My colleagues, supervisors and friends know my way of working. It’s a bit unusual for a person who produces a lot. And it is true that one has to keep a regular distance in order to become more successful in his project.
What is meant?
In my job as a media designer, you sit in front of a computer all the time and are looking for solutions. If you work too long on a problem, you lose track of things very quickly and then tend to write unproductive code.
The solution
One should always take a little distance from his work. As a smoker you can smoke. As a Muslim you can go pray and if none of this is true, you should just go for a walk.
Depending on how complicated the matter is, you should either look at the problem very roughly or just not think about it for a while. Sometimes, when you simply deliberately ignore the problem and “reset” your thoughts, it does a tremendous job.
Success story
For example, in the Islam Archive project, I’ve imagined a database query that I had never programmed before. I talked to a programmer about it and he asked me if that would even be possible.
After some attempts, I then went to bed and thought about possible solutions in my bed. Finally, I came to a solution and I could program it with ease.
Conclusion
Work on the computer can not be compared to that of the tiler or mason. You always have to keep a clear head and do not complicate your work.
It is better for the supervisor to have a programmer, who loosely approaches things and finds a productive solution, then one with many overtime and comes to no easy solution.