Background Software industry employees are subject to the harmful effects of technostress, which is caused by information technology use. Aim The aim of the current study is to understand how software industry employees cope with technostress and how their employers can best support these coping efforts. Method We employed the critical incident technique using a qualitative approach and collected our data through a questionnaire. In total, we collected and analyzed 715 real-life accounts of coping with critical technostress incidents from employees working in the industry. Results We identified 27 strategies for coping with technostress and provided a comprehensive categorization of them. Additionally, we uncovered novel coping strategies and highlighted the contextual (organizational and personal) factors that influence the selection of coping strategies. Conclusions Our findings help in explaining the reasons and motives for up-taking specific coping strategies in the software industry. Based on our findings, employees invest considerable effort into coping with technostress, but do not receive enough support for their coping efforts. We offer insightful suggestions for support mechanisms that could be used by software organizations to enhance employees’ coping efforts and well-being.

Software engineering (SE) requires high analytical skills and creativity, which makes it an excellent context for experiencing flow. Although previous work in the SE context has identified how positive affect and development tools can support the flow experience, there is still much to uncover about the characteristics of software developers’ flow experiences. To address this gap in knowledge, we conducted a qualitative critical incident technique (CIT) questionnaire (n = 401) on the flow-facilitating factors and characteristics of flow in the SE context. The most important flow-facilitating factors in developers’ work included optimal challenge, high motivation, positive developer experience (DX), and no distractions or interruptions. The flow experiences were characterized by absorption, effortless control, intrinsic reward, and high performance. Our study identifies the features of flow commonly addressed in flow research; however, it also highlights how IT use, especially development tools that provide positive DX, as well as being able to work without excessive distractions and interruptions are important facilitators of developers’ flow.