I think the best piece of advice I have got ever was in my third year of CS, in an algorithms and complexity class. I remember when we went up to the blackboard and someone was stuck in some part of a problem, the professor always told us to take a step back. Literally. So I remember people took a step back (even, sometimes some people returned to their seats to see the whole blackboard) and it seemed, they magically got the answer. In those times I questioned that. How someone who has been stuck in the same problem for a long time, take a step back and then see what’s the problem?
Then, one day, I was in the blackboard and was stuck somewhere, the professor gave me that advice. One step back and I saw the blackboard in a different way. I was able to keep on writing a solution for the problem.
After that, I found it doesn’t need to be a literal step back. It can be going for a walk, drink or eat something, whatever. You know that, if you ever feel stressed and you can keep going on, relax, but you seldom do that. At least, I don’t.
So, today, I was programming something, but it didn’t work. I was 100% sure, I understood what I needed to code, but it wasn’t still working. I decided to brush my teeth and drink water; meanwhile I was summing up what I had done. I rethought the whole problem for a moment, and I got it! I was focused in the details, instead of the whole picture.
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