Something I've experienced over and over, is that spending more time thinking about what I need to get done, markedly improves what eventually gets done.
In this I am not referring to the very critical thinking you need to do in order to discern what it is you need to do. I am specifically referring to the thinking required AFTER you've decided on what needs to be done.
It is very much like the apocryphal story of sharpening your axe. It was either Abraham Lincoln or Theodore Roosevelt who once tweeted, that if he was given one hour to chop down a tree, he would spend at least the first 50 minutes sharpening his axe. Something like that.
Well, in this case, I experienced it again as I am working on a new feature (invoicing) for our software platform. I've known since last week Friday that I need to design and specify this feature for the team to build. This would include a wireframe mock-up of the functionality, as well as a detailed document outlining what is required.
We humans would normally jump right into a task or project as soon as it is added to our list of things to do, but this is seldom the best course of action.
In my example, I have yet to start the wireframe or write anything down in the spec document, but I have made so much progress. The invoicing solution will be markedly better, because I gave myself to think about it for a substantial amount of time. Note, this is not an excuse for procrastination. Thinking is taking action, albeit action not visible in the world.
I discussed this with a friend I saw last week. We were discussing something fairly complex, and described the project/problem as a sphere hanging in the air, with us walking around it trying to find our `in`. Looking at it from different angles, to see what else we notice or what else we might have missed.
Give yourself the time to think.
If something is worth doing, it surely is worth thinking about.
In this I am not referring to the very critical thinking you need to do in order to discern what it is you need to do. I am specifically referring to the thinking required AFTER you've decided on what needs to be done.
It is very much like the apocryphal story of sharpening your axe. It was either Abraham Lincoln or Theodore Roosevelt who once tweeted, that if he was given one hour to chop down a tree, he would spend at least the first 50 minutes sharpening his axe. Something like that.
Well, in this case, I experienced it again as I am working on a new feature (invoicing) for our software platform. I've known since last week Friday that I need to design and specify this feature for the team to build. This would include a wireframe mock-up of the functionality, as well as a detailed document outlining what is required.
We humans would normally jump right into a task or project as soon as it is added to our list of things to do, but this is seldom the best course of action.
In my example, I have yet to start the wireframe or write anything down in the spec document, but I have made so much progress. The invoicing solution will be markedly better, because I gave myself to think about it for a substantial amount of time. Note, this is not an excuse for procrastination. Thinking is taking action, albeit action not visible in the world.
I discussed this with a friend I saw last week. We were discussing something fairly complex, and described the project/problem as a sphere hanging in the air, with us walking around it trying to find our `in`. Looking at it from different angles, to see what else we notice or what else we might have missed.
Give yourself the time to think.
If something is worth doing, it surely is worth thinking about.