So I once watched this nutty 70's film series on time management - 43 Folders retro. It was actually pretty good if you could get past the awful fashion. The host, a professor in horn-rimmed glasses and a bowtie, had a piece of advice I found surprising at first. It puts a different spin on doing hard things and I've found it very useful.
He said if something is truly hard to do, put it off as long as possible. But if something is merely distasteful, do it as soon as possible.
The rationale is that if something is truly hard to do, you can spend time thinking about it, researching it, gathering resources and asking others about it while doing other necessary things. Oftentimes, there will be a way to make the hard thing easier or even unnecessary.
But if something is more distasteful than hard-to-do, you need to do it right away. It's worse to put off distasteful things than just get them over with.
Anyway, that bit of wisdom has worked for me. In programming specifically, I also endorse David Heinemeier Hansson's advice: "If something is too hard it means that you're not cheating enough."
He said if something is truly hard to do, put it off as long as possible. But if something is merely distasteful, do it as soon as possible.
The rationale is that if something is truly hard to do, you can spend time thinking about it, researching it, gathering resources and asking others about it while doing other necessary things. Oftentimes, there will be a way to make the hard thing easier or even unnecessary.
But if something is more distasteful than hard-to-do, you need to do it right away. It's worse to put off distasteful things than just get them over with.
Anyway, that bit of wisdom has worked for me. In programming specifically, I also endorse David Heinemeier Hansson's advice: "If something is too hard it means that you're not cheating enough."