Downtime
2016.05.30There are days when the spirit may be willing but I just can’t seem to buckle down and dive into the code.
On those days when I can’t find my A-game with two hands and a flashlight I often find it is beneficial to watch coding videos. It’s a passive activity that can still pro-actively add to my personal knowledge::base and help advance my skills.
Often these will be Railscasts or DevTips videos that actually help me learn skills for specific tasks I’m trying to achieve in an active project or coding challenge. Occasionally they’ll be inspirational TED videos or Vodcasts by developers ‘in the trenches’ that address shared experiences.
One Youtube channel I adore is funFunFUNction. mpjme is a riot and among other things his episode on the Phases in the life of a Developer helped me to stop being fixated on striving to achieve perfection of elegant code and let me stop worrying that I would be drummed out of the Rails community for writing If/Then statements longhand. (They’re freakin’ EASY TO READ, PEOPLE!)
I keep a handy list of videos I’d like to watch and topics I’d like to investigate for those days when the raw code isn’t speaking to me. I try to use my mental downtime to my advantage in the fine tradition of Sesame Street.
A little perspective and flexibility go a long way
While it IS important to keep working on your skills and adding to your knowledge that doesn’t have to mean an intense full-day-of-coding practice EVERY DAY. Coming up for air from time to time will act as a natural flow control valve to limit the input to manageable chunks. It will give your brain a chance to chew and swallow what you’ve been feeding it. Try to do it all at once and you may just suffer from information overload.
Spend a few hours hip-deep in code then go read or write a blog post. Read an article. Catch up on industry news. Watch a video. Take a walk. Pacing yourself will do wonders for retention. DON’T try to do it all at once. You can’t upload this knowledge a la the “I know Kung-Fu” scene from The Matrix (much as we may all WANT to do it that way!)
Working at this 6-10 hours a day, 7 days a week for weeks on end may be a great way to learn but it’s also a great way to blow a fuse.
So on those days when you just can’t bring your A-game, take a step back, find a distraction, watch an industry-specific vodcast or screencast. Better yet take SEVERAL steps, all the way out the front door. See that scary bright electromagnetic disturbance in the sky? That’s the sun. Yeah it’s trying to kill you, but a little bit of exposure to it daily will actually improve your overall health and well-being.
Health and wellness will give you the strength to sit still and stare at a screen for 16 hours a day and WRITE MORE CODE! Mwa-Hahahahahahahahahahaha!
Um. Pardon me. I think I’ll step outside for a few minutes…
~AMP