you acquire during bootcamp, this will serve you well in the workplace too! Tired brains do not perform well; in particular, they do not learn.
+
+## Solo check up
+
+By the time you read this you'll probably have been working on course materials for a good while now. It's time for a check up! Give yourself a progress report on how things are going, and harvest some information on how to proceed.
+
+You may choose to accomplish this in a variety of ways. You might like to find a quiet, uninterrupted corner with a notebook and spend some time in mindfulness. You may prefer to go for a walk, bike ride or skate. (If you choose these options, please don't collide with anything while you're deep in thought!)
+
+Use the time firstly to relax and enjoy not staring at a computer screen for awhile. Then, bring your attention gradually to your experience over the last few weeks and months. How are you feeling? (If you answer at first, "tired", don't worry - chances are you're not the only one!)
+
+How much good quality sleep have you gotten lately? How much have you missed in total, your accumulated "sleep debt", during the course? Is it more than 10 hours? More than 20? How is the quality of your sleep? Are you waking feeling rested? Have you had your first "code dream" yet?
+
+Turn your attention to your body. How kind have you been to yourself physically since the start of the course? Are you eating well, or poorly? Are you over or under-eating? Getting any fresh air and exercise?
+
+Think about your affairs outside the course. Are there things weighing on your mind that could be taken care of with a bit of attention devoted to them? A phone call you've put off making, or a bill that needs paying?
+
+How are you feeling emotionally? It's very common for students to feel that they can't cope or aren't good enough to understand the course work, or that everyone else is doing better than they are. They experience these feelings when, by and large, they are very capable of handling the curriculum! It's also really common to feel concern about the future, about finding a job, about family and loved ones. If you've been having these or other worries, acknowledge them to yourself without dwelling on them too much for now. We're just identifying these feelings for now.
+
+
+## Identify an action to take
+
+Humans don't change easily. When we decide we need to alter something about ourselves, we often come up with a laundry list of things to correct. Sometimes that list is long and complex! And how often does it happen that we accomplish none of the things on that list at all?
+
+Notice the title of this section: _AN_ action. Find something out of all the things you've been thinking of that would immediately improve your situation in terms of looking after yourself. This is like giving yourself feedback that is kind, specific, and most importantly _actionable_! What one change could you make that would help you feel better? Maybe it's:
+
+  * go to bed half an hour earlier
+  * stop looking at LED screens an hour before bed
+  * walking for half an hour every day before getting started on EDA work
+  * stretching or yoga in between study sessions
+  * eating at least one green vegetable a day (hey, it's actionable!)
+  * reaching out to a friend you haven't seen in awhile
+
+Write this action down: make it real, and commit to yourself that if nothing else, you'll make this action happen.
+
+
+## Resources
+
+ * http://tinybuddha.com/blog/45-simple-self-care-practices-for-a-healthy-mind-body-and-soul/
+ * http://lifehacker.com/why-self-care-is-so-important-1770880812