Break time! Which leisure activities can improve the skills of developers?

The full text is 2440 words and the expected learning time is 7 minutes

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Programmers cannot write code all the time. If you find yourself staying up more and more frequently, or getting stuck in marathon coding, then your code is likely to be substandard. At this time, you should rest, divert your brain's attention, or stop to think about the design decisions of the entire project, otherwise you will not be able to play your ideal level.

Your brain needs time to reflect and let go, and you also need time to take a step back and look at the big picture. Getting deeper and deeper in the "rabbit hole" of coding can only continue to delay the inevitable that is about to happen. Eventually you will be exhausted, frustrated, and even unable to concentrate. To make matters worse, you may also make unfavorable structural decisions to add more extra work to yourself in the long run.

Don't succumb to a culture of super-efficiency, and don't think that the more code you write, the better you will be. If you are learning a new language or consolidating the foundation of grammar in your brain, you can do the same. But this approach is not feasible at work, you need to spend time on other things. Whether consciously or unconsciously, you need to reflect on it after writing the code.

This article will explore some activities that can not only relax and rest, but also improve the skills of developers. Some seem simple on the surface, but they can teach us important skills, exercise our minds, and make us better developers.

Playing video games

"You mean you can be smart by playing video games?"

In fact, it is possible to a certain extent. But I'm not referring to first-person shooters that don't require brainstorming, but strategy games, sandbox games, puzzle games, etc. This type of game can prompt participants to plan, adapt, recognize patterns, or solve problems. Managing resources, planning attacks, or solving puzzles can all help him become a sharper developer.

These games will encourage you to plan ahead and test your strategy. In the game, you can build, move, and rebuild; you can also allocate resources to different research fields to observe its impact on the overall technology tree.

All these elements are very similar to codes. This is similar to developing a piece of software, both of which are constantly testing strategies and solving puzzles. The only difference is that when developing software, developers are not faced with gorgeous pictures in games.

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There are many excellent games that can improve the key skills of developers. Listed below are a few games that I personally recommend:

· "My World" (to cultivate design thinking, system planning and architecture capabilities)

· "Civilization 5" (to cultivate dialectical thinking, planning and problem solving skills)

· "Portal Gate" / "Portal Gate 2" (Develop problem solving and module recognition capabilities)

Participate in small electronic product projects

Learning the basics of electronics and mastering the basic working principles of circuits will improve your understanding of the system. Systems now exist in various fields, especially in software development. Dealing with electronic networks composed of hardware, circuits and parts is like dealing with software systems. The core concept is efficient design and effective planning.

Laying out circuits and connecting components requires not only physical hardware engineering skills, but also technical design skills. These skills will directly enhance the capabilities of developers and provide different perspectives on building complex systems.

Not only that, but you also deal with very "strict" physical media: if you make a mistake, it is impossible to delete it and start over. When dealing with electronic products, you may accidentally damage a certain part at any time, or be forced to re-solder the entire circuit board and start from scratch.

If you haven't touched electronic products before, why not start now. At present, there are a lot of free teaching materials on the Internet, and DIY kits are also cheap and rich in sources. Here are some entry-level resources:

· Arduino (low-cost microcontroller kits and modules)

· Adafruit (preliminary and advanced DIY project kit and parts supplier)

Learn woodworking

If you still want to learn the key basic knowledge of planning, design and hand-made, wood art is also an activity that allows you to relax besides technology.

Wood art is a completely different medium, which will bring you new technical design challenges and make you completely free from technology. Its components are not hidden behind the abstraction layer and various interfaces. Wood is wood, it is solid. Once you make a mistake, you will find it immediately. Carving wood products by hand requires careful attention to details, and it tests patience.

So next time if you have a lot of complaints about spending time waiting for the code to compile, you might as well think about it in woodwork that may take eight hours to wait for the glue to dry. This kind of craftsman’s high degree of patience and focus will make your coding work later. Gain a lot.

Drawing/drawing charts

Take a break and let the pen and paper collide with colorful colors. You can use any drawing tool that suits you and take the time to sketch out your ideas, even if you just doodling, it doesn’t matter. This method will give your brain much-needed reset time. Even if it is a very simple idea, you think you have all the details, you are likely to discover hidden problems after drawing it into a diagram or sketch.

When you first draw the components, they are like islands. As your ideas become more concrete, you will visually connect everything and observe how it works. Where there may be missing affiliation, the connection may be contrary to your expectations. Why? This process will slow down your brain and think about the structure of the whole idea, rather than proceed directly to coding or problem solving mode.

If you really don't like writing pens, you can also use a visual charting application like Mermaid to spend "no code" time.

Conducting sport exercises

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To tell you quietly, I have many ideas for solving problems that I came up with during running. Some people feel that emptying themselves during exercise does not seem to be able to efficiently find a solution to the problem, but in fact the opposite is true. Sometimes you just need to divert your attention from the crux of the problem, and the problem will be solved.

If you are stuck in the same mindset for a long time, no matter how hard you try, it will only be in vain. Jumping out of this question and moving your body quickly can relax your brain and allow your brain to wander, so that the answer in your subconscious will surface.

As we all know, physical exercise is good for physical health. In addition, it is also great for mental health. For developers, the biggest benefit is the improvement of memory and problem-solving skills. Personally, physical exercise improves my efficiency in writing code and reduces the occurrence of errors. Physical exercise does not necessarily have to be of high intensity. Sometimes a short walk may give you a flash of inspiration.

Break time! Which leisure activities can improve the skills of developers?

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