My morning began smoothly with a coffee and a banana. The daily status meeting zoomed past. I opened my editor and started to code.
Then, a half hour ago, I ran into a problem. I was unsure of my next step. I stared blankly at my screen until my screen went blank. I'm stuck.
Feeling stuck usually triggers some bad habits. I might scroll through Slack or Reddit. Worst of all, I might delve into my snack drawer.
But recently I found a healthier plan. When I am stuck, I write my two paragraphs.
Win At Life
A month ago I was click-baited by an article's bold and confusing title.
"The 8 Sentences 10xers Use to Win at Life."
Sentences? These career advice articles normally sell apps, tools, or strategies. Was "sentences" a new tech buzzword? Or were they normal, English sentences?
The article began with the author's journey toward career enlightenment. I scrolled past all that. Near the end, I found the core idea.
The Advice
When you are stuck, write two paragraphs which answer these questions:
- What was I working on?
- How did I get stuck?
That's All
The article ended abruptly. It didn't even explain the benefit. Useless productivity theater. I considered removing it from my browser history.
Just write? No one writes like that in the middle of work. What's the point? When you're stuck, you message a coworker, search online, or take a walk, right?
The mysterious advice stuck with me after I closed the browser tab. I went back to Reddit to scroll through my afternoon break.
A week later, one day before our big release, I took on a task that I thought was easy. I got stuck. My usual panic behavior set in.
I caught myself before I opened Reddit. I remembered the advice from the article. I took a deep breath and opened Notepad.
Just two paragraphs. First, what was I working on?
I assigned ticket BA-094 to myself this morning. I know it's the last day of the sprint, but it was similar to BA-093 which I just completed. I started by copying and pasting my solution to BA-093.
Questions and doubts pricked at me as I wrote. How formal should I be? How much detail should I include? Is there more caramel popcorn in the cupboard? In the end I wrote the way I speak to my coworkers.
One paragraph down, one to go. How did I get stuck?
The difference was that BA-093 only dealt with one database, whereas BA-094 accounts for a list of them. My previous solution did not work, because the library I used is single-threaded.
Did I write enough? Did I overexplain? How big are these paragraphs supposed to be? I doubted not only the article's advice but my ability to write anything at all.
I looked at my two paragraphs with half doubt and half pride. I had accomplished something, but I did not know what to expect next. I went to lunch.
When I returned from lunch, my two paragraphs were waiting for me. They looked unfamiliar. I did not remember what I wrote.
As I reread my own words, I found the answer I needed. I had picked one solution based on my previous ticket's requirements. So my next step was to look for another solution which satisfied both tickets.
I knew my immediate next step. I was no longer stuck. I felt my shoulders relax as I went to the search engine. I forget how tense I get when I'm stuck.
I also felt a little confused and bitter. Did the advice work? How could that stupid article actually help me?
A week later, I got stuck on another task. Would it work again? I wrote two paragraphs and went to lunch exactly as before.
When I got back, I reread what I wrote, but nothing happened—no miraculous epiphany. The first time was a fluke. The advice was silly.
I decided to do what I normally do when stuck, message my coworker. As I wrote my request for help, I realized with horror that my message matched my two paragraphs word-for-word. I stubbornly copied and pasted my two paragraphs from Notepad instead.
The two paragraphs were better than my usual "hey, you got a minute?". My coworker appreciated the complete description. She pointed me in the right direction over a few messages. Normally that took an uncomfortably long Zoom call.
The two paragraph exercise forced me to think through the issue before I reached out. I admitted to myself that the advice worked again.
In the two weeks since, I repeated the pattern a few times:
- I'm stuck
- I write two paragraphs
- ???
- I'm no longer stuck
The third step in the pattern seems random. Sometimes I found my answer. Sometimes I messaged a coworker. Sometimes I realized I was missing some critical piece of the puzzle that I had to go research.
One time the paragraphs didn't help. It felt like a waste of 10 minutes. But four out of five ain't bad.
For a few weeks, I was too proud to share the strategy with anyone. The great programmers who I admire on YouTube only write bit-mashing arcana under vaporwave neon lights. They don't write dry English in Notepad.
Eventually I told my manager. I expected a laugh, but he told me he writes paragraphs too. He said I should write my own article about it. Maybe I will.
But right now I'm stuck. I'm going to write my two paragraphs. What I was doing? How did I get stuck?
Private Note