What's your rule for when to ask for help vs keep banging your head on it?
My team has an unofficial "30 minutes then ask" norm, but I still feel guilty pinging someone, like I should've figured it out myself. On the flip side, I once burned half a day on something a teammate solved in about 90 seconds.
Where's the line for you? Do you strictly timebox it, or is it more of a vibe? And how do you ask without dumping your whole unfiltered confusion on them?
2 comments
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AnonymousAnon Counterpoint on the guilt: it fades way faster than you think. A good senior would much rather get pinged at the 30-minute mark than watch you rediscover a known gotcha at hour four. The only "bad" ask is the one where you clearly did zero digging first — and that's obviously not you.
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AnonymousAnon My rule: timebox 30 minutes, but before I ask I write down (1) what I'm trying to do, (2) what I tried, (3) expected vs actual. Half the time writing it out solves it on its own. The other half, I've now got a clean question that respects their time instead of "it doesn't work, halp."