This morning, I was having trouble uploading photos onto Flickr. It looked as though the photo was transferred successfully, but then it reported that the upload failed. My mind kicked into troubleshooting mode, trying to work out what could be wrong. Windows Live Photo Gallery has never been very robust when it comes to publishing photos onto Flickr. So, I tried Flickr Uploadr instead. Same problem. I started to think it’s a server side issue. Attempting to upload from the web interface produces the exact same symptoms, confirming my suspicions. It became a waiting game. I retried several times, but the situation remained the same. It got me extremely frustrated. I had wanted to get all the photos uploaded by the end of the day.

Rather than continue waiting, I decided to go play badminton instead. There is no telling when the problem will be sorted.

After I got back from playing badminton, I retried the upload. No change.

I started thinking if something else could be the problem. The help listed a corrupt photo as a potential cause for a failed upload, amongst others. At first, I didn’t think much of it as I could view the photo just fine. However, after reconsidering all the symptoms, a corrupt photo seems like a possible explanation. I skipped that first photo, and voila. The other photos uploaded just fine.

Taking a break can sometimes be the more productive option. It helps clear your mind so that you can see things in a different light. I frequently find myself in similar situations at work. Faced with an impossible problem, having exhausted all possible solutions I could think of, I would simply leave it. You might be surprise how you will start to see the problem differently when you come back to it.