Page 210 - A Mind For Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science

two if you get stuck or get a sense that you might not be on the right track.
This does something exceptionally helpful. “Starting hard” loads the first,
most difficult problem in mind, and then switches attention away from it. Both
these activities can help allow the diffuse mode to begin its work.
If your initial work on the first hard problem has unsettled you, turn next to
an easy problem, and complete or do as much as you can. Then move next to
another difficult-looking problem and try to make a bit of progress. Again,

change to something easier as soon as you feel yourself getting bogged down or
stuck.

“With my students, I talk about good worry and bad worry. Good worry helps provide
motivation and focus while bad worry simply wastes energy.”
—Bob Bradshaw, Professor of Math, Ohlone College

When you return to the more difficult problems, you’ll often be pleased that the

next step or steps in the problem will seem more obvious to you. You may not be
able to get all the way to the end immediately, but at least you can get further
before you switch to something else on which you can make progress.
In some sense, with this approach to test taking, you’re being like an
efficient chef. While you’re waiting for a steak to fry, you can swiftly slice the
tomato garnish, then turn to season the soup, and then stir the sizzling onions.
The hard-start–jump-to-easy technique may make more efficient use of your

brain by allowing different parts of the brain to work simultaneously on different
thoughts. 3
Using the hard-start–jump-to-easy technique on tests guarantees you will
have at least a little work done on every problem. It is also a valuable technique
for helping you avoid Einstellung—getting stuck in the wrong approach—

because you have a chance to look at the problems from differing perspectives at
different times. All this is particularly important if your instructor gives you
partial credit.
The only challenge with this approach is that you must have the self-
discipline to pull yourself off a problem once you find yourself stuck for a minute
or two. For most students, it’s easy. For others, it takes discipline and willpower.
In any case, by now you are very aware that misplaced persistence can create

unnecessary challenges with math and science.