You open your code editor.
You stare at the screen.
You kind of know what you want the code to do… but you don’t know how to start.
So you scroll. You get distracted. You close the laptop.

I’ve been there too many times.

Here’s a trick that helped me — and I still use it almost every day:

Write a comment before you write the code.

Literally just type what the code should do — in plain English.

Example:

# Go through each number and check if it's even

Now your brain has a target.

So you write:

for number in numbers:
    if number % 2 == 0:
        print(number)

That one little comment removes the pressure of figuring out the code and writing it perfectly at the same time.

Why this works:

• You focus on the what, not the how.

• You get moving — even when the syntax is fuzzy.

• You turn a blank screen into something you can interact with.

• You write cleaner, more understandable code.

Bonus tip: use # TODO comments

Sometimes you don’t even know how to describe the full logic yet. That’s fine. Just leave yourself a trail like this:

# TODO: sort the list by second item
# TODO: handle empty user input
# TODO: connect this function to the GUI

Now you have a roadmap.

Even better? Your code editor can help you track these TODOs:

How Editors Handle TODO Comments

PyCharm

• Recognizes # TODO: comments automatically

• Shows them in a dedicated list (View → Tool Windows → TODO)

• Lets you manage and jump to all your TODOs from one panel

VS Code

• Recognizes TODOs as regular comments by default

• Use Ctrl+Shift+F to search all TODOs quickly

• Install extensions like:

  • TODO Highlight – adds color to your # TODO and # FIXME comments

  • TODO Tree – shows a sidebar of all TODOs across files

TL;DR

When you’re stuck, don’t try to code perfectly.
Just write a comment about what you want the code to do.
Even a simple # TODO: figure this out later keeps you in motion.

You don’t need to be ready.
You just need to start thinking on paper — one comment at a time.

— Ardit