How Crunch Is Destroying Devs?

Crunch is when work gets super intense for a long time, and it makes developers feel like they're running in a race without ever getting to stop.

Imagine you're playing with your favorite building blocks, you stack them up high, and you’re happy. But then, someone says, “We need this tower done by tomorrow!” So instead of taking your time to build it carefully, you rush through each block like it’s a speed challenge. That's crunch, working really fast for a long time.

Crunch is like eating three big bowls of ice cream in one go, it feels amazing at first, but after a while, your tummy hurts and you can’t think straight anymore. Developers feel the same way when they have to work nonstop with little breaks.

Every time developers get crunched, they lose energy and get tired faster next time. It’s like running in a race, if you keep racing without resting, eventually your legs will give out, and you won’t want to run anymore.

Crunch is fun once in a while, but when it happens too often, it starts to feel more like punishment than play.