Wrestling the beast

Let me set the scene: You have been assigned a large research essay by one of your professors. The assignment will contribute a significant amount towards your grade and will demonstrate your understanding of the course's central concepts. Like the diligent student that you are, you have been researching and typing out your response to the assignments well in advance. A few days before the due date, you finish the essay. All that is left is one task you have been putting off the whole time because you hate it. The dreaded formatting of your essay. You procrastinate until the night before your due date. Many cups of coffee and a long, phychologically painful night later; you emerge bleary eyed with a formatted essay.

I want to share with you a peace of advice I heard recently. "If its painful, do it more often." The phrase applies most accurately to situations which cause mental pain; such as formatting essays, learning a difficult skill or doing something which scares you. Although, advice such as this could also serve well with goals such as getting fit or breaking a bad habit.  In short, dont ignore problems or issues, solve them right away.

This is sage advice for a few reasons that I will outline for you.

First, a large job that you do not enjoy or find difficult, if left unattended, becomes a mammoth task that assumes epic proportions in your mind. This is incredibly distracting and draining on your mental resources.

Second, the task is the equivalent of a black box until you make a start on it. You don't have much idea of what completing the work will require. What resources may be required, whose advice you may need. More or less time than you expected may be needed. As a result, your ability to plan effectively is seriously hampered.

For most endeavours it is helpful to unearth problems early in the game; rather than later on. Realising that the format you chose for your essay is unworkable for the topic is worth discovering early on; before many hours have been committed to the task of generating that format.

Practice makes perfect. An action which starts off as difficult and unpleasant may become easier and even enjoyable if the required skills are utilised on a more regular basis. Small, short periods of intense practice are better at developing skill than long, drawn out marathons of struggle.

Finally, there arises the spectre of fatigue. There is a limit to how long one focus. As a result, after a certain point the quality of your work begins to drop. A higher standard of work is likely to be maintained if you only focus for shorter periods.

In conclusion, let me finish with a metaphor that Aaron Swartz mentions in his blog. If you were to place your hand on a hot stove for an hour, it would be very painful and you probably won't last the full hour. However, if you touch the hot stove in short, quick jabs; much like quickly moving your finger through a candle flame, you could achieve a total time of an hour fairly easily.

Relish the challenge, don't hide from it.