Okay, so I wanna share my experience with this “just give it time nyt” thing. It’s not a product or anything, just more of a mindset, ya know?
The Backstory
I’m the type of person who expects results, like, yesterday. I get impatient, I overthink, and then I end up scrapping projects before they even have a chance. Sound familiar? I read this article – I think it was in the NYT, hence the title I’m using – about how sometimes, the best thing you can do is just…wait. Let things marinate.
The Experiment
I had this side project, a little website I was trying to build. I was stuck on a design issue. I was messing with the CSS, stressing about the layout, basically hitting a wall. Usually, I’d rage quit, start something new, get nowhere. But this time, I remembered the article. So I did something radical… I closed my laptop.
- Day 1: I walked away. Did laundry, watched some dumb TV, totally avoided thinking about the website. It was actually kinda hard.
- Day 2: Still avoided it. Went for a walk, met up with a friend for coffee, just did normal life stuff. The urge to “fix it” was there, but I resisted.
- Day 3: Okay, this was the toughest. I peeked at the code. Didn’t touch anything, just looked. That night, as I was drifting off to sleep, a solution popped into my head.
The Result
The next morning, I fired up my laptop. The solution that came to me in the night? It worked. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a HUGE improvement. I tweaked it a little, and suddenly the whole design clicked into place.
What I Learned
Look, I’m not saying this is some magical cure-all. But for me, “just give it time” actually worked. Sometimes, you’re too close to the problem. You need to step back, let your brain process things in the background. When you come back, you might be surprised at what you come up with.
I’m trying to apply this to other areas of my life now too. Not just coding. Like, if I’m having a tough conversation with someone, I try to take a break, cool off, and come back to it later. Seems to help. Anyway, that’s my “just give it time” story. Hope it helps someone else!