Whether it's a lack of confidence, an 'off' day, or a really difficult problem, all engineers at some point hit the wall.

Some will stress out, and others will feel like the imposter, but relax, and take a step back, here are 3 ways in which you obliterate through the wall:

1) Rubber Ducking

You're probably thinking what in the mother ducking is Rubber Ducking?

Rubber Ducking is a technique first introduced in The Pragmatic Programmer by Andrew Hunt and David Thomas.

It's simply about describing your problem as if you were describing it to a duck, step by step.

I get it, nobody explains their problems to a duck, but this method is about voicing your problems out loud in the simplest manner possible.

By doing this you frame the complexity of the problem in a more rudimentary way, allowing you to build confidence and a clear picture.

2) Take a REAL Break!

A real break?

Yes, that means not scrolling through the void of social media, but going for a walk, drive, run, and just getting outside!

The amount of problems I've solved whilst AFK(Away From Keyboard) is countless. I'd be in the shower, driving, or even cooking some jollof rice(Ghanaian Dish) and the solution would just become so evident.

I really did not understand why this occurred so frequently until I studied the different types of thinking.

Diffused and focused, I learned a balance between the two is necessary to solve problems in most if not all STEM practices.

Diffused thinking is synonymous with an idea coming to you while it's not at the forefront of your mind. Focused thinking is synonymous with focusing really hard to solve a problem and it's the only task at hand.

Have you ever wondered why you get great idea's in the shower or on long walks/drives? That's because you're mind is in a free-flowing state which is needed to directly think outside the box! Crucial Tip: Once you get the idea write it down straight away otherwise you'll lose it, don't rely on thinking you'll remember it later, you won't!

Focusing too hard whilst stuck may hinder your progress, as you're giving your brain little freedom to come up with new ideas. Try having a real break, allowing your brain to work its magic.

3) Wishful programming / Top down programming

So this is about coding therefore we should finally see some code or at least something pseudo-like.

The problem we're trying to solve is to sort n amount of pancakes by size and flavour.

How are we going to do it? We could spend a lot of time designing a complex algorithm before we even kick off. How about instead we just wish' these methods into existence:

public static void main(String[] args) {
        var pancakes = List.Of(bigBlueberryPancake, smallBlueberryPancake, smallPancake);
        sortBySizeAndFlavour(pancakes);
  }

public static void sortBySizeAndFlavour(List<Pancakes> pancakes) {
     sortBySize(pancakes);
     sortByFlavour(pancakes);
}

This methodology specifies the complex pieces and divides them into successive smaller blocks of code. Enabling you not to get overwhelmed and giving you neural chunks to solve the larger problem at hand. A lot of the time it's best to start instead of just cranking out every detail before you write a line of code.

There are many more methods out there but here's a good place to start. Try these out next time you hit a firewall & watch it crumble!

Sources:

• Learning How To Learn
• The Pragmatic Programmer