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DNP: Mental Health Management

Thursday, September 17, 2020 (Central Time) — 3:45PM - 4:30PM

In the National Basketball Association, whenever a player is on the active roster but does not play in a game, they are given a designation of DNP (did not play) in the official stat sheet. A reason is typically given for the player’s DNP. If a player did not play because the coach did not elect to substitute him into the game, then he is given a DNP:CD, short for Coach’s Decision. The trend of strategically giving player’s a night off has propagated throughout the NBA. So much so that it has created a new DNP designation, load management. So how does all of this relate to the mental health and happiness of a software engineer? Software engineers are asked to perform complex tasks, sometimes under tight deadlines. The repeated stress of handling these tasks can be mentally draining with diminishing returns on productivity. This is why I advocate the software engineer’s version of a DNP, DNP: Mental Health Management. The DNP: MHM is a day where an engineer is normally scheduled to work, yet takes the day off to perform mentally invigorating activities. It is a proactive response to growing mental weariness designed to be a quick recharge. I’ll speak about my experience of using the DNP: MHM along with the pros and cons of the approach

Organizers:
William Hill, Gabrielle Jones