Chris,

Experienced people tend to do things up front that will avoid problems later. Naming your functions well is one example of this, whereas the less experienced tend to have blinkered vision and concentrate too much on the here and now and pay the price later. I'd suggest reading a book called 'Code Complete' which goes through the whys and wherefors and seemingly insigificant things like choosing good names for your functions and why they can have a significant impact. Nevertheless, I understand your position and that you're 'under the pump' and need to make progress. There's also a companion book to 'Code complete' called 'Writing solid code' - also a good read from our friends at Microsoft Press.