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Disappeared Since March: Taking a Long Break Was My Best Decision Yet

Maame Afua A. P. Fordjour on September 23, 2026

If you checked my profile recently, you probably noticed my page has been completely quiet since March 12th. No project updates, no new posts, and ...
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FrancisTRᴅᴇᴠ •

Welcome back Maame! I was wondering where you have been all this time! As @dannwaneri mention, a LOT has happened on this platform and a lot of changes happened overtime as you already know.

A lot new people join the community and few returning. People come and go, but glad you are still with us!

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Daniel Nwaneri •

Francis, well put.

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Maame Afua A. P. Fordjour •

Thanks Francis! I can clearly see the amazing changes so far. Happy to be back :)

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Daniel Nwaneri •

Let me be the first to say this. Welcome back, Maame. The community has changed a lot since you were last here.

March 12th to now is a real stretch to step fully away for. My year went the other way, I kept building through the low points instead of stopping.

I do not think either choice is more right. What made you trust that stepping away would help more than pushing through would have??

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Maame Afua A. P. Fordjour •

Thank you Daniel! I can see how much the community has changed, I do think it has changed in a good way. I had to take a break particularly from documentation and social media because I had a lot of pressure from uni, an internship and work as well. So all the other things just gave me a burnout, and I had to pause on some to have a breather. I do think neither choice is right or wrong , just what works with every individual. I am glad I took that break to focus more on school and also happy to be back! Can't wait to read the amazing content you have been writing :)

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Daniel Nwaneri •

Maame, uni plus an internship plus work is 3 full jobs at once. No wonder something had to give.

Glad the break worked for you and glad you are back. Looking forward to your next post.

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Maame Afua A. P. Fordjour •

Thank you 🙌

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Sina Rezaei •

I think the part that stood out to me most was that you didn't just take a break from coding, you actually stepped away from the whole cycle of constantly trying to keep up.

There's a weird pressure in tech to always be learning something, building something, posting something, or worrying that you're falling behind. Sometimes you don't even realize how much mental space that takes until you finally stop.

And I like that your creativity came back naturally after the break. You weren't trying to force yourself to come up with the next project. You started noticing problems and ideas again because you actually had some space to think.

That's probably a good reminder that taking a break doesn't necessarily put you behind. Sometimes it gives you enough distance to figure out what you actually want to build next.

Welcome back. Curious to see what comes out of this next chapter.

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Maame Afua A. P. Fordjour •

Exactly Sina! I think my brain was too clustered from doing too many things at once. And when that happens it really does get overwhelming. I’m truly excited for the next chapter!!

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Jem •

Welcome back!

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Maame Afua A. P. Fordjour •

Thank you Jem! Glad to be back :)

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FrancisTRᴅᴇᴠ •

Speaking of "Jem" (Sorry @heyitsjem lol), gave you your first Gem. Should be able to give in the comments. Not sure when you are able to do with Articles, but have fun with it :)

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Sylwia Laskowska •

Haha Maame, believe me or not, I was thinking today about "where is Maame" 😍 good to have you back!!!

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Maame Afua A. P. Fordjour •

Thank you Sylwia! Looking forward to reading your amazing content as well!! Thank you :)

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Codearea •

Great post! Taking a real break can make a huge difference, especially when you are balancing studies and coding. Sometimes stepping away is exactly what we need to come back with better ideas and more motivation. Welcome back! I’m also looking forward to discovering more useful tech and coding resources on codecan.net.

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utilvo •

Really enjoyed reading this. It’s easy to feel like you’re falling behind when you take a break from coding, but sometimes stepping away is exactly what you need.

I liked how you mentioned that you started missing coding naturally instead of forcing yourself to keep building. That’s probably a much healthier way to come back.

Welcome back, and good luck with the new projects!

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Maame Afua A. P. Fordjour •

Thank you Utilvo! And yes, it just came naturally to me which was the healthiest way of coming back. Also gave me better ideas! Thanks for the read :)

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Elmar Chavez •

Welcome back @maame-codes! Also, I sometimes find very useful to have something to look forward to. That helped me a lot with dealing with burn out. Though taking a long break hasn't lingered in my mind yet, I think I'll try it once I feel almost depleted to charge up.

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Maame Afua A. P. Fordjour •

Well put Elmar, I think for me I was just genuinely overwhelmed and needed rest, mainly because I was doing a lot of things at the same time. Hopefully after my masters I would have more time on focussing on my career more. But I do agree with the 'looking forward to something' trick.

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Julien Avezou •

Welcome back Maame! I am also back from a break as a lot has been happening in my life.
It is totally fine to take breaks from time to time to recharge and prioritise other things.

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Maame Afua A. P. Fordjour •

Thank you Julian! Glad to have you back as well. And yes, you’re absolutely right. As humans we sometimes need to take a pause and then come back even better

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Mona Hidalgo •

Yes, very true. Breaks are intended for us software engineers. Welcome back. 🤪

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Maame Afua A. P. Fordjour •

Exactly Mona! Thank you :)

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Hemapriya Kanagala •

Welcome back, Maame! I can definitely relate to this. I took a break from DEV too and came back in April. Sometimes we really do need that time away. So good to see you back 😀

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Maame Afua A. P. Fordjour •

Thankss Hemapriya! I am glad you also took a break to freshen up and come back better. :)

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Mr Say Nothing •

Taking a break felt terrifying the first time I did it too — then the ideas started compounding again. Framing rest as part of the work, not the absence of it, is the line I'll be stealing. Welcome back.

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Debashish Ghosal •

Welcome back! You did the best thing for yourself. Since April , I have been working on a job (with some coding as a mid level manager) and after work I do OSS with AI. I was burning out putting so many hours. AI is addictive. I took a small break in terms of limiting my personal AI work to max 2hrs. I am going to take a small vacation soon. Yes, please breaks are needed, pause and recharge :) Be kind to yourself

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