I usually write here about Next.js, caching, and the bugs that steal your sleep. But this post is different. I want to share what happens before I ...
For further actions, you may consider blocking this person and/or reporting abuse
Great post about refreshing your mind! 😀 When we're stuck debugging, our perspective tends to become narrow. Gardening seems like a great way to refresh our mind. Also, good ideas often come to us when we take a break and refresh ourselves. 🌱
Thank you, so much! 😊
I think that's what happens too. The longer I keep staring at the same problem, the smaller my world becomes. Even a few minutes away from the screen can completely change how I look at it. I'm glad you enjoyed the post!
A sign that we're 'too good at our jobs', we know what to look for and that's why we cant see it. If it's a caching issue, you know where to look, what patterns to look for, but you miss the small details, like whether or not a simple "StateHasChanged" is actually called after the page's data refreshed server side (stupid example, but you get the idea, it's out of the scope you're debugging)
That's a really interesting point.
The more familiar we become with a certain kind of problem, the easier it is to assume we already know where the answer is. That's probably why it's often the smallest detail outside that pattern that leads us to it.
Have you ever buttered bread with a fork? Same principle, sometimes, you're so caught in your ways, that you do dishes instead of doing what you need to do, butter the bread. Because you expect a knife, you rely on using a knife, completely ignoring the potential of the fork.
Fantastic article and reminder to slow down, allow some more space, and return to things with refreshed perspectives.
Thank you so much, Ryan! 😊
I'm really happy that was your takeaway. Sometimes the hardest part isn't solving the problem, it's giving ourselves permission to step away from it for a while.
This is beautiful. I love how you describe the garden as a space for your mind to breathe, not an escape from the bug but a way to see it differently. That caching story is so relatable, the fix was always there, you just needed distance to spot the assumption you missed.
The compost metaphor really stuck with me. Learning works the same way, bits of knowledge sit there doing nothing until one day they click.
I need to find my own version of that terrace. Thanks for the reminder that slowing down is not falling behind.
Thank you so much 😊
I'm really happy the idea of finding your own version of the terrace resonated with you. I think that's the part that matters most. It doesn't have to be a garden, just something that gives your mind enough space to slow down for a while.
Thank you for such a thoughtful comment.
Changing physical context can expose assumptions that the desk keeps reinforcing. I have seen the same thing with code reviews: stepping away from the editor makes it easier to ask what the system is supposed to do instead of only following the next stack trace. Debugging is often attention management before it is tool usage.
I really like how you put that, Alex.
"Debugging is often attention management before it is tool usage" is such an interesting way to think about it. It's easy to focus on the tools we're using and forget that how we're paying attention is just as important.
Exactly. Tools matter, but the same tool used in a different attention state can produce a different result. Sometimes stepping away from the desk is just a way to stop following the stack trace mechanically and remember the product behavior you were trying to restore.
This resonated a lot. I've noticed the hardest bugs are rarely solved by staring at the same code for another hour they're solved when you finally question the assumption you've been carrying the whole time. Stepping away doesn't pause the thinking, it just lets your brain process it differently.
I really like that way of looking at it, Mayank.
"Stepping away doesn't pause the thinking, it just lets your brain process it differently." That really connected with me. For the longest time, I thought stepping away meant I was giving up on the problem. Now I've started seeing it as part of the process instead.
Same here. It's funny enough that a lot of the ideas behind Failproof AI came from those moments away from the screen rather than while actively coding. Sometimes the breakthrough isn't writing more code it's finally questioning the assumption you've been carrying all along. Please checkout our open source repo of Failproof AI, it will help you a lot. It simply integrates with your agent and make agents Fail proof, hit star also if you find it helpful :)
Thanks for sharing, Mayank. I'll take a look at the repo. 😊
Sure
This really landed. I'm pretty stubborn when something isn't going as planned — I've been stuck on things for hours, sometimes days, and I used just to sit there, getting more frustrated, sometimes genuinely angry at myself. I had to actually learn the skill of getting up and walking away, even something as small as going to get a glass of water. It felt unproductive every time, and it rarely was — the fix usually showed up on its own once I stopped forcing it.
I think what's actually happening is that staring harder just means re-checking the same wrong assumption faster, not differently. Stepping away is really the only reliable way to change the angle you're looking from, not the amount of effort. Took me way too long to actually trust that.
I could relate to this so much, Lior.
"Re-checking the same wrong assumption faster, not differently." That's such a good way to describe it. I think that's exactly what happens. We feel like we're making progress because we're still trying, but sometimes we're just going in the same circle.
It took me a long time to trust stepping away too. Now, when I feel myself going around in circles, I know it's usually a sign that I need a break instead of more time at the screen.
The detail that makes this true for me is that the code never changed, your vantage did. When you stare at a bug you keep re-checking everything around the assumption that caused it, and the assumption stays invisible because you're standing inside it. The garden doesn't hand you the answer, it pulls you far enough out to finally see the thing you'd been treating as given. Same reason talking to a rubber duck works: saying the assumption out loud is what makes it visible.
That's such a great way of putting it, Vinicius.
