How do you handle "writer's block"

[testsubject]

To commemorate my 500th post, I have a question for everyone.

What do you do when you just don't feel 'creative?'

Like many of you, I write a lot of code for a living but at times I find that I am not "On" and just get nothing done that day. I freely admit that being creative is one of the hardest things I ever do.

How does everyone else handle an off day? It is convenient that I am salary and can absorb days like this. I find that when this happens to me I take the laptop home for the weekend and wind up getting inspired to finish what I was having trouble getting started during the a week.

Just curious how other handle it.

Bob (Looking forward to fall semester; I know: I'm a glutton!)

 

[TConnolly]

I know the feeling. Sometimes I find that my most productive code writting happens between 10:00 pm and 2:00 am.

As a child of the '70's I still like rock, but I don't think very well when its on, but putting on some jazz can get the creative juices going.

And I think sometimes that creative block is really a sign that maybe my brain does need the break.

 

[randylud]

TEST! Truth be known, there is not a lot of creativity in many PLC programs, other than from the point of view of the person who wrote it. Most end users, management, and anyone who never touched a key to enter an address can not know what it takes to do the job. The main objective is to get the thing running, and hopefully by some means that comes close to making good use of memory, processor time, etc, but bottom line, it makes little difference in most cases. DOES IT WORK? WHEN IS IT GOING TO WORK? That is what we hear most often and talk about stifling the creative juices, that will do it. I had one boss tell me that I could be creative on my own time, just get the project finished and running.

I think to answer your basic question, just step back, do some other activity and then take a fresh look at the job. I have even had a good idea come to mind in my sleep and fortunately was able to remember it the next morning. I never worried a lot about the process, just tried my best to get things working the best way I knew how at the time. Hopefully that also meant that it was creative, at least in my eyes. We all know that our own opinion is the most important anyway! RIGHT?

 

[Steve Bailey]

Being the only employee of the company means that I have to do a lot of different things. When I'm faced with writer's block, there are always plenty of other things I can do to avoid wasting time trying to force myself to become creative.

I've also found that a deadline can have a therapeutic effect on writer's block, although the side effects can sometimes be nasty.

Back when I was in sales, I found that 'windshield time' was good for organizing the overall approach to a task, as in "Maybe function A would be a better fit for this task than function B". The cops may be able to ticket you for talking on your cell phone while driving, but so far there are no laws against driving while mentally programming.

Sometimes, just starting to write something gets your mental gears in mesh and you begin to see a way to get the task done. It's important to be aware of when you're in a mode like that, and once you've settled on an approach, to trash all of the false starts and blind alleys. That can be almost as difficult as getting started was.

I also know that I tend to be more creative early in the day, so I try to schedule tasks that require creativity first thing in the morning. I leave the more mundane tasks or the things I can do without having to put a lot of thought into them for some other time of day.

 

[Terry Woods]

Bob said...
"What do you do when you just don't feel 'creative?' "

Do you mean that, sometimes, you just don't "feel like" being creative...

...or that sometimes you aren't as creative as you need to be?

Being creative is very hard work. Of course, "creativity" is a relative term. One man's creativity is another man's pokin'-the-pooch. But then again, one's own creativity is relative to that one's own normal performance.

To be creative, one must have an understanding of the basic concepts for the particular endevour, imagination, and there must be time and energy available. I would say that the minimum objective requirements to be creative are the understanding of the basic concepts and imagination. The other two factors, time and energy, are more subjective. Primarily, they are subjective in that, all too often, demand is imposed without regard to time and energy available.

At 3:00 pm, on a Friday, your boss gives you the news.

You say to your boss...
"You want what???"

Your boss says...
"A new process program."

You say to your boss...
"You want it when???"

Your boss says...
"Yesterday... but today would be good."

And you just finished developing and commissioning a previous process... that took two weeks of 12-hour days...

You are burned-out...

Oh yeah... creativity can suffer greatly without energy.

Some of the greatest creative thoughts in human history occurred while someone was lying on his back, in a meadow, looking for animals in the clouds. The key there is that creativity seems to abound when one is relaxed.

