The world of tech is incredibly fast-paced. Technology is constantly evolving; new companies are being continuously started and stopped; there are always new challenges to be tackled. It’s so easy to get swept up in the rush: to try to stay ahead of the curve, meet that deadline, solve the next problem. And whilst this can be really fun and exciting (and a large part of why people get into tech in the first place), the flip-side is that it can lead to getting burned out, lost in your career, or rushing around so much that you miss out on the having the chance to reflect and learn from your experiences.

This year especially, we are seeing many people working in tech suffer with their mental health. Tech jobs are notoriously demanding, and on top of that many people have been worried about losing their jobs and so have cracked on, head down, just trying to keep moving forward and quickly as possible.

Some feedback that I’ve had throughout my career is that I need to slow down, or pause more. I didn’t really know what that meant at first: Surely they don’t want me to work slower and miss deadlines? Isn’t being efficient a good thing?

But slowing down isn’t actually about reducing your pace or your productivity. It’s not about doing less. It’s about proactively taking time to stop, reflect, assess and learn, before moving on to tackle the next task in the list. By taking time to pause, you can learn a lot about:

• Yourself: Including your goals and values, and whether what you are doing aligns with them. Are you making the right choices?
• Your work: Are you delivering what you expected? Where are areas of strength and areas of improvement?
• Your team: By taking a pause, you can also take a step back and look at the work of those around you. Who do you count on? Who needs help?
• Your health: Are you doing ok? Do you need a break or support? Are you feeling energised?

For many people in tech, taking a break can seem counter-intuitive to productivity. We often have a habit of getting lost in rabbit holes trying to solve complex problems, and spending hours on end looking at the same issue trying to fix it. But if you don’t take the time to stop and reflect, in the longer term you are likely reducing your overall productivity because:

• You can end up lost in tasks that don’t align with your values or purpose, reducing happiness and motivation, meaning it gets harder to do your work.
• You can end up burned out by not taking rest at the right times.
• You can lose focus on yours and your team’s priorities, and end up wasting your energy on the wrong tasks.

Think of it like a code review. Without code reviews, you could end up with a codebase that is unstructured, difficult to understand, unfinished in places, or over-engineered code that isn’t relevant to the core functionality of what you’re trying to do. Treat your time and activities like a codebase – you want to be reviewing it little and often to keep things on track.

So practically, how do you do this? Some examples of how I’ve tried to factor in time to slow down are:

• Having someone hold me accountable, whether this is a friend, colleague, manager or mentor: have someone force me to stop and think.
• Book in a calendar slot once a week where I spend some time reflecting on my week and making notes. What did I achieve? What went well and what didn’t go so well?
• Review my personal development plan once every month or so. Do the goals I set still align with what I’m doing now? Are those goals achievable, or should I change them?
• Work through personal development books that have exercises in them that force you to sit, think, and write about who you are, how you work, and what’s important to you. This can be super helpful if this structured way of thinking is new to you. A personal recommendation is International Careers for Women in STEM by Dr Hannah Roberts.

Finally, look out for those around you. If they’re anything like me they will struggle to reach out for help when they need it. If you spot someone who tends to live at 100mph, reach out and encourage them to take a pause.