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Sylwia Laskowska
Sylwia Laskowska

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Signs you’ve been coding for too long (and maybe need a nap 😅)

Something light for the weekend... You know you’ve been in dev mode for way too long when…

Coffee stops working — you’re not drinking it for energy anymore, just for emotional support.

🐛 You start talking to bugs like they’re colleagues.

“Oh, you again? I thought I fixed you last sprint.”

🦆 The rubber duck understands you better than your manager.
And honestly, it deserves a raise.

💡 You solve a bug at 2:37 AM, whisper “finally!”, then forget what the fix was by morning.

🎯 You open your laptop ‘just to check one thing’ on Saturday, and suddenly it’s Sunday evening.

🔄 You rename the same variable six times, and each version makes less sense than the last.

data, newData, finalData, finalData_v2, data_final_FIX, final_final_REALLY_FINAL.

🔥 You fix one issue — three new ones appear.
You’re not debugging anymore; you’re fighting mythical creatures.

💬 You say “it works on my machine” like a daily affirmation.

🧩 Your code compiles, and you celebrate like you just won a Grammy.

And yet… somehow, after all that chaos, all those late nights,
all those tiny wins and endless refactors —
you still love it. You still come back.
Because nothing beats the moment when something finally works. ❤️‍🔥

So yeah, maybe you’re tired. Maybe you’ve been staring at the screen for too long.
But you’re also a builder, a problem-solver, and a caffeine-powered optimist.

Take a break. Then come back and break things again. 😉

💬 Which one hit closest to home?

Top comments (12)

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georgekobaidze profile image
Giorgi Kobaidze • Edited

Hm.. great list!

Here's my list [cracks fingers]:

You've been listening to the same playlist for 3 hours and only now realized it's been looping since lunch… yesterday.

You're starving, even though you just had a “late-night snack” at 11PM. And you're too scared to even look at the clock.

You're so deep in flow state that your brain has become a background thread.

You run 'git log' to find a “recent” fix and need to hit Enter 98 times before you see it.

You start having micro blackouts, JUST LIKE YOUR CODE.

The rubber duck not only listens better than your manager… it actually TALKS BACK now.

You see a bright light coming through your window, and it's not streetlights.

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sylwia-lask profile image
Sylwia Laskowska

Okay this is way too relatable 😂
Especially the “playlist looping since yesterday” — that’s a whole mood.
At that point the developer is the background thread 😅

I might need to steal “micro blackouts like your code” for part two of this series 👀🔥

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georgekobaidze profile image
Giorgi Kobaidze

Absolutely. You can use any of them😄

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xwero profile image
david duymelinck

The delusional answers

Coffee stops working

As long as my hands don't shake I can carry on.

You start talking to bugs like they’re colleagues

At least they are consistent.

The rubber duck understands you better than your manager

Nobody can manage me.

You solve a bug at 2:37 AM, whisper “finally!”, then forget what the fix was by morning.

It was not the right fix.

You open your laptop ‘just to check one thing’ on Saturday, and suddenly it’s Sunday evening.

I had a productive weekend.

You rename the same variable six times, and each version makes less sense than the last.

I need to keep on iterating.

Of course all the above is in jest.
When your brain needs a rest, make it happen. it can be by having a five minute break or a walk in a park or a powernap. You are in it for the long run, not to burn up.

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sylwia-lask profile image
Sylwia Laskowska

Haha, love your “productivity reframe” 😂
And yes — jokes aside, breaks are part of the process too.
We’re not machines, we just build them 😉

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shemith_mohanan_6361bb8a2 profile image
shemith mohanan

Haha, this is too real 😅 The “it works on my machine” part hit a little too close to home. Perfect weekend read! ☕💻

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sylwia-lask profile image
Sylwia Laskowska

Haha right? 😅
That phrase should honestly be printed on a developer passport at this point 😂
Glad it landed as a perfect weekend read!

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shemith_mohanan_6361bb8a2 profile image
shemith mohanan

😂 Absolutely! That “developer passport” idea deserves to be real — I’d carry mine everywhere!

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edmundsparrow profile image
Ekong Ikpe

I code on my phone all day. When I begin to forget commiting changes on my local machine I just realize I need a nap. Spend 3 hours battling a bug but forget to save or overwrite the code 🤦

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sylwia-lask profile image
Sylwia Laskowska

This comment officially wins the internet today 😂
And honestly — I completely get it.
That moment when you know you’re tired because even commits start slipping… that’s peak dev exhaustion 😅
Phone-coding warriors deserve a special badge at this point!

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