Most of the advice is good for pre-stroke persons too. Might even avoid having one.

Thank you for sharing.

Reading this, I'm reminded of the idea that we should all care about accessibility, because barring death or radical advances in restorative medical technology, we will all rely on accessibility tech in some way eventually.

Besides what is listed here, have you observed anything that your coworkers or managers can do to help accommodate you? i.e. Is there a version of this for folks working with stroke-surviving software engineers?

How strange to come across someone whose medical stuff so mirrors my own. I was just a decade older and don’t have epilepsy symptoms with meds. I can get behind all the advice here. Running out of “juice” and needing a break is very much thing. Before too but more so now. And taking a lot of semi stream of consciousness notes to help my more limited memory is too.

Good advice. I had one young too; I worked long days and had no life outside my company; it was in an economic downturn so I was also burning out (hindsight). I figured out what was important to me and that all changed everything.

All excellent advice even if you haven't suffered some health issue like stroke.

Good advice. I didn’t have a stroke but a couple months ago I developed blindness in my left eye. It came down to my optic nerve being inflamed. I was later diagnosed with a rare autoimmune condition called MOGAD which “attacks” the optic nerve. Thankfully my vision is approx 95% recovered by now. But I still can’t read, eg code on my laptop, which is scary (my right eye is basically making up for it). And I’m scared of another attack happening. So I’ve been really looking after my health and trying not to do the 12+ hr coding benders I used to do. I appreciate these tips!

Going through several panic attacks with stroke-level blood pressure elevation had a similar impact on my worldview and approach to work.

Slow down. Prioritize your own health and well-being. Focus on the essentials and cut out everything else.

If you are in pain, see a doctor before you end up in urgent care like I did.

OP thank you for this generous text. I would add that these tips are amazing for people with post-covid/long-covid/brain-fog too

Some of these apply to other neurodivergents like myself.

One thing I struggle with is that the only time I seem to really get in the flow is when no one is around and no one else is working. Some form of stimulant is needed, but no stimulant I can use gets me to the point where I can get into more flow than I can when no one is around. I sometimes dream of how much I could do if I just lived at my office alone. This is sad and frustrating, because I don’t want that life where I cannot have a life of my own and where I cannot interact with people at work or it disables my ability to get things done.

Nutrition and some form of exercise are also incredibly important, especially as you get older. Not everyone needs the same things, so don’t let others tell you what is the “right thing for everyone”- there’s no such thing.

It's very depressing how the article says "you don't have to do it alone! use AI"

ah this age where "not alone" means "AI"...

How about, enjoy good connections with nice people. Both in personal and work. Maybe those people can even see the warning signs and tell you to stop before you have a stroke.