Now do it now (1)

This article is about time management. We can't find a way to increase the "output/Time" ratio.
Every day, we have to deal with a lot of things. It makes sense to be busy only after we arrange them and arrange them in an orderly manner,
Otherwise, you will always be blind in the mess.

English conversion from: http://www.read.org.cn/html/4-nowdostart1.html
Original article address: do it now

When I went to college many years ago, I decided to develop a plan to challenge myself: I spent only three semesters to finish the four-year courses that others usually spend. This article describes in detail all the time management skills I have made in achieving this goal.

To achieve this goal, I am determined to earn 30 to 40 credits per semester, while other students only offer 12 to 15 credits on average. Obviously, I have to arrange a reasonable time to achieve the goal. I started to read all the information I could find about time management and learn how to use it. In just three semesters, I completed my goal: two bachelor's degrees in science (computer science and mathematics) and did not take summer courses. I sleep for seven to eight hours every night to handle my daily chores (shopping, cooking, etc.), participate in social activities, and exercise for 30 minutes every morning. In the last semester, I completed two 37-credit courses for advanced computer and mathematics. I even have a full-time job as a game programmer (40 hours a week ), he is also the vice chairman of the local ACM Association of Computing Machinery. My classmates added the time they needed to finish their homework and concluded that I had 250 hours a week. I graduated with a 3.9gpa and received a special award each year for the top computer students. One of my professors later told me that when they knew what I was doing, it was easy to select a candidate for the award.

I am not considered a gifted child. This is the first time I have done this. No one has guided me. I don't know if anyone has done that. I don't think of anyone who encourages me to do this. In fact, most people come out to dissuade me when I tell you. I just want to do it for myself. If you want to better understand why I tried something so crazy at that time, you may be happy to read the meaning of life: introduction, it contains the background of the story and detailed descriptions of my motives.

I spent a lot of time convincing the head of the computer department to give me additional credits. My classmates often say that I am cheating, or I have a twin brother, or simply say that I am mentally abnormal (the last one I hear the most every week, maybe some truth ). Most of the time I keep silence, but I will answer it truthfully when asked how many credits I have taken. I may be the only student in the University with a two-page course schedule, so if someone threatens me, it is easy to prove that I am telling the truth, although I seldom do this.

This story is not intended to attract you, nor to make you curious about how I do it. My goal is to use the concept of time management, which many people may not know at all, but has long existed in books and audio programs at that time. The time management habits developed in the university have greatly helped me start a business later, so I want to share with you and hope that you will feel equally valuable. It saved me tuition and gave me about $30,000 to start my own business (all I earned when I was a game programmer in the last semester, most of which were royalty-based ). The following is the essence of time management I know:

Clear goals are the key.

First, you must clearly know what you want. In a Taekwondo Hall that I have trained, there is a huge slogan on the wall, "Your goal is black band !". It reminds every student why he/she has been trained so hard. When you work alone, it is easy to do some worthless work on your desk all day. This often happens when you don't know what you're going to do. When you realize this, ask yourself, "What is my attempt to achieve here ?" You must always be clear about your goals. Make your goals clearer and write them out. Your goal must be clear to this extent: even if a stranger has an objective understanding of your situation, you can give an absolute "yes" or "no" response on whether you have completed each target. If you cannot clearly define your goals, how can you know if you reach them?

I found that the key cycle for defining and expanding a specific target is 90 days, which is a quarter. In that period of time, if you establish a very clear goal, you can make a significant and measurable change. Take some time to stop and write about what you want your life to be in the next 90 days. What kind of monthly income? What is the weight? What about friends? What is your career? What are interpersonal relationships? What will your website look like? Detailed description. A clear description will provide a boundary for your entire plan.

