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Cover image for How Do You Get In The "Coding Zone"?
Brian C
Brian C

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How Do You Get In The "Coding Zone"?

It's a beginning of a new sprint, and you're hungry to get started on knocking your stories/tickets out. You've got a fresh new development story that you're eager to get started on. You've already got the solution all figured out and you know your implementation will be fool-proof.

You grab your beverage of choice, tune your headphones to your "Code Rush" playlist, and code away.

Then it hit's you: You've magically entered "The Zone" where your thoughts are clear and your code is swift(no pun intended). You suddenly become a 10x Developer, and have no doubt in your mind that your code will be bug free.

Even when you run into minor set backs in your code - a variable spelled incorrectly (who needs intellisense?) - you still press on.

Some would argue this feeling is caffeine induced; But I have experienced it without any stimulants plenty of times.

So the question is: how do you get yourself into this unique mode of productivity?

Is there anything you do to force yourself into this state?

When you're in it, what do you feel when it comes to your thinking?

Top comments (2)

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richardpaulhall profile image
richardpaulhall

"So the question is: how do you get yourself into this ominous mode of productivity?"

Ominous does not seem to be the word you want.

A beverage does not help. When I am in "the Zone", I am working. I do not even think of said beverage. Taken out of it, I will notice my beverage.

No tunes, too distracting.

I need: no phone calls, no meetings, no distractions.
This meant I was most often in "the Zone" after 5, when everyone else had gone.

I also need a good code base. Comments, good variable names, etc. If not, the first step is to clean the code.

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kaizend3v profile image
Brian C

Richard thank you for pointing that out! Ominous definitely wasn't the correct word.

I definitely agree with you on the "I need: no phone calls, no meetings, no distractions."

For me, I set my status on my company's chat service to "Busy", and let my team members know to message me afterwards.