Problem Solving Morton’s Fork
blogThings have been busy this week; I finally completed a project at work and have been juggling three or more freelance jobs when I get home. I am another victim of the credit crunch, one who feels obliged to take on freelance jobs just in case they dry up at some indeterminate point in the future.
This deluge comes, I think, from the changing of the season, when the budding tree branches remind us to cultivate our own budding projects. On my walk to work I have watched the daffodils rise from the ground, getting ready to flower and tell us Spring is here. Like the daffodil, everyone wants to make sure that their projects flourish, especially now. It is nice to be able to help people to achieve their goals, but I have to learn to be more strict in only taking on websites that align with my own goals.
The problem with juggling projects is that your attention is scattered. In order to get anything done, you have to have focus and it’s impossible to focus when you feel like Buridan’s ass but with eight different things to choose from. Actually, it’s more like Morton’s fork, until you finally get started and get into a state of flow.
Perhaps the most annoying thing about being busy is that I start thinking about foolproof strategies to be productive. This is itself a form of procrastination. However, the best method I’ve found is to choose the project that gives you the most anxiety, state the problem that you want to solve in the clearest terms possible, then ignore everything else and work on the problem until it is solved. If the problem is insoluble, break it down until it is.
All too often, I find myself shirking away from a problem. I glimpse it, imagine all the work it will take to solve it, and then procrastinate in horror. I tell myself that I am letting the unconscious mind work on it, whilst the conscious mind gets on with the business of enjoying itself. Occasionally, a solution will burble up from the depths of my mind, but usually pressures of time will force me to actually think about it properly.
The worst kind of problem are those that rely upon other people to be solved — they sit at the back of your mind, getting in the way, whilst other people get their act together. Lycos webhosts have been closing down operations and in the process botched the transfer of a couple of sites I run — it was so annoying, but what could I do?
Of course, a life without any deadlines is my idea of hell, but some kind of balance would be nice.