So you want to be a coder, huh? You probably know by now that it’s a growing industry that pays a lot but requires you to be patient, hardworking, focused, and keen on the littlest of details. When you code, you use a whole new different language that only highly specified programmers can do. It will instruct the computer to follow commands by reading the programming language that you inputted. Lots of your skills will be put to the test including critical thinking, logic, mastery of programming languages, and focus.

You not only get to practice these skills at work; you may also cultivate them through having hobbies. Hobbies have been discovered to do wonders for one’s cognitive and creative abilities and will prepare you for coding in a fun way.

Practice is very important in coding, especially since it’s a skill that will require you to concentrate and focus for long hours in a day in order to finish a project. You will feel less exhausted and would even feel relaxed while you do your hobbies and practice indirectly your coding skills. These hobbies can help you think better and exercise your creativity. There are also hobbies that target your physical health, helping you be more intellectual and professional in approaching work. In summary, hobbies will help you be more creative, uplift your mood and make you more optimistic, help you be more satisfied with your job, achieve that work-life balance, showcase your motivation and passion to your bosses, allows your mind to take a break and recharge, and helps you reframe your mindset so that you gain a different perspective in solving your problems. Hobbies that require physical energy will improve your physical health. Hobbies that need you to sit down and be creative will reduce your stress levels. Hobbies that stimulate your mind can help sharpen your focus.

We listed down hobbies that can help you improve coding but ultimately, it still boils down to what relaxes your mind and what you find fun and enjoyable. Here are eight hobbies you might not have thought can help improve your coding skills.

1. Baking

In baking, you have to be completely precise with your measurements and attentive to what you’re doing so that you don’t miss a single step. If you do something wrong, everything will go awry. The same goes for coding, you follow a step-by-step process that can’t afford for you to make a mistake. These steps follow a certain order and must be strictly done one by one according to instruction.

When you bake, you also exercise your creativity by experimenting with different ingredients and designs when you’re about to decorate your pastries. It will require you to try and test things out to see what works for you and what doesn’t. The same goes for coding.

2. Immersing in Art

Art is not just about aesthetics. It can do wonders to one’s mental health. When you get fully immersed in art and lost in the moment, you pour yourself out into a masterpiece that once finished, you will find the most rewarding. You might think you are escaping your problem but what happens is that you’re giving your mind the space to make neural connections and develop comprehension, according to Indeed.com. It doesn’t have to be formal; it can be as simple as doodling. You may self-study techniques in drawing and painting by watching tutorials online.

3. Diving into Photography

You might think that photography is an entirely different field of interest from coding and yes it is. But both hobbies do touch on the same skills. When you’re a photographer, you have to be patient when it comes to getting your winning shot. You also have to solve some problems in composition because not everything will go your way. Programmers are faced with the same challenge of being patient in solving problems.

And plus, photography provides a visual outlet for coders who might find coding dizzy and boring at some point. Photography can provide that visual need.

4. Engaging in Physical activities

Like other office workers, coders spend a lot of their time stuck in front of the computer. They need to destress and move their bodies as well for good physical health. Outside of work, they must also find the time for exercise. This will help them cope with the stressors of coding, give them better sleep, and help them keep their ideal weight. Coders, like any other office worker, can engage in softball, yoga, jogging, swimming, martial arts, dancing, working out in a gym, golf, rock climbing, hiking, kickboxing, and strength training. They will also be able to inculcate discipline in themselves even when motivation is low. These will be useful for them in their coding job experience.

5. Learning how to play a musical instrument

When you play a musical instrument, you use your brain’s corpus callosum, or the part that establishes a connection between the left and right hemispheres. It helps boost your memory, problem-solving and motor skills, and critical thinking. You may enroll in private lessons to learn how to play a musical instrument or by yourself by watching videos online.

6. Reading books

You would want to build your comprehension if you aspire to become a great coder. You do this by reading more. You get to open your mind to a refreshing perspective and understand what the author offers by introducing you to this kind of approach. You get to be more imaginative when you read because you would start visualizing the scenarios presented in the book that you are reading. Good comprehension, shifting perspectives, and being imaginative are great coding skills. Reading will definitely help take your analytical and writing skills up a notch.

7. Writing

When you write anything, be it a journal entry or a professional essay, you are exercising your communication and creative skills. These are both essential for coders. It helps your mind in idea generation which will highly aid you in your coding career. You also gain a deeper sense of clarity when you write which helps find solutions to your problems.

8. Puzzle-solving

Some might think you’re wasting time on the newspaper’s crossword puzzle or when you’re deep into a Sudoku game or jigsaw puzzle. Well, the short rebuttal is you’re not. You are actually honing your critical thinking skills when you do these games. You are able to work on your memory and improve your knowledge about things. You are able to engage your mind mentally and feel accomplished when you solve puzzles.

Tip: You would want to invest in tools such as ergonomic furniture in order to help you engage in your hobbies as well as hone your coding skills!