Torque and your sanity

#1 I leave it. Go for a cycle, go down the pub, play a game etc. After a time, a few hours or a day, I can come back to it refreshed. I kind of find myself thinking about programming problems unintentionally anyway, so somtimes I find an answer during my time away!

#2 I have a little thing I call two-minute-plays

I fire up flash or TGB and just do something totally different off the top of my head.
E.g. I'll write some quick code to show every letter permutation of a scrambled word,
or use exceptions that play ping-pong with each other ;p

Or have a lil dude throw javelins at a wall, or visualise the aerodynamic flow around an airfoil,
or a hierarchical character that jumps trampoline, or a quick little sim of a sniper scope with
ballistics, wind, etc...

Basically get as much done in 2 minutes as you can... if it takes a bit longer, fine, but
I want to get the jist of it in 2 minutes... hack it, smack it, just make it work...

I find that this helps me break out of the cognitive loops I get hooked on when struggling with
a particular issue on a project.

That and other times I just get roaring drunk...

~neo

#3 I play a nice round of Quake 1 :). Either that or play a 9x9 game of Go.

#4 I usually hit up my usual internet stomping grounds, play a game for a bit or watch some tv. Sometimes I'll go for a walk, but I find that something that actually forces me to shove the problem into the back of my mind for a bit helps more than introspective walks in the middle of the night.

Beer has also been known to help as well.

#5 If you want to maximise development time I usually just switch to a different albeit perhaps small programming task for a while, say maybe cleaning up code comments, a bit of simple refactoring, some documentation etc.

#6 I come and read senseless posts.
.. or the news.

#7 Sometimes I'll play a few rounds of Quake3, sometimes Ill come here to catch up on the latest GG drama. usually though I just turn on cartoon network to watch some adult swim. :) inuyasha is one of my best sources for game ideas.

#8 Ask for help...

#9 That is maybe something I should do more often?

I usually end up digging for the answer myself.
and of course I always find it.. sometimes its takes a little longer.

#10

Quote:I usually end up digging for the answer myself.
and of course I always find it.. sometimes its takes a little longer.

I personally find this method much more rewarding and I come away from it with a better understanding of the engine.

#11 Indeed Cliff.

but also, what is your time worth?
you have to realize there is a boundary there somewhere where you Should reach out and ask for help.
because help Is available, some people like to be empowered by helping others and that is a good thing.

#12 Absolutely... It depends on whether it is something that I really need to know or not. True understanding is very valuable, as long as it is something worth achieving that level of knowledge.

My usual tactic is I will try to sort it out on my own until I have decided for myself that I've hit a wall, and then I ask here.

Of course, asking on the forums has, more often than not, led to me sorting out my own problem shortly after that. heh.

#13 When this happens to me... my teammate tells me to go play a night of Battlefield 2 or some other game. It usually helps me get ideas to solve the problem and to rid frustration caused by the orginal problem.

#14 I ussually dial random phone numbers and pretend to try to sell people Long Distance.

Seriously though, if I get really stuck, I talk to other people about it. I explain what I'm doing. Whether in the form of a question or if it's someone who doesn't have any idea what I'm doing, like my wife for instance, I explain what I'm doing. Ussually, just getting it out on the table and just hearing what I'm thinking and walking thru what I'm doing by explaining it makes me come up with the answer pretty quick.

Funny thing about some artistic minded programmers like myself is that we are reactive thinkers and we are good at programming because it's something we can do that actually 'does' something and we can see it 'doing it'. Also, I think that just hearing yourself say it makes your mind react to it and figure it out. I like teams alot because teams work at an exponetial rate compared to solo work. When you can bounce thoughts and ideas off of each other is so far more productive than banging your head against the desk. I am a pretty fast learner, but I really go fast when I am talking with someone about what I'm learning. This is shown also in the saying that 'teaching is the best way to learn something yourself' sometimes.

#15 Usually, I go for a smoke. I don't smoke inside my house, so it gets me away from the computers for a few minutes to clear my head.

"That and other times I just get roaring drunk..."

heh, that works too.

#16 Appearently I program in my sleep. I often wake in the morning with a problem solved that I "just couldn't solve " the day before. This often involves eligent complex solutions ready to code.

#17 Thanks for the ideas! If any wants to add more, please do.

RT

#18 Pick up the guitar and work on a song or two.

#19

Quote:Appearently I program in my sleep. I often wake in the morning with a problem solved that I "just couldn't solve " the day before. This often involves eligent complex solutions ready to code.

I think I un-program in my sleep. If I'm thinking about a problem, I'll usually come up with the solution just before I drift off. And do you think I can remember when I wake up? Nope :(

#20 Playing guitar, blasting music, swimming,and throqing a giant clay ball at my wall.....Im sure there are other things, but I cant think of any right now.....