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Facundo Conde
Facundo Conde

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Enter the Zone

Hi there! I have been having some very stressful days lately, loaded with a lot of personal issues. I have been having troubles developing, getting into the "zone". When you are off the edge, what do you do to get back into work? Do you listen to certain music, go for a walk, talk with a fellow Dev?

Top comments (5)

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garthvador profile image
Quentin Caillaud

One good solution if you are stressed and having personal issues, but sadly rarely available, would be to take one or a few days off...

If it's not possible (most of the time) what I can think of is meditation, nap, go for a walk or listening to music (for me it depends on the mood, or season. In summer it would be punk rock, metal in winter, stoner, doom, post rock or jazz all the time, and minimalist music or movie soundtrack if I'm really stressed - quite eclectic actually).

And spending evening with friends or people you like (not too late, nor too alcoholized, lack of sleep won't arrange the situation...).

Personally I won't ruin my health for work, life is short, but I know companies (or customers) are sadly rarely understanding...

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tux0r profile image
tux0r

I usually do something else for a while, e.g. reading or having a good Scotch.

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bizzy237 profile image
Yury

Walking usually works for me. During winter I just try to get SOMETHING done before I leave because you cannot take a walk when it's -30°C outside (hate winter for that). If I have to estimate how long something will take and I'm really stressed, I literally double the usual time because I know I'm not able to work at full speed

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callgage profile image
Gage Henderson • Edited

Personally I like to try to force myself to break the "writers-block" feeling.

I'll sit and my desk, and tell myself "Okay, I'm not gonna get up for 30 minutes - Under any circumstances."

At first it's a little painful and bumpy, but I bet after 5-10 minutes you'll lose yourself in your work. I almost always end up working long past the 30 minute mark.

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bizzy237 profile image
Yury

I usually end up realizing I just spent an hour looking into a single spot and my coworkers might think I'm dead