Big O problems and Running Steps

Doing CSC108 assignment 2, I can definitely see how calculating the Running steps is important.  An assignment that requires making a lot of functions and some of them complicated, I needed to make the functions as efficient as possible to save time unless I want a program that takes 10 minutes to finish.  At first, I was frustrated because my program was taking so long to finish, and I needed to cut back on the "steps" needed to complete the program so i went back to clean it up.  

I find that Big O and running steps problems could be hard because I'm not used to recording the iterations in my mind, so I definitely need to do some practice, especially since some functions can be very complicated, and then translating the iterations into a formula.  Hopefully, either I get good at doing this or test 3 will be merciful regarding running steps and big O problems.