getting past the "boss battle"

sometimes work is really difficult. you spend hours upon hours of time dedicated to solving yours and your client's challenges. but—every now and then—those issues don't seem to want to go away, no matter how hard you try.

it might be a complicated spreadsheet, or a really demanding client, or a piece of programming that the person before you built without any documentation. every time you feel like you've won, it comes back at you—like a final boss battle in a video game—taunting you, keeping you from getting to what you really want to accomplish.

but the thing about boss battles is that there's always some kind of a trick.

next time that devil of a task comes back at you: survive when you need to, push back when you can, and look for the weak spots. find the critical piece of your spreadsheet (hint: it's probably obvious), understand your client's tendencies and tricks (hint: it takes more listening and less talking), and don't be afraid to hit the restart button on that piece of programming code (hint: starting from scratch isn't always a waste of time).

find the weakness, then attack.just remember to hit the 'a' button.