It’s simple, really. I do things in sprints. It’s part of who I am. Distance running never held any draw for me (it’s strange cycling does, actually). A lot of it draws from my hyperactive mentality.
I love new things. I love to have new experiences and new challenges. But if I don’t get through them quickly, the passion flames out. For a while. Then something triggers my interest again and I’ll do more on it for a while.
Sometimes this happens in a matter of hours. Sometimes the sprint is a little longer. But, dang, I’ll beat anybody in the sprint. (Maybe this is why I don’t have a desire to be a computer programmer–barrier to entry and marathon mentality.) I like things I can start and finish in the same week, preferably in the same hour.
Part of it likely has to do with the fact I have a lot going through my mind. I’ve no way to measure this, but I conservatively estimate I have at least 50% more things pass through my thought centres than the average person. So I like to get things done when I think about them, or when they are on my mind for a while.
Take today for instance. I met with my thesis referee (I still have to ask him to be it), Gil Fellingham, Ph.D and sports science genius (that ESPN dude has nothing on Prof Fellingham!). He had finished reviewing the second draft of my thesis regarding volleyball attack speeds. He told me that I should make the edits he suggested and I’d be ready to publish it and defend. He also said I should pare the paper down to submit an article to Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports.
Then I met with Carl McGown, BYU’s volunteer men’s volleyball coach to discuss a study he’d like to do. He told me to contact both my thesis advisors (Iain Hunter and Prof Fellingham) and get them to ask the BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe for funding for the study. Went and visited Profs Hunter and Fellingham within the next 30 minutes. Hey, it was on my mind.
Somewhere in here I went to class and spent most of it editing my 50-page thesis. Because research (as a general topic) was on my mind, I passed by the Maeser Building–home of the Honors Department–to check in about submitting original research (in information systems) for presentation. I got the submission sheet and returned 30 minutes later with my abstract and short description written.
Then I had to do homework for my research seminar. Fun, but boring in light of the day’s focus on volleyball research.
Anyway, it’s just after midnight and I have finished the edits on my thesis and finished the first draft of the article to submit to JQAS. What!? (Shawn and Gus style, of course. #psych)
Anyway, that’s how the night went (oh, and there was an indoor soccer match, a shower and an hour-long conversation with a girl in there, too). Like I said, when something’s on my mind, I’ll get it done.
I’ll win the sprint, but balance was never my strong suit. :/