The importance of (b)logging

I must confess, I haven't read a book for a while.

I have a reading list as long as my arm in many subjects, but I'm currently struggling to pick one and get started. I came back from #testbash 2015 with so much energy and inspiration...and another load of books to add to my list! So while I was going through my notes, it just made me feel very anxious and overwhelmed about the thought of reading those too and staying up to date. I'm not supposed to be feeling this way. What happened to the motivated me?

Don't get me wrong, I have read lots of books in the past. There are 2 books that I keep re-reading though - The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho and Secrets of a Bucaneer-Scholar by James Marcus Bach. They are my safe, inspiring books that don't take long to read. I'm familiar with them, and they just give me that little kick I need every so often when I'm feeling low.

Here is that process I have gone through to:

1. Conclude that I need to start writing things down more, and use my blog as a good platform
2. Show how this relates to the importance of good test documentation. 

So what is stopping me picking up a new book? I've been mulling over this thought for the last couple of weeks, and decided to make it a testing issue. Stop, think and evaluate why.

I'm not ready
Good, that made me feel a lot better. Its not always an easy thing to admit, but if I were ready, I would be doing it, right? 
ACTION: Apply an 'I'm not ready' heuristic when blocked

You wouldn't start testing if you were not ready, would you?

Planning
So why am I not ready? This is because I have taken in too much information, and have done nothing with it. I am a great believer in applied knowledge and have such a wide range of interests. I enjoy finding the links between them and how they relate to testing. I currently have so many ideas swirling about in my head and think I'm worried that I am going to forget what I've learnt before.
ACTION: I need a study plan / mind map

Imagine if you were planning your tests for the next story, but you didn't organise them in any way. Or better still didn't write them down! You know full well that you wouldn't be able to execute them very efficiently or remember them all. So you write high level sessions, and order them in a logical way so you have a good flow of tests without needing to go back and forth.

Priorities
How do I decide what to read next? Which book will benefit me the most? Its one of the downfalls of being process driven rather than goal driven I guess. The trouble is that I have interests in many areas that seem just as important as each other.
ACTION: I need to MSCW my books.

So applying this analogy to testing, prioritising our tests in a risk-based way means that we can concentrate on the highest impact / highest risk tests first to increase our chances of finding and feeding back the juicy bugs. The last thing you want to do is get bogged down with the trivial tests and then find that your time (or life in my case) is slipping away.

Review
Which direction I should be heading? Should I be reading books on Testing, Psychology, Management, Programming etc? I've always tried to work this out myself, which is another reason for hesitance. I'm confused as to what I should be doing next. Twitter has given me this wonderful forum where I'm free to ask questions to the people that inspire me. You are all my mentors.
ACTION: Use the Test Community for advice

So when you have written your Session plan, its always a great idea for it to be peer reviewed by your team members. Developers, Testers and BAs should be able to give good feedback to firstly confirm that you are not missing anything vital, secondly to discuss any tools that could help...I could go on and on with the benefits of reviewing session plans before execution, it perhaps needs a blog post for itself!

Pressure
I'm a sucker for this. I'm always beating myself up about deadlines. I look at the amount of books on my reading list and think that I should be further ahead, or that I should have finished x of them by now. In Buccaneer-Scholar, James says "Keep your aspirations high, and your expectations low" which suddenly becomes very relevant.
ACTION: I need to be realistic about what I can achieve.

Testers should be relaxed but in the 'zone' to be able to get the best out of us. Rushing your testing to meet a deadline is one of the worst things you can do as a tester, as you will become sloppy and cut corners. Whether it relates to story points or estimates, think worst case scenario and add contingency. Be realistic about how long / how complex the testing is, rather than say something that sounds right, or what others want to hear. During testing, don't wait until the end of the day or the scrum to say if testing is going badly. It could be too late by then and just increases risk. Ease the pressure on yourself so you can do a good job.

Distractions
This is the hardest part that I need to work on. How do I make sure I concentrate enough on one thing at a time, as I know through experience that multi-tasking is bad. I'm learning to avoid distractions at work. Turning email offline, booking a meeting room to finish that report, using headphones to avoid office noise. I also use a timer called Tomighty to time box my work for when I need to concentrate, and when I need to take a break.
ACTION: Get myself in the zone (with a pen and timer) and turn off tech.

But we have learnt that distractions are good when we are testing, yes? The ability to go off on a tangent and explore some other interesting path to look for lurking bugs? Its not as simple as that. It takes discipline. The ability to know when to switch focus or when to continue down the path needs a mixture of intuition, prioritisation and timing. So if you get distracted, take a step back, wonder why, and use your gut feeling to decide what to do next.

(B)logging
This penny has just dropped while I'm typing. If I'm looking for metaphors, those two books I keep re-reading must be a sign. They are both about searching, learning and passion, which is very apt for the way I'm feeling at the moment. So if I write things down it will sprout new ideas, especially when writing about my feelings. It will also help me to analyse my thoughts and have closure, so I can move on.
ACTION: I need to document my feelings and ideas, using blogs and book reviews.

Logging your findings and feelings and evidence during test execution is vital because it will help you to focus your testing more creatively. It will sprout new test ideas as you are going through the learn, design, execute and analysis cycle.

So what do I do next?
My blogs are intended to be my therapy. I'm hoping that once I have got my initial thoughts down (I currently have 6 draft blog titles that I have lined up!), I will be able to think with more clarity. This means I should have the capacity to pick up another book, and get back on the path of learning and developing my skills - but also learning more about myself, which is just as important.

I have another confession to make now. I didn't plan for this blog to turn out the way it did. It was just supposed to be about me saying that I want to write more blog posts to share my ideas, to allow me to move on and pick up the next book. Relating my issues to testing has made the journey much easier for me to understand, and is really helping to answer why I've been feeling anxious, unfocussed, distracted and a bit lost. To quote Elisabeth Hendrickson

"a test is an experiment designed to reveal information or answer a specific question about the software or system"

We can also add "about life, myself, or a problem I'm having" to this quote.

Testing is about asking questions, so blogging will help me in my pursuit to become a better Tester too.