Just like an airplane's autopilot must constantly revise its route, and you must regularly review your goals. Repeat your clearly written goals every morning and repeat these clearly recorded goals. Stick them on the wall, especially your economic goals. A few years ago (In The Middle Of 1990s), I posted a "$5000/Month" table in each room. That is my current monthly income target. I keep establishing clear income targets. Even if I encounter setbacks, I find this process very effective. This does not only help me focus on my goals-it may help me to ignore things beyond those goals. For example, if you have determined the target for a monthly income of 10 thousand US dollars, this will let you stop doing things that can only earn five thousand US dollars per month.

If you still don't understand the target, you should take it as your primary goal. It's hard to know what you really want for a lifetime. Most people are addicted to the "I don't know what to do" status for a long time. They waited for external forces to clarify their own goals, but did not know that they were created by themselves. Everything is waiting for you to start, there is no other way, it will wait until you make up your mind. Waiting for a clear goal is like a sculptor watching a marble, waiting for the statue inside to automatically show up unwanted debris. Don't expect the goal to be automatically clarified-Pick up your hand!

Flexible arrangement

Knowing your goals is totally different from knowing how you reach your goals. A typical commercial aircraft departs 90% of the time, but it is almost always at its destination because it knows where to fly and where to change its direction at any time. You cannot predict the exact path. I think the true purpose of the plan is that you are sure there is a feasible way. We have heard that, according to statistics, 80% of new business organizations collapsed in the first five years, but a more interesting statistic is that the development path of almost all successful business organizations is different from the original plan. If you start a successful enterprise with a business plan, you will often find that the initial plan has failed. They just succeed by trying other ways. Some people say that business plans that are not closely related to the market are hard to survive. It is difficult for me to promote it into a program that is not closely related to the real world.

Stephen Covey, a famous writer and business consultant, often quotes this sentence, "face your choice honestly ." This means that you cannot blindly execute a plan without understanding the target. For example, your careful execution plan-so far everything went well-suddenly encountered an unexpected opportunity. Do you stick to the original plan (which will lead to a loss) or stop the opportunity (which will lead you out of the Plan )? At this time, you need to stop and consider your goals to decide which is a better choice. Blind execution plans are not advisable. Once you get information that can correct the plan, you need to train to be honest at the time of choice. Sometimes you can use unexpected shortcuts to achieve your goals. In other cases, you have to stick to the original plan and avoid being distracted by secondary tasks. This will take you away from your goals. Keep up with your goals, but be flexible with your plans.

I believe that a clear forward goal is much more important than a clear short-term plan. In college, I knew my final goal-completing my college in three semesters-but my plan was changing at any time. Every day, I have new assignments, courses, or exams. I have to adapt to these changing situations. If I try to specify a long-term plan for each semester, the plan will become invalid in one day.

Instant event

I stick to a very basic paper-pen recording, rather than some elaborate organizational systems. My only organization tool is just a thin one, where I wrote down all the tasks and their deadlines. I am not worried about the pre-arrangement and order. I just need to take a look at the list and select the appropriate time. After this task is completed, remove it from the list.

If I have a ten-hour semester assignment to write, I will finish it at one time instead of dividing it into smaller tasks. I usually do the time-consuming work on weekends. Go to the library in the morning for necessary information, and then return to the dormitory to start writing until the final paper is printed. If you need to take a rest, I will take a rest. This has nothing to do with how important the plan is to be completed by the professor within weeks. Once I start, I will stick to it until 100% is finished and I will wait for my homework to be handed in.

This simple habit saves me a lot of time. First, it enables me to concentrate on each task, which is very efficient. Conversion tasks waste a lot of time because you have to get familiar with them. Independent Processing minimizes the time required for switching tasks. In fact, if possible, I will combine tasks of a specific topic and then finish them at one time. So I completed my math homework one time in a row. Then do all the programming jobs. Then perform a comprehensive job. In this way, I put my brain in the status of mathematical thinking, programming thinking, writing thinking, and artistic thinking, and keep a single pattern as long as possible. Second, I think this habit makes me feel free and stressed, and my thinking will not be confused by too many things to do. This habit of doing only one thing at a time makes me forget everything beyond the current task.

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