Iterate, Don't Jump Ship
You probably won't figure it out on the first try
Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.
-Mike Tyson
For many students, the weeks leading up to school starting are riddled with anxiety about the upcoming year. As a senior in college, I didn't want the beginning of my final year of school to be tainted by this sense of dread, so I spent a few weeks before school began researching the most effective ways to study. (Sidenote: The fact that this is not something I had been prompted to do in my 17 years in the school system is appalling; There is so much proven and useful literature on the most effective methods of learning.) Once the first day of classes rolled around I was prepared; I had a plan for all my classes and had mapped out my schedule for the whole semester. I was ready this time, and I wouldn’t let myself devolve into a formless mess like usual.
Three weeks later I’m laying on my couch. The sun streams through the window as I check my watch. It reads 4:26 pm. It’s a Tuesday and I should be in class, but I’m sleep-deprived from multiple nights of little to no rest working on assignments and projects, resulting in a sick Seyi. Despite the disappointment of watching my bullet-proof plan swirl down the proverbial toilet bowl, I decide that as soon as I am well again I’ll revert back to my typical course of action: screw the plan, wing my schedule, and make progress - stressed out progress, but progress nonetheless.
I was on the phone with my mom a few weeks ago, she told me about how she was studying for an exam to become a licensed dietician. When I was on my pre-semester scheduling high-horse, I told her the importance of creating a system for accomplishing her study goals. She explained to me that, although when she was in the midst of writing the plan it seemed like a great idea, when she actually implemented it, it didn't work as well as she would have hoped, and ended up disposing of the plan altogether. There was obvious continuity between her story and what I had experienced this semester, but I was very sure that the correct takeaway from this experience was NOT that we should dispose of our systems altogether and go back to improvising each day.
Mike Tyson has this great quote: “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” This seems to relate deeply to my mom’s and my predicament - You can plan all you want, but in any process, there will be unexpected occurrences. As a computer science major I frequently apply the process of “iteration” to the work I do - repeatedly getting a project to a flawed, but working state, and then slowly adding more features. This model stands in contrast with the more intuitive, but less effective “waterfall” method - going through all stages sequentially to reach a perfect state on the first try. The iterative method can be applied to creating systems in your own life: if the first version of your system doesn't work, the conclusion shouldn’t be that “creating systems doesn't work”, it should be “this version isn’t optimal, but if I change it in these ways, the next iteration might be better.” Remember, when it comes to planning out personal or professional systems, learn how to iterate rather than jumping ship.-
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