Working in technology for over three decades, I have found myself in a position of getting up to speed on something new at least 100 times. For about half of my career, I have worked in a consulting role, which is where I faced the challenge of understanding a new project the most.
Over time, I established a personal goal to be productive on a new project in half the time it took for the average team member. I often called this the time to first commit or TTFC. The problem with my approach to setting a TTFC record was the unexpected levels of stress that I endured in those time periods. Family members and friends always knew when I was in the early stages of a brand-new project.