This brief story starts on an optimistic Saturday. Computer in front of me, I sit down to begin improving a particular analysis that leverages a large amount of data. The original script was one that I had written 7 months before. It simply needed to be given a bit more detail and depth. How hard could it be?
Two hours later, I was still fiddling with details but my attention kept pulling away to other concerns or problems. My focus wasn’t what it used to be for the problem. Maybe this is a one-time event. Maybe I could try again the next day, weekend, or month. I couldn’t fathom the problem being me, this is something I had done throughout my entire career.
But then one day the realization that had been floating in the back of the mind started to come to life. Once I had gotten the script to where it needed to be, other problems remained at the top of the list. For some reason, the time and attention needed to get into the details wouldn’t come.
That’s how one simple Saturday started…