Let's Talk About Mental Health | Announcing The Continue Project

It's time. Let's talk about mental health as technologists.

Watch the Announcement

You can catch the full replay of the announcement (a little over 30 minutes) right here:

Wanna skip to the good parts?

Just looking for the giveaway link? Here ya go (but do read on!):
Enter the Giveaway

What's this all about then?

We are developers, engineers, and technologists who recognize the importance of mental health in our lives and support each other with resources and space for discussion as colleagues and friends.

While the stigma around discussing our mental health as humans has steadily decreased, I feel like we tech people still just don't talk about it enough.

I don't even necessarily think it's to do with the stigma so much as it's that we tend to be solitary by nature. We (or at least I) like to hole up and get stuck into our code or projects and shut the "real world" out.

So what happens when we DO need help?

When we hit burnout?

When impostor syndrome shuts us down?

When we become depressed or anxious?

Who do we turn to when our entire modus operandi is to put our headphones on and shut the world out?

For too many, for too long, the answer has been no one. We ignore it until it can't be ignored, and then we're down for the count. Our work suffers, our relationships suffer, and we suffer.

THAT'S what this project is about.

First, foremost, and always, this is a community in which we are free to discuss these issues and encouraged to support each other in pursuit of better mental health.

From coping skills to avoiding burnout and impostor syndrome to just needing someone to hear us, the Continue Project is for every developer, engineer, and technologist who ever needs the support of people who get it.

Where to Find Us

You can join the community in a variety of places around the web.

Find a comfy spot and join the discussion.

You mentioned a giveaway?

I did!

To celebrate the launch of the project, we're giving away $500+ of "stuff." Entries are open through November 30th, 2020.

First prize (1 winner) will receive a 1 year subscription to Pluralsight AND a piece of "merch" of your choice shipped anywhere in the world we can reach.

(I chose the Pluralsight subscription, by the way, because one of my favorite ways to get out of my head is to learn something new.)

Four other winners will also receive a piece of merch of their choice.

I'm finalizing the initial designs for that merch and will certainly share them out ahead of time.

To enter the kick-off giveaway, just visit the link below and enter with any or all of the available options.

>> ENTER THE GIVEAWAY <<

The goal, obviously, is to help spread the word as far and wide as possible.

So anywhere you find a developer or engineer or technologist who could benefit from this space (I hope that's all of us), share the links. We never know who we might save from crisis or even just a bad day that could be made better if only they'd found us.

Wrapping Up

I'm thrilled to get this off the ground. I know how important my network of friends and confidants has been and is to me when I'm going through these things, and I'm proud to be working with a number of other technologists, content creators, and friends to make that available to others.

I hope you'll join us. I hope you'll ask when you need help. I hope you'll share the resources you've cultivated on your journey. I hope you'll lend an ear to our friends who need to be heard.

I hope we'll all wake up, day after day, more at peace with ourselves and the lives we lead.

Thank you.

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