Good developers take breaks

Something that has become crystal clear since I joined the Spring team is how important it is to take a break. Good code happens when developers take breaks.

Of course there are times when I find myself working solid until 8:00 pm or later. But I try to make that the exception rather than the norm. Most of the time, I’m pulled away by my kids coming home from school. In fact, I’m often annoyed at stopping a minute early.

And yet I’m astonished at how many perplexing problems I’ve solved by simply stopping, doing something else, and BAM, the answer pops into my head. Sometimes within minutes, sometimes the next morning while putting shoes on one of my kids. Those are the moments when I remind myself that developers take breaks. I consider that payoff for having stopped early.

This phenomena is well know. In fact, you’ve probably heard of it. I also so it addressed keenly at a writer’s conference last year. Your subconscious is still working on the problem whether you are or not. Sometimes, when you aren’t actively trying to fix it, your noodle is freed up to look back at what you did, what you’ve read, and other things.

While chatting with a teammate of mine at DevNexus, he expressed that if he hadn’t taken various breaks, gone for walks and thought about the architecture he was designing, the project he was striving to build would never have happened.

Reflection is a critical component. My martial instructor often taught “visualize, visualize, visualize.” It’s a mechanism to put your mind on the subject, even when you’re not actively pursuing it.

The key thing is telling yourself to take that break. To pause. To stop and not burn the candle at both ends. If you work that hard, your subconscious will be on the ropes. Those extra ideas that can often succeed when you may have failed all day, may not come at all. It’s a big leap I know, but give it a try.