The most useful thing I learned in Uni was to tell the important from the trivial.
I studied Design. The professor who oversaw my interaction-design-projects was ruthless about calling out fake progress on my presentations.
The shiny, fashionable, trivial, yak-shaving, turd-polishing parts.
Everything that didn't further or reinforce the core ideas.
The reason was simple:
If the core ideas and content aren't good on their own, no amount of sugarcoating will make them good. So don't waste time on paint until the house is standing.
Yak-shaving is dangerous, because it creates the illusion of progress. Keep it for when you answered the hard questions.
Of course it's important to have a good looking poster, but the people are not attending your show if you can't dance.
Next time you're working on a project, ask yourself whether you already solved the important bits.
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