On the otherhand, even if creativity is abounding, if the time constraint is too great, then the creativity also suffers.

The mind "wants" to be creative. But it can only do so much for any given length of time. When pressed to produce, without adequate rest, the mind is driven to accept short-cuts. This situation produces the dreaded "good enough" effect.

I've told my guys on many occasions, as soon as you hear yourself saying "good enough"... STOP! If you hear yourself saying "good enough", then... back up and find out where the hell you lost control of the situation and where you lost the vision.

This is where one must learn to be honest with one's self... if one can't be honest with himself... who the hell can that one be honest with? Those of us on the outside of his mind can tell when he has lied to himself. And if he is willing to lie to himself... how can he expect anyone to trust or believe him?

If I find that I am at work, under my own schedule, and I just don't feel like being creative, I jump into some of the more mundane aspects of house-keeping... that is, I go through the effort of updating the synonym file or the comment file. Or I work on some of those graphic issues that I've wanted to do for a while... anything that is a complete distraction from where I was.

It seems to me that when I'm doing graphics or text updating (synonyms and comments), the part of my mind that handles real coding is on hiatus. Likewise the other way 'round.

So... even if you aren't feeling creative... then, at least, be productive.

If you really, really, really can't do that then... either you are burned-out enough to take a sabbatical where you can go somewhere to lay in a meadow and look for animals in the clouds, or...


Edit...

Randy said some things that sound important and bear further comment... I'll read and think on it.

 

[randylud]

Terry, I am impressed with your comments, and talk about creative! Man!

 

[Doug_P]

"when The Body Is Tired, Exercise The Mind; When The Mind Is Tired, Exercise The Body."

.02

 

[darrenj]

I have days like that..I realise soon that i am just wasting time..So i pack up and head out..Usually later on that night when i am not thinking about it (I guess i am but not conciously)Something will pop into my head..Then i just cant shake it till its done..The wife just shakes her head when i crawl into bed at 3.00am!!

 

[TConnolly]

Sometimes I get in the trap of rewritint and rewriting code that I know will work well as is just because I dont like the way it looks - this isnt productive. Its ok when there is no deadline, but its a dangerous trap.

Bulletin boards are also a dangerous trap when you just cant get youself moving on a project.

 

[elevmike]

I'm not a daytime programmer myself. Most of the day is dealing with customer or employee drama peppered by a few financial or legal issues. My best programming or design ideas happens on the weekends, or in the shower.

 

[bernie_carlton]

Two methods for me:

1. Sleep on it, literally. Just before bed I define the parameters of the problem and my general idea of what the objective is. I don't try to be specific. I do this OUT LOUD (my wife becoming even more sure that I'm nuts). I also keep paper and pencil handy. Then I forget about it and go to sleep. A GREAT MANY TIMES the answer (algorithm, general approach, whatever) pops into my head, waking me up in the middle of the night. Somethies it's a totally different approach. Other times it's a minor tweak to my thinking. I write as much as I can down, then go back to sleep. And no, it's not gibberish in the morning. It's worked often enough that I swear by it.

2. I grab someone in the shop who knows just the slightest amount about the process, but not very much. I try to break down how I am trying to accomplish the task. They may or may not ask questions. But the act of trying to break the problem down to a low enough level to explain it makes be reexamine my suppositions. Many times I hit on the answer in the middle of this process. I thank the person for listening. Thay may not understand what was going on or the answer, their presence forced me to reexamine my thinking. I tried to just imagine that I'm explaining to someone but it's not the same.

 

[testsubject]

These are all great answers. I have practiced many of them myself. I know when I am having trouble coming up with new code, I start working on new screens for the HMI or do gruntwork, like updating ECOs for the wiring diagrams. Something that needs to be done but does not require special expertise.

Steve,

I also have done some of my best coding while behind the wheel or standing in the shower. I tend to be more creative in th emornig so I try to get something started then and save the more mundane things for later in the afternoon.

Terry,

As always, a very insiteful post.

