A research epiphany during a garage cleanup...

A research epiphany during a garage cleanup…

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Reflection gained from a garage clean up exercise.

Doing menial tasks are normally rejected, but it comes with an unintended benefit. The benefits come from a progressive mindset perspective…

The benefit reveals itself as the fact that focusing on the minute details of the task allow a greater observation of other related but not specific items that impacts on achieving your goal.

Recently I had the arduous task of cleaning out my garage and during this exercise there was a need to clear out or categorize and individually store the various screws/bolts and nuts, tools and instruments that were in the garage.

This presented an opportunity to shift through various types of screws/nails/bolts and nuts. It was a daunting task when it was all “dumped” on the garage floor. It reminded me of Mandela (2001) when he stated, “It always seems impossible until it is done”.

Surprisingly, the more I focused on one screw type, the more I realized the variety that was available. The focus of categorizing by type, had the effect of quicker identification. The more I had to focus on the type which I wanted to “sort” the more I learnt about its characteristics, and this assimilation of individualistic elements created a quicker sorting or shifting process from all the available types.

This gave me a realization or a revelation. It allowed to look at this from a research perspective.

Research is easily seen as a daunting exercise due to all the various research instruments and tools available to answer the research question.

It became clear that the more immersed in the research question the more “strands” to the topic is observed. Simultaneously this allows the researcher to determine core elements and additional topics that related to the topic.

So, in conclusion, it crystalizes for me that an answer to research question/s there is always the need to shift through volumes of work, for you to arrive at the most suitable or correct answer for your hypothesis. It correlated with the completion of “menial” task of shifting through hundreds of types of screws with which ultimately allowed me the ability to categorize them by type, functionality, and applicability. Life lessons from a garage clean up…