When you are learning a board game for the first time, you have to carefully go through all the rules, many of which won’t even make sense until you start playing. It’s cumbersome and confusing and generally not all that pleasant. You just hope that the payoff is worth it. The second time is much faster. You can jump right in to playing and might just need a quick refreshed on a couple of odd points.
The same sort of phenomenon applies to all other sorts of experiences. Recently, I started to learn how to crochet, and I experienced the same grinding uncertainty about whether or not things were proceeding correctly (are these loops where they’re supposed to be?).
During the first attempts, we pick up the answers to a few key questions. The two biggest are “when am I done?” (and tangentially, “how long will it take?”) and “what happens next?”. Knowing the answers to these questions gives the experience a finite shape. Without them, the experience can seem a little endless or confusing.
Sometimes those questions include “what are my options?” or “is this correct?”. “What are my options?” occurs when you have to make discrete choices throughout the process. Picking pieces of clothes from your wardrobe is an example of making discrete choices from a well-known set of options. “Is this correct?” comes up when there’s some skill involved at the level of physical motions. Cooking, for example, asks that we cut vegetables just so or fry them to a particular degree of doneness.
Once we have a satisfactory set of answers to these framing questions, our minds are freed to focus entirely on the task at hand instead of wondering whether or not we’re making progress towards the goal. This kind of certainty makes the experience as a whole more comfortable.
(Note that knowing the basic framing of the activity implies nothing about skill level. You can know the rules and be absolutely rubbish at the game, but knowing the rules will still make it easier to get into the flow.)
More broadly, knowing the framework of an activity lets you feel like you’re able to make progress. I know I can sit down and plow through a chapter of a book and have something new coming out the other side. There’s a certain confidence that comes with knowing the outcome of your efforts. Moreover, knowing there’s something waiting at the end of the road makes it easier to begin a project.
I struggle with the need to feel like I’m accomplishing something in my free time. Since I noticed the distinction of doing something the first versus second time, I’ve seen how a lot of my activities are me trying to do something new. Certainly there is a lot more to discuss with the need to feel accomplished, but I am confident that primarily taking on new activities is not helping my sense of efficacy.
Early Reader Credit: Sean Langhi, Phil Geurin
The Pragmatic Philosopher 