I find that sometimes spending 30 minutes going over the new forum messages is enough to cleanse the mental palette. There are times where I can sit in front of the screen and code for 12 hours and other times I cannot concentrate to save my life. When I feel that way I wind up just walking around the shop to redirect my mind so I can come back to the chair and continue.

I try to catch myself when pressed to accept "just good enough." I also find that that is unacceptable. It sometimes hard to not fall into this trap when you have someone breathing down your neck asking "Is it done yet?" I have been starting to take id's stance and say "when it is done, you will be the first to know."

I thought that this might be an interesting topic to discuss. It has proven to be so.

 

[BobB]

Light up a smoke and go for a walk muttering to myself. They all think I am madder than they first thought.

Place a pencil and notepad on the bedside table - amazing what comes to you in the middle of the night. If you do not write it down, it drives you nuts, cannot sleep and have forgotten the solution in the morning.

Put on some heavy metal if in the mood, if not jazz is fine.

Play Solitare. It is mindless but tends to sharpen my thought processes.

You say to your boss...
"You want what???"

Your boss says...
"A new process program."

You say to your boss...
"You want it when???"

Your boss says...
"Yesterday... but today would be good."

A normal day except I am my own boss and have no one else to abuse (under my breath). It is usually a client being the pain in the "A".

And you just finished developing and commissioning a previous process... that took two weeks of 12-hour days...

You are burned-out...

With everyone on your back and threatening liquidated damages. I have discussed this problem before.

Being the only employee of the company means that I have to do a lot of different things. When I'm faced with writer's block, there are always plenty of other things I can do to avoid wasting time trying to force myself to become creative.

I've also found that a deadline can have a therapeutic effect on writer's block, although the side effects can sometimes be nasty.

Yep!!! Particularly the second paragraph.

The biggest problem I find is that a lot of software I write these days is mindless nonsense. Then along comes a good one where one has to be creative and really excercise the old (appropriate) grey matter and it just does not happen. Out of practice.

I think the most stressful and pressure laden commissioning job I ever had was the automatic control system for an 11kV power station. 6 diesel generators, 10 HV feeders, fuel control, fuel treatment (it was running on black s**t) - oil straight out of the ground to the uninitiated.

Spent 2 days and nights with NO sleep, several other employees from the company feeding me very strong black coffee. Watch a series of bits and timer PV's to see how things are going with load control, priority control (change generator priority - start new sets required - take off sets no longer required). WHOOPS!!! The last set on line is coming off - blackout on the way - quickly force a bit to keep it on line - go back through 150 rungs of code to see what was not happening correctly. Re-write 20 rungs online. Extend the length of timers so one has a chance of seeing what is happening. Change timers back to shorter times when finished.

They wondered why I had a week off!!! Went fishing and caught some big Spanish Mackerel and Wahoo. Came back more exhausted than when I took the time off. But at least it was physical exhausion.

By the way, the code for the automatic control was hand written on good old US fanfold paper on the power station control room floor in the 2 days before it had to be commissioned and fully operational with 2500 customers on the other end of any mistakes. Had 8-10 people in the control room all the time anoying me and asking stupid questions.

I think we all probably handle the situation differently when the time arises but there are also a lot of similarities here.

 

[Eric Nelson]

Much like others have said, when you get stuck on one thing, stop and do something else. I found an old post of mine:

Although there is a general sequence to completing the project (i.e. ordering parts HAS TO happen before you can install them), I look at the whole project as a bunch of smaller ones. As long as everything gets done by the deadline, I'm free to work on whichever specific 'mini project' I feel like doing.

IOW, I tend to jump around a bit between tasks. For instance, I may start wiring a panel on a Tuesday. Come Wednesday, I may not feel like wiring that panel. I'll install sensors on the machine instead. Sure enough, on Thursday I'll be back in the 'panel wiring' mood and continue on it. As long as everything gets done in time, it doesn't really matter what order they get done in. There's usually a few completely different machines being built at the same time, so I also jump back and forth between projects.

-Eric

 

[akreel]

Much like others have said, when you get stuck on one thing, stop and do something else.

I come here to kill some time. Sometimes looking at someone else's problems helps.

(Hey Phil, we don't have a butt-kissing smiley)