Metaworking
I was thinking today, while waiting endlessly for my computer to come back to life (@#$! bitlocker), about how I work. This appropriately showed up on my annual evaluation: in short, I suck at easy things.
My basic issue is that if something is intellectually challenging, then I take it seriously. I work tirelessly to solve the problem and present the solution to others. This applies to mathematical discoveries as much as it applies to programming or climbing or whatever.
But if it isn't, then I kind of blow off the task. Because I think of it as being easy, I estimate that it's going to take little effort. But effort and difficulty are largely orthogonal. Case in point: I have now spent two days installing linux. It's super easy: you install X, then Y, then Z, ... But had I needed to estimate it my gut instinct (which is where most estimates start from) would have pegged it at a couple hours at most.
My basic issue is that if something is intellectually challenging, then I take it seriously. I work tirelessly to solve the problem and present the solution to others. This applies to mathematical discoveries as much as it applies to programming or climbing or whatever.
But if it isn't, then I kind of blow off the task. Because I think of it as being easy, I estimate that it's going to take little effort. But effort and difficulty are largely orthogonal. Case in point: I have now spent two days installing linux. It's super easy: you install X, then Y, then Z, ... But had I needed to estimate it my gut instinct (which is where most estimates start from) would have pegged it at a couple hours at most.