How do you determine what is "a challenge" and "beyond your capacity"

[TenaciousBushLeaper]

Due to multiple large scale projects going on right now for me, and the shear amount of learning (and the application of it) that has to take place within a relatively short amount of time, I'm wondering how do others determine what is considered to be a challenge and what is considered over kill ( maybe over kill is a bit of a loaded word ), so simply maybe "too much" given the circumstances (time, expected outcome) ?

 

Currently I'm at the point where I see the potential that figuring this out has (the things that I'm faced with) but also wondering what if I never figure it out and I just end up spending x amount of time on it with no results to show? 

Edited December 9, 2015 by TenaciousBushLeaper

[TakeruK]

This is a hard thing to figure out and I think it's really important to learn. I'm still trying to figure it out. Right now, my strategy is to work on it for 1-2 weeks and then see how much progress I've made / how feasible the idea is. For example, I might come up with what I thought would be a clever solution to X but then after 1.5 weeks of work, run into a lot more nuances and issues that I did not originally think of. It might not be as easy as I thought so I would put the project aside indefinitely. 

It's sometimes hard to judge how much progress in 1-2 weeks is "enough" and I consult with my advisor and other students to get a well rounded set of opinions. 

I know this is not really a full answer, but the key points I think are: 1) you have to actually just go and try it for awhile and see if it works and 2) don't be afraid to just give up / postpone a project after working a couple of weeks on it---learning what doesn't work is still helpful for you, and it's much better to stop after 2 weeks (maybe even waste the 2 weeks) than to continue working for months without results.

[fuzzylogician]

5 hours ago, TenaciousBushLeaper said:

Currently I'm at the point where I see the potential that figuring this out has (the things that I'm faced with) but also wondering what if I never figure it out and I just end up spending x amount of time on it with no results to show? 

In general, you never know if you'll solve a problem or get stuck. TakeruK described a reasonable thought process. It's hard to be more specific without knowing more details. One thing I'll add is that it often helps me to know how "stuck" I really am to talk to others. Even just formulating the question and thought process helps, and if multiple smart people who I've shown the problem to are stumped, that tells you something. If they have suggestions, then I have new leads to follow and I can figure out what I think about them. Also, sometimes taking a break and doing something else for a while can really help.

I think your question comes in the context of "I have too many things to do already, is it worth it to work hard at solving this problem, when I have all these other things I could be doing." That's a hard one. It depends on so many factors, such as what else you have going on, what stage of your career you're in, if there are upcoming deadlines for anything, what potential outcomes you expect the project to have, if all goes well, and more. It's easy to overcommit, so getting the balance right is a learning process. I think it's important to be strategic and to prioritize according to what makes sense for your career right now. 

I personally need to have multiple projects going on, I can't really do just one. When I get stuck in one place, I have other things happening that I can move to and not get stuck for too long. The way I choose what to work on often ends up being decided by external factors. I have a deadline for X application/grant, and it would be good to have Y paper out by then to show skill Z. Or there is a conference deadline coming up with theme ABC at a nifty place I want to visit. Or a co-author is really into working on a joint paper, so my attention goes there. Or I'm teaching about X in class now, so it's convenient to work on a paper in this area, too. It really depends. Right now I'm working with monthly to-do lists that I revisit and adjust every month, that try to take into account the other things I have to juggle (such as teaching, service, my life). Some papers I would really love to be working on have to get postponed to a later time, because it's just not feasible to do them now. I try to take good notes so that I finally get back to them I know what my thought process was and what needs to happen next, but I accept that I can't do everything that I want. 

[Eigen]

Going off of the "multiple projects" perspective, I kinda try to do different tiers of projects. When I was writing research proposals for faculty positions, I got the advice that out of your projects, at least one should be very "doable" (i.e., you know you have the skill set and can make it work), several should be intermediate (you think they'll work, but there are parts you haven't worked out as much) and at least one should be a "reach"- something that would be really cool if it worked out, but needs significant background work or takes a significant leap past what's already been done. 

When I'm designing projects/papers personally, I do the same thing. There's a smattering of low hanging fruit- things that might not be world-changing, but are solid work and need to be done- and then there are projects of increasing difficulty, including some which well may be beyond my capacity. 

As also mentioned, it's something you learn a lot by feel as you progress- you get a better feeling for your abilities and limits the more you test them. 

One other thing to learn is when to shelve a project. Sometimes you think something is totally achievable, and then as you get further into it you find that it's more and more of a reach, and taking more and more of your time. It can be really hard to take something you've put a lot of time and work into and shelve it, but a lot of times it's necessary. Sometimes you can come back to it fresh and make better progress, or sometimes there are advances in the literature that open up a different approach down the road, and make a previously inaccessible project suddenly plausible. 

Learning when to stop throwing good time after bad, and how to shelve a project so you can return to it are amazingly valuable skills! I've seen PIs not get tenure because they couldn't shelve a pet project, and ended up going down a bad road because of it.

[zipykido]

I like to use the system where I'll drop a project for a week to see if I make any progress on my other projects. Basically it's about culling projects that drain more resources in terms of time and energy than they give back. At any given time though I probably have 4-5 projects that I try to address per week though so I don't have a bunch of downtime. It keeps me busy, only problem is sometimes I cycle through things too much.  

[TenaciousBushLeaper]

Thanks all. I actually had a big "eureka" moment (and subsequently rushed home to ssh into the university's computing cluster to work on it lol) regarding the one project that was worrying me, on my train ride home yesterday.  I'm relieved I didn't tell my advisor that this might not be something I can figure out. 

Edited December 10, 2015 by TenaciousBushLeaper

[TakeruK]

3 hours ago, TenaciousBushLeaper said:

Thanks all. I actually had a big "eureka" moment (and subsequently rushed home to ssh into the university's computing cluster to work on it lol) regarding the one project that was worrying me, on my train ride home yesterday.  I'm relieved I didn't tell my advisor that this might not be something I can figure out. 

Even if it doesn't work out, moments like this are part of what makes academia/research so fun!!

[rising_star]

3 hours ago, TenaciousBushLeaper said:

Thanks all. I actually had a big "eureka" moment (and subsequently rushed home to ssh into the university's computing cluster to work on it lol) regarding the one project that was worrying me, on my train ride home yesterday.  I'm relieved I didn't tell my advisor that this might not be something I can figure out. 

I love those "eureka" moments. A lot of mine come either in the shower or when I'm out walking my dog. They're both inconvenient, but I've gotten better about taking my phone with me on dog walks so I can call my office and leave myself a message with whatever the brilliant idea is. Glad you're making progress, TBL!