So it’s not just writers who get stuck when they stare at a blank page — I mean, a blank code editor. Whether it’s for a programming assignment or a work project, you just don’t know where to start sometimes. It can make you feel really frustrated. Finishing the task feels so far away.
What can you do in this case besides panicking and banging your head against the keyboard? Let’s explore five steps to overcoming coder’s block:
You need a break. If you have been staring at the blank screen for a while and you cannot come up with any good ideas to approach the problem, you need to get up and do something else. You can take a walk around the neighborhood, bake some cookies, or watch funny cat videos on YouTube and just take your mind off the problem for now.
After your fun little break, you need to get back to work. Yes, no procrastinating is allowed. Take a look at the problem again and give yourself five minutes to take another stab at it. In those five minutes, you can read the question again, write the signature of the functions, write pseudocode, draw a diagram — do whatever first tiny step you need to do to get started.
Write down any specific questions you have about the problem that you do not know the answer to on a notepad. This makes the task less overwhelming. Perhaps you do not know how to make a button clickable. You would write “How do I make a button clickable in JavaScript?” on your notepad. If you have to create an API and you don’t even know what that means, you should write “What is an API?” See what I mean? Every little thing that you do not know, you need to write down. As you continue to do more research, you may come across more things you do not know, so you need to keep track of them.
Once you have specific questions listed, Google and Stack Overflow are your best friends. Chances are most of us programmers think alike, have asked the same questions before, and have had the same bugs before. Most of the time, you will be able to answer all of the questions you wrote down yourself if you are resourceful at finding answers. This is a great way to get unstuck by helping yourself.
Finally, if you have tried finding the answers to your questions, but you are still stuck, try to get help from others. If you are in school, you can ask your professors and TAs. At work, you can ask coworkers or your manager. Even if they do not know the answer, hearing different perspectives can help you get unstuck and come up with a better way to approach the problem.
Know that all programmers get coder’s block sometimes, and it is perfectly OK! In fact, the experience helps you grow and learn new skills. Just don’t get coder’s block during a coding interview.
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