I also have found the 'play for a bit' thing very useful. When I was younger and had a lot less experience, it felt much easier to write code, despite the fact I was quite green.

Now I find it much harder to get going because it's so easy to fall down the 'what if' and 'what else' and 'is this going to be good enough?'.

If I start 'playing' it typically works out... typically!