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I've been taking a break from coding lately, but work beckons. Now I've got a project in front of me on a fairly tight deadline, so every day matters.
I pulled up my project which I managed to work on for a couple of hours yesterday but never got in "the zone"
At least some progress was made.
Now I pull it up, and I know what I wrote was legible, but I don't understand it. I should be able to.
Anyone who has read Douglas Adams knows what I mean when I say "the long dark teatime of the soul" - the Sunday afternoon where nothing ever seems to get any traction, and you're listless - that sort of thing, well it has overcome me now, and it's not even Sunday.
Today is a write off. I don't know what's up with my head today, but it's like I can't focus on anything. I can't afford for this to continue, and it's not like me.
To err is human. Fortune favors the monsters.
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That's the crux with creativity. Whereas non-creative folk can usually zone out and do their job since it's so repetitive... people that have to think need that spark. Energy is not infinite.
There's no real good way to get back in the zone. Best way I figured out over the years was to just start with something small and innocuous. It's like writing a book, even if what you're writing sucks because you're not in the zone, just start. Eventually the ol' noggin should catch up.
Or go dig a ditch for a day and realize that coding is better than doing that. 
Jeremy Falcon
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I just love that dark sense of humor but I think I can improve on it.
If you dig a ditch so deep you can't get out.
Your spade brakes.
Then you realize you forgot something at the top of the ditch.
That would put a smile on my face
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A surfer friend of mine told me once...
If you are on the top of the wave for too long, you either hit the sand or the rocks. If you want to surf all the time, you need to "step down", go back and relax while waiting for the next good wave.
I am pretty bad at it, but when I do realize it and follow the tip, it really works for me.
M.D.V. 
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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This experience reminds me of the moments I spend playing the piano. When I become intimately familiar with a musical piece, my fingers seem to possess a mind of their own, effortlessly navigating the keys while my thoughts begin to wander. It's as if I inhabit two separate identities: one consumed by the act of playing, and another that sits back and listens, engaging in unrelated musings. In these moments, I often find myself contemplating the peculiarity of this division, only to be abruptly jolted back to reality, realizing that I've momentarily lost track of the next note in the composition. It never fails to amuse me, and I can't help but chuckle at the delightful quirkiness of the situation.
Interestingly, I've experienced a similar phenomenon where I enter a state of deep focus and flow during the middle stages of a project. It's fascinating how inspiration and productivity can strike unexpectedly, defying any specific formula or prediction. In essence, my suggestion would be to embrace the uncertainty of the "zone" and instead focus on establishing a work routine. By diligently working on your project, even during periods when the zone feels distant, you create an environment that hopefully allows for those productive moments to emerge more frequently.
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One of my all time favourite books, and the image is brilliant.
cheers
Chris Maunder
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"So long, and thanks for all the fish" was rather good, too.
Will Rogers never met me.
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It happens. Even with a tight timeline, time to go do something else for a little while.
Charlie Gilley
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759
Has never been more appropriate.
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When that happens to me, I borrow from the "Pomodoro Timer" method.
You need to get some(any) kind of timer, set it for some small time like 25 minutes where you promise yourself you'll try to focus on an important step. I think 25 mins is suggested 'cause it doesn't sound too long, it's doable.
When the timer goes off - you permit yourself to stray ( go for a walk, practice music and juggling etc. ) for about 5-10 minutes. Your mind deserves some fun off the leash.
Repeat the cycle.
I find it gets me back into the mode where I can get in the zone again where the "work" is actually "fun".
Totally stray out of the "Pomodoro" rules when I am out of the funk.
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It wasn't a motivation issue. It was a focus issue. I could not get my brain to engage with the code. I was totally ready to work and I just couldn't. The code may as well have been French.
To err is human. Fortune favors the monsters.
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I have been where you are.
I find a disconnect while my right-brain can suggest to my left-brain what I need to do usually works.
Of course, if the deadline is not looming, the urgency is not there and the inspiration will not be forthcoming . .
You have always come through before - this time will be no different. Trust the magic in you - it will show you the way . .
A few are great.
I am small.
Together we are the Universe.
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Message Closed
modified 15-May-23 19:06pm.
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The cause usually is pure laziness and lack of imagination on the part of the UI designers/developers. Popping up a dialogue box followed by another, and so on, is easy and quick (and so often horrible for the user). But job done, move on.....
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I call it a dog's breakfast, but I am sure no self respecting dog will touch it. 
First installing it froze at 69% for almost half an hour. Then (after a restart) the computer froze at "You are 0% there." After waiting for about another 30 minutes, I forced the power off and restarted the machine. Upon the restart, it immediately resumed counting up to 100% quite fast.
After another restart, I thought it best to run a sfc scan and sure enough it reported that it found and repaired some corrupt files. Now the machine seems to be working OK.
This update robbed me of more than an hour out of my day! 
Get me coffee and no one gets hurt!
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Cp-Coder wrote: This update robbed me of more than an hour out of my day!
and the best is yet to come...
"If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization." ― Gerald Weinberg
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And to think, they want to us blindly install updates immediately now. Trust the corporations without question. Big tech knows best. We're just plebes.
As a side-ish note, even VS Code is getting odd. I swear every other day I open it up there's a new update it's bugging me to install. Fortunately, it doesn't crash or anything, but here I thought I was supposed to use it to actually do some work.
Jeremy Falcon
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Jeremy Falcon wrote: thought I was supposed to use it to actually do some work.
Work? I thought you were a manager. 
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I went back to doing contract work. One of the things I love about the business side is being able to make an impact, rather than having a boss "above" you that's too afraid to be honest with the business. But, it also consists of a bunch of useless meetings that waste people's time with folks that have no earthly idea about tech and are usually in it for the wrong reasons. I intrinsically lack respect for people who only wish to tell others what to do rather than do actual work themselves. I mean, there is value in the business side of course, but most of it is fluff and garbage.
Ok, I'll stop ranting now. 
Jeremy Falcon
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I agree 100%. I worked for too many bosses for whom I had very little respect.
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So did I, on the other hand, I did manage to be respected by them.
M.D.V. 
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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"I swear every other day I open it up there's a new update it's bugging me to install."
Looks like you don't have a Linux box.
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Peter Adam wrote: Looks like you don't have a Linux box.
Frequent updates are actually worse in Linux because every day you log in, everything is updating daily. Even with distros such as Debian.
Jeremy Falcon
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My very latest Win11 and VS update left me with a '.NET' error and my VS-generated VB.NET app refuses to run! Starting the VB.NET app in Debug-mode in VS generates the same error message.
What's going on here?
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Didn't take so much for me. Was over in max 10 minutes.
Note: Is it geography dependent? I live in India.
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switch to linux lol....
Caveat Emptor.
"Progress doesn't come from early risers – progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things." Lazarus Long
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