Randy Pausch Lectures
Like many people, I set about watching Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture after hearing of his death a few weeks back. He was quite a man. Such a university professor. So filled with life, with a will to live. And I learned a lot from both the Last Lecture, and another lecture he gave on time management. Some notes are included here:
Last Lecture
Childhood dreams. Positive attitude. Brick walls are there to make us show/prove how badly we want things. It’s easy to be smart when you’re parodying smart people. Wait long enough and people will surprise and impress you. Attaining your dreams and/or enabling the dreams of others. You obviously don’t know where the bar (for success) should be, so you’ll be doing a disservice if you put in anywhere (i.e. push for greater and greater levels when you’re not sure what the best could be). When you find something really great, the hardest thing is to let it go…find someone better than you to take it.
He’s uncomfortable in academia because “I come from a long line of people who actually worked for a living”.
The best gift an educator can give is to get someone to become self reflective.
Everyone should be helping others. Teachers, mentors, friends, colleagues help us.
Respect authority while questioning it.
How to get people to help you: tell the truth. be earnest. apologize when you screw up. focus on others, not yourself. do the right thing. get a feedback loop, and listen to it!! show gratitude. don’t complain, just work harder. be good at something, it makes you valuable. “work hard…what’s your secret” (answer, it’s pretty simple, just call me any friday night at 10pm and I’ll tell you).
Decide if you’re a Tigger or Eeyore!
Time Management
Time is the only commodity that matters. What do you cost your organization an hour?
The real problems in our life: stress and procrastination.
The money’s not important. The time you spend in school is what is important–not the money you spend or lose on it.
“The Time Famine”. If you’re not going to enjoy it, why do it?
Being successful doesn’t make you manage your time well. Managing your time well makes you successful.
GOALS, PRIORITIES, PLANNING. Why am I doing this? What is the goal? Why will I succeed? What happens if I choose not to do it? Doing things right vs. doing the right things?
List of 100 things to do in your life. Look at it every week. If you’re not working towards it every week, what are you working towards?
Do not lose sight of the power of inspiration. If you can dream it, you can do it. (Walt Disney).
Do the ugliest thing on your to-do list first. Quadrant to-do list.
Keep your desk clear. Touch each piece of paper once. Touch each email once. Your inbox is not your to-do list.
A good filing system is essential.
Key thing is screen space for monitors.
Thank you notes (that weren’t obligatory). A very tangible way of doing nice things. They make you rare. Buy a stack, keep them readily accessible on your desk. Showing gratitude is important (not only for job interviews!).
You don’t find time for doing important things, you make them by not doing other things.
Find your dead time, schedule things where you don’t need to be at your best. Maximize your best time, guard it carefully. [for me and writing, this is the first hours of the morning…which means I need to get to bed early].
Time journals: monitor yourself for 15-minute increments for 3 days to 2 weeks. List what you do on the left, time up top, check off.
Make your own study hall between classes, go to the library.
The most efficient people in grad school are the ones with a spouse and kids.
Procrastination. Doing things at the last minute is really expensive. Make up fake deadlines and act like they’re real. Identify why you’re not enthusiastic about doing the thing you’re procrastinating from.
Delegation. Don’t treat it as dumping. Grant authority with responsibility. Delegate but always do the dirtiest job yourself.
If you want to get something done, you cannot be vague. Give a specific time with a penalty or reward. Give objectives not procedures. Give the relative importance of each task. Reinforce behavior you want repeated. All meetings should have an agenda. One minute minutes. At the end of a meeting write down decisions made and assignments of work.
Manage from beneath. When is our next meeting? What would you like me to have done by then? Who can I turn to for help if I need it?
Get feedback loops. People you trust who can tell you what you’re doing right and wrong.
To-Do list in priority order. Do a time journal. Revisit this talk in 30 days and ask “what have I changed”?
September 8th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
Revisiting the time management talk a little over a month later. … What’s changed in my life and how I manage time?
The real problems in our lives are STRESS and PROCRASTINATION.
Focus on doing the right things, not doing things right.
Inspiration matters. You need to be able to dream it to make it happen in your life.
Planning is important. What do I need to get done today? this week? this semester?
Move things from email to the to-do list.
You don’t “find” time to do important things. You Make it. And you make it by electing not to do other things.
Find your most productive time and guard it. [this is the early morning for me].
Create a time journal. What am I doing that I don’t need to be doing? What could someone else do? How am I wasting other peoples’ time?
Make up a fake deadline and pretend it’s real.
If you find yourself procrastinating, identify the reason why.
If you want to get something done, be specific about what it is, put a specific date and time, and make a specific penalty or reward.
When is our next meeting? What would you like me to have gotten done by then?
Exchange money for time when you have small kids.
Never break a promise, but renegotiate if need be.
Get feedback loops. Ask people in confidence.
Time is a gift, and you may find one day that you have less than you think…