Zeger Van Hese

Z-Sharp

How do you benefit from distraction? We live in curious times. Knowledge is available at our fingertips, everywhere. Social networks increase communication with peers from around the world but along with these marvels of the information age come weapons of mass distraction. With so little time to focus on real work, it’s a wonder we get anything done at all. More than anything else, this is the age of distraction.

There is a common notion that only focused concentration leads to productive work and that distraction causes procrastination and hurts creativity. While it is of course important that testers are able to find flow and maintain focus, I would argue that a state of defocus – guilt-free play – can be helpful in testing. Here I explain how to benefit from distraction, how to find flow and focus when needed, and – lastly – how to make the most of our testing in these connected times.

Read this paper to understand how distraction can be a positive influence in the way you work and in being creative at work.

This paper accompanied Zeger van Hese’s presentation at EuroSTAR 2013 and was chosen as the winner of the 2013 EuroSTAR Conference Best Paper.

Browse all the EuroSTAR Best Paper winners here. Check out this year’s EuroSTAR Software Testing Conference.