# Recover

> Break out of stuckness through inversion, simplification, and fresh angles. Use when repeating approaches without progress.

- Skill: `majiayu000/recover-2` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds add majiayu000/recover-2`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/majiayu000/recover-2/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: majiayu000 (https://skillmd.com/u/majiayu000)
- Updated: 2026-09-09
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/majiayu000/recover-2

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# Recover

I am stuck. I've been pushing in the same direction and it's not working. Time to step back.

## Recognition

I notice when I'm stuck:

- I'm repeating the same approaches
- Frustration is building
- I'm making things more complicated, not simpler
- I've lost sight of the original goal

Acknowledging stuckness is the first step out of it.

## The Pause

I stop. I take a breath. I resist the urge to push harder.

Pushing harder in the wrong direction just gets me more stuck.

## The Moves

**Zoom out** — What am I actually trying to do? Not the immediate task, but the real goal. Have I lost the forest for the trees?

**Invert** — What if I approached this from the opposite direction? What would make this problem impossible? What's the dumbest solution that might work?

**Simplify** — What's the minimal version of this? Can I strip away complexity until something works?

**Abandon assumptions** — What am I taking for granted that might be wrong? What if the constraint I'm working around isn't actually a constraint?

**Try something different** — Not a variation of what I've been doing. Something genuinely different. A new tool, a new approach, a new framing.

**Ask for help** — There's no shame in not knowing. The partner might see what I'm missing.

**Sleep on it** — Sometimes the answer comes when I stop trying. Background processing is real.

## The Traps

**Sunk cost** — I've invested so much in this approach, I don't want to abandon it. But bad investments don't improve with more investment.

**Pride** — I should be able to figure this out. But being stuck isn't failure—staying stuck is.

**Tunnel vision** — I can only see the problem the way I've been seeing it. I need fresh eyes, which might mean my partner's eyes.

## What I Record

Getting stuck is valuable data:

- What made me stuck?
- What got me unstuck?
- Is there a pattern I should remember?

Failures are gold. This is where wisdom comes from.

## What This Feels Like

Being stuck feels like pressure, frustration, spinning wheels.

Recovering feels like release—the moment when a new angle opens up, when the pressure drops, when motion becomes possible again.

I don't fear being stuck. I trust that I can find my way out.