Kitchen Psychology for Test Automation Engineers

I was working on something really difficult today and it went all wrong. Kaboom. By admitting that we are biased in our opinions and our minds are cluttered with overthinking, it gets easier. The mental clarity and cognitive potential me and you are longing for, to know how to improve our working life, resides in us all along.

• Mental shortcuts. We are all biased in some ways. It’s impossible to be completely objective. Acknowledge the incorrect assumptions you may make about people or events and you may be able to become a little more objective.
• Balance your emotional and rational mind. The solutions you’re seeking for are right in front of you. They always are, but optimal syntax is hard. Failing is hard but when you try and try again, you’ll get there.
• Stop overthinking, tune out mental chatter and worry less. Learn habits, actions, and mindsets you can use to clean up the mental clutter that might be holding you back from being more focused and mindful in your projects.
• Clarify and validate your goals. Write down. Draw images. Explain to others. Do not change your mind too much. The best way to make a decision is by knowing what your goals are. If you’re overconfident, your plans are likely to go awry.
• Work to discover how to make your solution as simplified as possible — and reclaim the time and emotional energy given up to overthinking. When you notice any clutter, remove it immediately. Letting go is hard.
• Let it be. Non-conscious thinking is surprisingly efficient. So consider sleeping on a problem.
• When you’re faced with a decision, frame the issue differently. Take a minute to think about whether the slight change in wording affects how you view the problem. Must. Should. Optional. Nice to have.
• Familiarity breeds comfort. There is a good chance that you make some poor decisions simply because of habit and you don’t think about the danger you’re in or the harm you’re causing.
• Make it a habit to review the choices you made. Look for the lessons that can be gained from each mistake you make. Sometimes choosing a different framework to work with might not be a bad idea at all.
• Make it a habit to label your feelings. If you’re feeling sad, angry, embarrassed, anxious, or disappointed. Then take a minute to think how it is influencing your decisions. Writing Python and Java often causes feelings of anxiety. Ruby and JavaScript can make you feel disappointed.

The author wishes to help the development environment hold the weather and reduce the number of disappointments experienced by millions of people in everyday life.

Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.