Saturday, October 31, 2015

46 Getting it right – the first time around

To be most effective and use our time and energy optimally, we have to develop the habit of doing things as thoroughly as we can the very first time we do it! I think I’ve said something about this before, but it bears repeating.

It’s true that a positive attitude says that one should always give a second chance, and not write off something or someone based on first impressions. But then situations in our fast-moving world often just don’t have the wherewithal to offer that second chance. This is where a consistent approach of doing as complete a job as feasible the first time itself will increase the success rate in the long run.

One of the activities in which the first-time-best principle always seemed to kick in was in photography, of all things! When out in the hills, you walk round a bend, and a fantastic vista opens out. Or you may be driving, and as you crest a slope, a broad valley spreads itself in the evening light. Stop and take a few photographs! You may think that you can get the scene on your way back, but the light may not be good, the point of view not so perfect (imagine having to walk or drive with your face turned backwards!). You may not even come back that way on your return trip! So stop the car, get down and use your best technique, and capture the light! Take off the backpack, wipe your forehead, and take the trouble of taking those perfect shots!

One of the common sayings in hobby photography is “f8 and be there”. Turning this around, it could also mean “Carry a camera wherever and whenever”. “Be there” is wherever you happen to be! I still regret not following this advice on all my field trips and official tours, because there is no way I’m going to be able to visit so many field spots by myself. So most of us are reduced to taking snaps of the cat or the dog.

Another activity in which I find the truth of this principle, every day almost, is in reading and writing. In the course of any substantial writing project (say a term paper or a thesis), we are tempted to write very sketchy outlines as we go along, hoping to be able to hunker down in the final couple of months or weeks and produce the final masterly version. But then we find our references are all over the place, we are unable to locate many of them, we are unable to understand our own notes, and the subject has become so stale we feel like tossing the whole lot into the can. Writing requires a certain state of euphoria which comes only the first time we explore a subject; sadly, almost everything goes flat when kept too long. So here’s where we should sit down and write what looks like the final version from the start, just as if we are not going to be able to revisit that part again. The last time I did this was my for my fellowship which got over just a month back (hence the gap in postings). Luckily, I had followed the principle of composing more or less the final draft during the  entire two-year period. I found that there was no way I could go back and redo any of the earlier chapters in any depth… but since I had written them up exactly as I would a final version, complete with references, page number citations, and so on, I had very little editing to do at the final stage. I was able to print out and deliver the mandatory three copies of the report, and even submit it for publication, and vacate my room on the last day of the fellowship. This was providential because I then went and broke a leg (my own, to clarify) – meaning that there would have been no scope for going back for any work after the final date!


So that’s the other reason we need to take each opportunity or challenge as the real thing, and not as trials. We don’t know what nasty surprises the future has waiting, so most of our achievements are as they are fashioned during the run-up. As the saying goes, life is what is happening  even as we’re planning it the way we imagine it should be. Let’s not leave it to the next assignment, or the next meeting, or the next visit to our parents or visit from our kids… let’s be a good friend or family member right now, with whoever is around, let’s get it right the first time around, as it’s happening in the here and now!  

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