It seems to me that people treat "the zone" as if it were some magic quick fix for solving problems well, like a thinking hat.

There's a lovely chapter on [The Clean Coder](http://www.amazon.com/Clean-Coder-Conduct-Professional-Programmers/dp/0137081073) where Uncle Bob persuasively explains why "getting into the zone" is a delusively bad idea.

In a nutshell: when you get into "the zone" (what a pathetic term, might I add), you start "seeing things differently" like Neo from the Matrix.

The problem is that later on, other people, or yourself (when not in "the zone") will find it hard to understand just how you managed to "connect all the dots" together. In other words, you're more likely to make bad design decisions, shielded by the feeling that you're in some crazy super-natural state of mind.

And getting into the zone is not even the easy choice, since it's not easy to get so concentrated.

So here's a better all around option: think straight and consider calmly and professionally what you're doing. Communicate. Share thoughts with your partner(s). Identify the real problems. Discuss possible solutions.

If you and your teammates can discuss the problem when you're not in that silly zone, then that means that you really managed to uncover its true (simple) nature, and how it might be solved.

And remember, we're grown-ups now. We prefer stability over random sparks of *alleged* brilliance.

Don't get caught up with attractive buzz words that mask harmful practices (just like Singletons...).