Working Hard

There was too much work, and too little time. I felt stuck, and lost, and helpless. By I didn't let those emotions hold me back. As the deadline grew closer, I buckled down harder. Other thinks were sacrificed, but I pushed through. I reached the turning point, and I knew it. I thought to myself: I've reached the worst, it's downhill from here. And I was right. It was smooth from there on.

This was my first real challenge, in many ways. I've never before faced a challenge this important, where I was actually unsure of my capacity to succeed, and where I persevered nonetheless. My life's going to have many more episodes like this going forward, and I'll be able to handle those too.

How to handle such crises well in the future:

• Don't despair. It doesn't help.
• Don't avoid it. It doesn't help.
• Prioritize it. Prioritize as high as you can.
• Start early.
• Keep trying things, different approaches, etc. It turned out that working away from home was the only thing that got me through this.
• Cut what must be cut.
• Keep everyone else involved in the loop as thoroughly as possible.

And with that, my final lesson, I'm done.