Interesting. I noticed the same and sometimes I change my emacs theme just to get a fresh perspective. Sometimes I also disable syntax highlighting when typing so I won't get distracted.
> Sometimes I also disable syntax highlighting when typing
Was waiting for someone to comment this. It's a somewhat known strategy if you have to read through a bunch of boring code you don't want to work with, and find hard to focus with, to turn off the syntax highlight and somehow the brain stops glossing over/skimming the code and starts to pay more attention.
I found it led to marginal difference at best, as with most strategies. It does work well initially though, as I guess the brain stops being able to use colors it's used to for grouping stuff together and similar.
Along similar lines, sometimes I print out code on paper and make notes with a pen, sitting far away from my computer. Of course there's no, or very minimal, syntax highlighting then.
A bit extreme on my end, but I've got the spare hardware for it - when I get into a rut I change operating systems, so I'm bouncing back and forth between macOS and Windows or Linux.
I'm adept at using both but the change adds just enough friction and visual differences to spark creativity, or a little productivity boost.
I have syntax set to off in my .vimrc file, to have no syntax highlighting at all, and it's off all the time, not just while typing, i.e., even while moving through or changing text (code), or even when just reading it.
