Many of the tasks performed by software engineers are intense. If you are considering a career transition into this profession, you might be wondering if you can achieve a software engineer work-life balance. Before you spring for a Bachelor’s Degree in Software Engineering, you should determine if it’s actually possible to achieve work-life balance as a software engineer.
In this article, you will learn all about the art of work-life balance as a software engineer, including whether software engineers work on weekends, and whether this profession is among the best work-life balance careers.
What Is Work-Life Balance?
Work-life balance is the act of balancing your work and personal time. Having work-life balance also includes taking care of your general physical and mental health to avoid burnout. Finding a good work-life balance is about striking the right mix of career focus and personal life enjoyment.
What Does It Mean to Have Work-Life Balance?
Having work-life balance means you are able to pursue important personal goals, hobbies, and relationships in the midst of developing a professional life. If you prioritize your time at work over your personal life, your overall life satisfaction and well-being will be negatively affected. Developing a work-life balance means focusing on achievements at work and in your personal life.
Why Is Work-Life Balance Important for Software Engineers?
Work-life balance is important for software engineers because most software engineers work on projects that could require overtime work on evenings or weekends to complete on time. Their day-to-day work involves juggling a number of scheduled tasks and attending meetings which can take away from time spent working on the project to meet its deadline.
This kind of professional life affects their ability to maintain their boundaries around their personal time. Oftentimes, software engineers work on challenging coding projects with deadlines that require overtime on evenings or weekends, interfering with personal and family time.
Software Engineer Job Responsibilities
A software developer’s role is to apply engineering principles to software creation. This requires them to perform a range of diverse tasks that can be time-consuming and require intense concentration and effort. Below are a few of the job responsibilities of software engineers.
Design New Software
Designing new software includes everything from writing the code to making sure it is unique and innovative. Software developers have to ensure that the new software is compatible with multiple programs and devices. They must also ensure that it is free from bugs and viruses.
Research
Prior to the design stage, software engineers must conduct research to ensure there’s a demand in the market for the product or service. They aim to create something that will bring a unique value proposition to the market for its clients or customers. Then, after designing, they perform research on how to market their service for it to be successful once launched.
Maintenance
Software engineers must regularly monitor all their systems’ functionalities and perform regular maintenance. They need to catch any problems in their software immediately and come up with innovative ways to fix the bugs. Maintenance is an ongoing part of a software engineer’s role.
Project Management
Senior software engineers lead teams of software engineers. Their main job is to work to make sure all projects are completed on time. They take the lead on technical and operational projects, and, depending on the corporate culture, work closely with upper management to define software requirements.
Coding
Software engineers are responsible for writing the code that is used in building new projects and maintaining current projects. Most of their day is spent writing code, which turns the design of the project into a functional product or service.
How Many Hours Do Software Engineers Work?
Software engineers work an average of 40 hours a week, broken down to eight hours a day over five days. However, because software engineers’ work is typically project-based with deadlines, they may need to work additional hours during evenings or weekends. Issues with software maintenance could also mean they have to work outside of office hours to fix the issues.
Do Software Engineers Work on Weekends?
No, software engineers don’t typically work on weekends, though on some occasions they may have to in order to reach a deadline on time. They are typically scheduled to work during normal office hours.
How to Achieve Work-Life Balance as a Software Engineer
- Have practical daily goals: The real problem for most software engineers occurs when they are forced to complete leftover work at home. This can be avoided with a focus on improving time management and prioritization of daily tasks.
- Set boundaries against unofficial working hours: Whenever their boss requires them to do work that they know cannot be completed within the workday, engineers should communicate this to their superior. Typically, a good boss works to accommodate members of their team’s abilities and capacities.
- Compartmentalize the tasks: Software engineers have to code, perform maintenance, and complete project management tasks all in the same day. Instead of going all in all at once, decide on when you will do what. This will help increase your brain power and enhance your productivity levels, thus reducing the time it takes to achieve tasks.
- Move around: A software engineer’s tasks are mostly done sitting down in one place. Prioritizing physical activity will contribute to a better state of mind, which could then result in more productivity during working hours and freeing up more personal time.
- Check in with yourself often: Consider the areas in your life where you’re spending aimless time, whether it’s scrolling on your phone, streaming media, or surfing the web. Spending less time on these activities and more time on your personal goals will lead to greater life satisfaction.
Software Engineering Companies With the Best Work-Life Balance
Nowadays, the importance of work-life balance is catching on in the professional world. Below are some companies from the tech industry that take special care of their employees to ensure that their company culture allows a healthy work-life balance.
Amherst
- Headquarters: Austin, Texas
- Locations: New York, Boston, Chicago, Dallas
Amherst is a FinTech company known to promote work-life balance for its employees in several ways. They have a paid time off (PTO) policy which encourages workers to have adequate time to relax without having to think about work.
One North Interactive
- Headquarters: Chicago, Illinois
- Locations: Chicago
One North Interactive provides its employees with an extensive health benefits package. It also ensures employees receive childcare stipends in accordance with their situation, and a PTO policy for up to four weeks.
CSG
- Headquarters: Chicago, Illinois
- Locations: Chicago, Colorado
The owners of CSG believe that their employees can be made into productive people only if they are given regular breaks from work. That’s why they provide all their employees with an allowance to take as many breaks during their workday as possible to tend to their personal life. This enhances the workers’ overall quality of life.
Heartbeat
- Headquarters: Venice, California
- Locations: Venice, Santa Monica
Heartbeat is a marketing tech company that employs a large number of remote software engineers. They encourage healthy friendships and fun virtual activities during work hours. They have rooftop games and group fitness classes to ensure their in-house employees feel motivated and fresh at all times.
GoHealth
- Headquarters: Chicago, Illinois
- Locations: Charlotte, Chicago, Lindon, Slovakia
GoHealth is a tech company that aims to foster better health care through the use of modern technologies. They promote work-life balance for their employees by providing coaching lessons on different kinds of fitness activities.
Is Work-Life Balance Possible for Software Engineers?
Yes, work-life balance is possible. Work-life balance as a software engineer can be achieved by setting boundaries around working outside of office hours. It can also be enhanced by including leisure time and fun physical activities at the workplace itself.
Software Engineer Work-Life Balance FAQ
Yes, software engineers work from home. Since most of a software developer’s job is done on a computer, they can easily work remotely or from home. This profession is a good career choice for people with families or who want to work from home.
Yes, software engineers do have a good life. Software engineers earn high salaries and because of the high demand for professionals in this field, they enjoy job growth opportunities and job security. Also, being able to work remotely allows them to live outside of traditional tech-focused areas that often have a high cost of living.
Yes, the global tech industry is evolving at a fast pace, and it needs talented professionals in software engineering to facilitate this growth. Many top software companies are looking to hire software developers across the globe. That’s why this profession is included in several career recommendations for engineers.
Yes, it is easy to have work-life balance as a software engineer, but it all depends on how you prioritize your time. By focusing on time management on a daily basis both in your professional life and in your personal life, you will be able to balance both areas well.
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