Strategies to overcome Programmer’s Block

          Have you ever been in a psychological situation when you are unable to write any code, the deadline of project seems out of reach, and whatever you code appears to be not right? This condition is called Programmer’s Block or Coder’s Block and it is quite normal among developers to go through this phase. Often, it goes away automatically in most of the cases, in a few hours.

          Unfortunately, many-a-times, a programmer does not have a few hours to spare on programmer’s block to pass. When working on a crucial project, a little delay even by a minute can be very costly. Thus, we need a way out of the programmer’s block as soon as possible. Well, worry not. We have come up with 4 proven strategies to resolve the problem and get you out of the mental block. Let’s start!

1.    Revisit your goals

    The major reason behind the programmer’s block is the loss of sight of what you are doing. You get confused of what you are doing and why. The best way to overcome this problem is to revisit the project documents and read the project goals again. This will clarify your vision about the project and help you give a fresh start to the work.

2.    Take a break

           Continuous work on screen can be tiring and cause you a coder’s block. If this kind of situation arises, what you can do is break the cycle. Stop programming, take a break, walk around, and get involved in a random conversation that is completely no-related to your work. This will calm your brain muscles down and help you recover the block sooner than expected.

3.    Fix your approach

          Applying a wrong approach is another big reason behind programmer’s block because a bad approach gets you stuck at places several times. You want to minimize resources while maximizing productivity but a wrong move can lead you to a no-productivity zone. Thus, if you find yourself stuck in such mental block, change your approach. Look at the problem from a fresh perspective and come up with a new approach. The best way is to break down your problem into manageable pieces and apply multiple approaches on different chunks to increase productivity.

4.    Ask for help

          Yes, sometimes you can get a programmer’s block because you do not know how to go ahead with your program. There is no shame in accepting that you are not the know-it-all. Turn your programmer’s block into an opportunity of learning something new. You can ask for help from colleagues, fellow team members, your project manager, and even the internet. There are several online communities and forums to help you resolve your problem. You just ask for help and people will surely like to help you. This thing is true in a case when you have a mental block because of some personal problem in life.