DEV Community

Discussion on: How do you shift between the coding mindset and other head spaces?

Collapse
 
jacoby profile image
Dave Jacoby

I don't know.

I'm in a Perl shop that does web, and so, going back and forth between Perl, SQL, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, JSON, YAML, Handlebars, Mustache and Template Toolkit, I've had days where I was unable to hold a conversation, my head was so jumbled.

I try to do everything I can in JS, then everything I can in Perl, and so on. It can be as little as "What are comments right now?", but that can be enough.

And then there's "dealing with users" brain, and because I'm in the middle of a thought when they come to me, so I need to switch out of code brain quickly. In those cases, the sentences that start with "I'm sorry to bother you. I know you're busy" are far more frustrating than those that are direct and blunt. I'm much more open now to saying "Come back in five minutes" to give me time to finish and transition.

So "Give yourself transition time" is all I can add. I hope someone else comes up with something better.