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Two methods I use: 1. I write about the mistakes I make. Mistakes aren't that hard to spot, if you're paying attention: "Oh crap, I wasted 3 days" or "oh crap,
by itamarst 9y ago
Two methods I use:
1. I write about the mistakes I make. Mistakes aren't that hard to spot, if you're paying attention: "Oh crap, I wasted 3 days" or "oh crap, I shipped a bug."
I then try to figure out what the cause of the mistake was, and that's where patterns start showing up. But the mistake is a good starting point, which makes it all easier.
(Results at https://softwareclown.com https://softwareclown.com).
2. Think about one specific problem. A lot. And write about it. A lot. A lot of what you write initially will be boring, unless you're better writer than I was when I started doing this. But eventually focusing on that one thing (in my case testing) will give you more insights, as you start seeing patterns.
- itamarst 9y agoOh, and, read Gary Klein's book Intuition at Work aka The Power of Intuition.
- le-mark 9y agoI'll piggyback on this and add; writing about things I spend a lot of time figuring out. Like if some problem (programming related) you have doesn't have clear explanations available via the search engines of the day, jotting one down can be greatly appreciated[1]. [1] https://xkcd.com/979/ https://xkcd.com/979/
- Jugurtha 9y agoI remember I was looking for a way to fix something. So I googled and found an answer that just detailed everything I needed. I was blown away by how thorough it was. I said "I love you, stranger!", looked at the nickname, and it was me. I had a pretty big laugh.