It happens sometimes that you carried away with the breaks that you take from coding to focus on something else/a vacation. It feels hard to get back to your earlier schedule. How do you deal with this?
Music, a hands-free and nice play-list :)
I think we all get it at some point, e.g I know at the moment despite i've been active on Hashnode and need to get back onto my django and python, i'm a bit burn out after building my daughters cabin bed yesterday. However that said i'm going to have a little bit of tlc gaming, but then I once i've had a few hours at that I draw the line and ttry and get back in that mind frame. I do find if any if anything Hashnode for me inspires and motivates me more to get more programming done! Getting as addictive as Facebook lol ;)
Build something fun -- something you always wanted to build, but couldn't because of time constraints. That can be a side project, some OSS contribution or may be a simple todo app using a new piece of tech. I find this to be the most effective way to get back to form.
Everyone needs a break from work but to come back to form you don't need anything. I have found out that if you leave a lot of break, the mind doesn't take much time for it to come back to form if you have something to do.
In other cases where you don't have anything to do you become bored. You have do some tasks like early morning walks or Running or Jogging or something that pumps your adreline. Studies have shown that these outdoor activities increases your mind power when you are bored. Early morning is the best time to activate your brain. It gives you additional hours in the day where you can concentrate on yourself. Even watching movies or hanging out with friends or playing video games would help. These tasks are vital for our mind to be active.
Even before you take a break, plan for your come back. Make sure you have something to do when you get back. Usually, what I do is leave a list of trivial tasks before I take a vacation. Once I get back, I refer to this list. They are trivial tasks that takes no more than 30 minutes to finish. By then, my mind has been conditioned.
Well... Actually, I do this every Monday.
Generally after taking breaks I spend some time browsing websites where devs hangout, Twitter, Reddit and ofcourse our own Hashnode. Mostly I will be looking for "who said what" and "who launched what".
When I see people coding and talking about how to improve, it motivates me and helps in getting back to old form. :)
Vijay Thirugnanam
Inference Service @ Cerebras
I can understand this. It is difficult depending on the situation. If it is a good break / vacation, it might be easier. If the break is due to a bad reason - personal problems, etc, it is even harder.
Way back in 2006, I was stuck in a rut. I did not enjoy what I was doing. And I had frequent breaks from work. The next year, I took a job as a project manager. So, between 2007 and 2010, I worked as a project manager. Then realised, being a project manager was a poor way to enjoy what I once loved doing -- coding.
So, I took a break in my career. Between 2010 and 2011, I stayed back at home. Did various programming chores. Learnt a bit more of .NET technologies and some JavaScript. And after that, got a job in Microsoft as a consultant. Since 2011, I have been enjoying what I love doing ... coding.
One way to stay good after a break, is to have some sort of commitment towards coding (or whatever you love doing) apart from general well-being.