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Discussion on: Do I Have Coder's Block?

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crowdozer

#4 and #5 help me a lot these days. It's important to put yourself in a comfortable place where you can easily enter your flow state. It's also soooo easy to feel self conscious and inadequate once the block starts to set in.

I've found a few helpful habits that keep me focused and productive lately:

  • Remind yourself that doing anything is better than doing nothing. We're taught that we should give everything our all and strive for perfection, but I say that's a recipe for procrastination. You don't have to complete that entire issue all at once. You don't even have to write the code. Even if you open your editor and put down a bunch of pseudocode, you're 100% better off than you were an hour ago. Don't beat yourself up over it. By the way, this applies to more than just code, and it might change your life. i.redd.it/ldskye68ofv21.jpg
  • Ease your way into something that feels overwhelming. I'm the type of person that can do something for hours once I get started, but I can't bring myself to get started in the first place, ya know? Pick something lightweight - like reading docs, blogs, or stackoverflow posts about what you're supposed to be doing - and do that instead. After about 20 minutes, you'll probably be coding.
  • Sleep on it. Seriously, if you've hit a dead end and you feel completely lost, just give it a good night's rest. I've gone through this cycle for months at a time of feeling hopelessly lost then coming back the next day feeling like I've been given arcane knowledge.
  • Remind yourself that you're not an imposter. Read up on what the imposter syndrome is and don't let it get to you. Keeping all of those thoughts at bay will help keep you focused. We all feel as lost as you, I promise.

😅