I made a function that automatically finds where in the list of objects (basically a list of lists) the name Scooby is hiding. The thing I found challenging the problem to solve is not sated in the questions and you sort of must find the problem by looking at the errors. This was a new way of programing for me, and I found it hard. I got to a sate where I thought I had found the solution, but it still was not working. After thinking about the problem for about 30 minutes and trying various things, I started to plan how I would ask for help. Frequently in the past, when I plan about how I will ask for help, a solution makes itself apart to me (Look at rubber duck method).
So I set out planning how to ask for help and I did find a bug in the planning but the function still did not work. After trying to find the remaining problems for a little longer I posted something on slack and got a few responses quickly. Some of the responses didn’t make sense to me but there were some that I found helpful. From this help I could iron out some more bugs, but the function still did not work. Throughout this process if I found myself getting frustrated, I would take a break to calm myself down and try keep the problem more on the fun side. Quickly it became clear that the remaining issues where that some actions were done in the wrong order. Once the order was reshuffled the code worked great. I found that finding a solution from errors was not as enjoyable as trying to solve a clear-cut problem.
I feel confident and familiar with for all of the problem solving techniques discussed except I had never heard of the rubber ducky method. As far as I can tell it allows you to articulate your thoughts in a holistic way which brings you out of what you imagine the scope of the problem to encompass and into a birds eye view. Sort of like rebooting your operating system. I found that in the few sprints we have had that a few times I was about to ask for help and then would find the answer while writing the question up. It's clear that just the process of thinking about how to present the problem allowed me to unpack the issue in my mind.