When that solution pops in your head!

[Retro Wolf]

Do you ever find yourself banging your head on that coding problem, staring at the screen and closing the computer off in frustration, then you go to bed. The moment you wake up the solution is there, it just pops in! Or you could be out for a walk or at work, not even thinking about coding, it just pops in!

Does this mean that there is a subconscious part of your brain running through lines of code that you've written the day before? Or have the coding Muses taken pity?

[Gurok]

Yes, absolutely. It's your subconscious and you can use this to your advantage. If you can't solve a problem, go to bed! Put your subconscious to work.

[Crimson Wizard]

I always thought it is just that the brain needs to relax.

This is the reason I tend to spend few days of doing something else after I seem to have found the solution for some big problem, just to make things "settle down", and then do double check again.

[NickyNyce]

I was a very small time coder with my games, but when I finally did get something to work that drove me nuts for a day or two, it was very similar to figuring out an adventure game puzzle. I remember the joy being about the same....lol

I always noticed that when playing games, I was much better and sharper in the morning hours. If I couldn't pass a certain part of a game, just go to sleep, wake up, and presto. I believe the brain just needs a rest.

[Mouth for war]

Rarely do i go to bed if i haven't found a solution because it will annoy the hell out of me...and opening up a project the next day knowing you have an unsolved problem to fix is a big no no for me unless it's something extreme i keep at it. I can be satisfied though if i'm very tired and go to bed but at least have the solution in my head even if i didn't put it in.

[Problem]

This happens to me a lot. Your brain keeps working while you're asleep. So if you go to bed with an unsolved problem, chances are that you wake up with new ideas how to solve it.

[Jack]

The subconscious is a powerful thing.

I think another big part of this "unblocking method" has to do with getting rid of misconceptions. Usually when you are trying very hard to do something and failing, it's because you're approaching it from the wrong angle. Typically your whole day's work up to that point will guarantee you look a problem in a few specific ways, which may not work. Clear the context (via sleep in this case), and you approach the problem fresh and instantly come up with a solution, which usually seems so obvious.

They did this in pretty much every House episode too. He'd be stuck on a medical problem, get tired of bouncing his ball and go bother Wilson or something. Then while they're talking about something completely different, he finds the solution.

[Danvzare]

Rarely do i go to bed if i haven't found a solution because it will annoy the hell out of me...and opening up a project the next day knowing you have an unsolved problem to fix is a big no no for me unless it's something extreme i keep at it. I can be satisfied though if i'm very tired and go to bed but at least have the solution in my head even if i didn't put it in.

This, this is me in a nutshell.

Although at the same time, I know that it would be easier to solve the problem if a I let my subconscious do it for me, I just can't. It bugs me too much to simply relax!

[Mandle]

when I finally did get something to work that drove me nuts for a day or two, it was very similar to figuring out an adventure game puzzle. I remember the joy being about the same....lol

I've always thought that this is exactly the reason why adventure game lovers are natural adventure game makers...

[Kumpel]

Similar phenomenon happening to me at least once a week: attempting to start a new thread in beginners technical questions. Writing the problem down in the posting window for hours and as I am close to sending it, suddenly the solution blows my mind...