"The code never changed, your vantage did." I hadn't thought about it in those words, but that's exactly what happened. I also like your comparison with rubber duck debugging. In both cases, creating a little distance makes it easier to notice the assumptions we couldn't see before.
Thanks for adding that perspective.
Anytime, Shubhra. "A little distance" is the cleaner way to say it than mine.
Nice! Very philosophical piece, a bit poetic even - and point well made ...
P.S. nature is great, whether it's a garden or a forest or whatever - it's a miracle, if you just open your eyes and allow yourself to see it ...
Thank you so much, Leob! 😊
I smiled when I read your P.S. I feel exactly the same. It doesn't really matter whether it's a garden, a forest, or just a quiet corner somewhere. Nature has a way of slowing us down without even trying. I think we all need a little more of that.
Beautifully written, Shubhra 😀
I liked how you connected gardening with debugging through observation and patience. Sometimes the solution isn't in writing more code, it's in giving yourself enough space to see the problem differently. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much, Hema! 😊
I really liked how you described it. "Giving yourself enough space to see the problem differently" captures exactly what I was hoping readers would take away from this. I'm really happy it connected with you.
What you're doing is very similar to meditation. Meditation takes you away from the patterns and noise of the world and gives you a more distant place to observe it from. (It does a lot of other beneficial things as well.)
I usually write pretty simple code and I usually try to stare at it for awhile before looking at a trace, etc. The trace shows you what it did, but not what it should have done. Unless the input data is not what you expected, the trace reinforces your current perspective, it doesn't usually reveal that an approach is wrong or suboptimal.
That's a really interesting perspective, Joe.
I enjoy meditation too, so I can definitely relate to what you're saying. I really like the connection you made. I also really liked your point about traces showing what happened, not necessarily what should have happened. Sometimes we get so focused on gathering more information that we forget to question whether we're looking at the problem the right way.
Well said! I end up at the side of the ocean which clears my head, most times. What surprises me is how often the answer comes as soon as I put my mind back to task or it just comes to me out of nowhere.
Thank you! 😊
I love that you have the ocean. It sounds like it does the same thing my garden does for me. I know exactly what you mean about the answer showing up as soon as you come back to it. It still surprises me how often that happens.
This reminds me of the time I was first learning React. I had this bug for about an hour now and I can't seem to solve it (state not updating). I finally had it, my head was hurting so I went downstairs and played with my dogs for about 5-10mins.
Then it clicked.
I don't know how, but it clicked. It's like the solution came back to me. I believe maybe the mind needs its alone time to rest and come back to you. Once I got upstairs I applied the fix which only took seconds and it worked!
The thing is, the world is not moving fast but social life and work is. It is heavily influenced by what we see in the internet today that sometimes it feels like we need something that reminds us of the little things. Last night, I looked up at the sky and saw the moon. I caught myself asking, when was the last time I did this? I can't remember but I'm sure it was a long long time ago. It reminded me how little I am compared to the vast universe and that every little pressure and problem I have is insignificant after 100 years (or less). So l guess, cherish these moments and live, we are only human after all.
I really enjoyed reading this, Elmar.
The part about playing with your dogs felt so familiar because that's exactly the kind of moment I was talking about. The solution doesn't always appear because we're trying harder. Sometimes it appears because, for a little while, we stop trying so hard.
And I completely relate to what you said about looking at the moon. I've always found those quiet moments comforting.
I learned this a year ago, when I was dealing with llms for code-assist. Sometimes you just need a clean context window to see the problem clearly. In many cases, that means you, not the model.
That's a really interesting comparison.
I hadn't thought about it in terms of a context window, but it fits surprisingly well. We spend a lot of time trying to give the model better context, yet we rarely think about clearing our own. I really like that perspective.
This is incredibly relatable. When you’re dealing with complex systemic challenges - it's fine-tuning deep learning LLM routing architectures, debugging intricate caching boundaries in Next.js, or untangling layered network security protocols - the temptation to just brute-force your way through the code is real.
But as engineering experience grows, you realize that the most stubborn bugs rarely yield to typing faster. They yield to a shift in perspective. Giving your brain the offline processing space to challenge its own assumptions is often the fastest route to a clean fix.
Thanks for this reminder that engineering maturity isn't just about how many hours we stare at the screen, but about knowing when to step back and let the mind do its work. Beautifully written!
Thank you so much! 😊
I really liked what you said about engineering maturity. For me, one of the biggest shifts has been realizing that stepping away isn't separate from solving the problem. Sometimes it is the work.
I'm really glad the post resonated with you.
Absolutely love this. Breathe, be patient, and allow the solution to appear. Quiet genius. Thank you for sharing this.
Thank you so much, Doug! 😊 That really means a lot to me. I love how you summed it up: "Breathe, be patient, and allow the solution to appear." You said it beautifully.
Thank you for a great post 😊
Can relay to this so much! That switching context on something completely out of topic is really helping to find such 'hidden' point. Gardening sounds so nice!
Thank you so much, Mariia 😊
I'm really happy it resonated with you. It's amazing how something completely unrelated can suddenly help us see what we were missing all along.
Sounds like a managed code (C#) type problem where it made a copy or left a copy hanging. Reference count managed code is less vulnerable.