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You’re Not an Impostor: Asking for Help

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Photo by Andrew Itaga / CC0

A friend of mine messaged me the other day. Even though they’ve been in the technology industry for awhile, they just recently landed their first engineering job. So, with this first job, they’re feeling pressure to look like they know what they’re doing and they’re worried that, by asking questions, their coworkers will find them out and they’ll be told they should just leave the tech industry.

Have you ever had this fear? I know I have. The times I’ve had this fear of being kicked out, of being ostracized, haven’t usually been about writing code but about things that around it: job interviews, giving talks, or teaching topics I’m not intimately familiar with. I’m going to be found out; someone will realize I’m just a self-taught faker and refuse to work with me. I’ve also experienced it in places that are outside of technology, as I’m sure you all have too. Oh no, what if my friend finds out I’m not as sushi savvy as they are?! Will they still want to be my friend?

Not knowing something doesn’t make you a bad programmer. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be in technology or writing code. And it absolutely doesn’t make you an impostor. But what can you do when you run into a wall, need help, but you’re still scared to ask questions? Here are some of my favorite ways to find solutions on my own.

Not knowing something doesn’t make you a bad programmer. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be in technology or writing code. And it absolutely doesn’t make you an impostor.

The CHALTS Checklist

I first saw this acronym in a tweet and it’s presented as a checklist for when you’re feeling emotional. But, honestly, don’t you feel pretty emotional when you just can’t get past that one problem? I know I do. So, before you start telling yourself that you’re stupid, check these six conditions to make sure you’re in a good problem-solving mindset.

Talk about something else

Part of CHALTS is “loneliness” and I suggested you talk to other people, get some social interaction. It really does do a lot for you, even if it’s not in-person. Texting a friend, posting in a forum, or hanging out on social media can all help to boost your self-esteem (well, maybe not social media) and bring you back to feeling like a part of society again.

The urge, though, is usually to talk about the problem you’re having. I think it’s better to talk about something completely different. Instead of asking Jim or Alisha about why your regular expression is only finding every other letter, ask Alisha to tell you about her last rollerderby game. Or find out your grandma’s best brownie recipe. Go ask the CEO about the last book she read. These all get your mind off of your problem and get you focusing on something else. And while you’re focused on a book recommendation, your brain is chipping away at the problem in the background.

Get out of there!

Sometimes you just don’t have the emotional capital required to talk to someone else. In these cases, I do whatever I can to change my surroundings. I go take a walk. I play a video game for a half hour or watch an episode of a favorite TV show or YouTube series. Or, and this goes back to the “angry” part of CHALTS, put on some favorite music and dance; the physical activity, combined with letting your mind rest for a bit, really helps to reset and repair mental batteries.

Changing your environment itself can help a lot, too. Clean up your work area, open or close a window, restart your computer and organize the windows better. Small distractions, like not being able to quickly reach over and jot down a note, can cause big setbacks and frustrations. Yes, you’re “wasting time” cleaning up your desk, but you’re setting your mind up for better focus just five minutes from now.

Once you’re focused and you’ve stamped down as many distractions as possible, give your problem another shot and see if it turns out to be a little more organized, too.

The 15-minute rule

And, lastly, you might have to just give up and ask your question. Before you do, though, try to follow the 15 (I actually prefer 30 but start small) minute rule. Here’s how it breaks down:

  1. You have a problem. Spend 15 minutes trying to solve it on your own with a few different approaches. If that doesn’t work…
  2. Spend 15 minutes researching the problem. Check Google, Stack Overflow, a favorite programming community, the documentation, etc. Again, use different approaches to the research, different search terms and search engines.
  3. Now go back to #1. Hopefully, you’ve found something that helps you move to a new problem or just solves the whole thing outright. If so, awesome! But, if not, there’s one final step.
  4. Go ask someone for help. Swallow your pride and beat down that fear as best you can and go ask a friendly coworker, fellow student, mentor, etc for help with the problem. Explain what the problem is and where all you’ve looked for help. Talk about the solutions you tried, what you expected from them, and what you got.

This approach works really well for a couple of reasons. If you do finally end up asking for help, you’re showing your mentor that you’re coming to them after exhausting your other avenues of help. They won’t feel like you’re wasting their time (and you shouldn’t either!) and they won’t have you working in circles back over things you’ve already tried.

Secondly, you’ll often find that you find the solutions on your own. Somewhere in the multiple approaches and multiple bits of research, you hit on something that either solves your problem or at least gives you a new problem. Celebrate these victories!

[Tweet “”Flipping on a light bulb for someone is one of the best feelings.” – Kenneth Love”]

You can do it if you want it

In the end, though, whether you find the answers on your own or you ask a friend, you’re still a programmer. It’s not cheating to look at documentation or places like Stack Overflow. I don’t know a single programmer that has much memorized beyond the basics of a language or two and maybe one framework.

When someone tells you they’re there for your questions, believe them. As one of those people, I love getting questions and helping people fill in the gaps in their knowledge. Flipping on a light bulb for someone is one of the best feelings. And, I guarantee you, there’s something you can teach me, too!

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