Learning to code with mindfulness

I have recently noticed a peculiar habit in my day to day coding. I often find myself feeling frustration when I can’t solve a problem right away. This creates an urgency to complete the project, and results in unorganized code and half thought out solutions.

When I have felt frustration in the past with a problem, my go to habit was to just start coding the first solution that pops into my head, and hope that it works. More times than not, it doesn’t.

Last week I started to become more aware of when I am feeling frustrated. Recently I have been practicing different techniques to help put my mindset in a better, more calm, place when setting out to solve a problem.

Technique 1: Turn off distractions
Now, when I prepare to code, I turn my phone all the way off, close my email, and disable anything else that may distract me during the time I choose to focus on a problem. This technique helps me retain focus on one thing at a time and helps keep my mind clear on what needs to be solved in the code.

Technique 2: Map it out
This technique has changed the way I approach coding. Now, when I feel hints of frustration, I know it’s because I need to step back from the keyboard, and create the space I need to really understand the problem at hand.
This is the two step process I use to more mindfully solve problems:

1. Write out HOW the code currently works, and how I want the code to work.
2. Brainstorm all the possible solutions to the problem and choose the best one.

I bolded the how in step one because that is the key to solving problems. When I let frustration get ahold of me, I try to solve the problem by asking WHAT I need to do to make it work, and not HOW to make the code work. Asking “what” is a surface level question, and often does not address the underlying problem, while asking “how” forces you look at the problem from its most basic level, and work your way up to the specific problem.

In conclusion, I have been using the combination of removing distractions and creating space to think more carefully on how a problem can be solved. These two techniques have helped me code more mindfully and be more focused while solving problems.