# Study Note 1 : Study Time Management Randy Pausch

###### tags: `Wireless Communications`


## :notebook_with_decorative_cover: Introduction

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Randolph Frederick Pausch (1960-2008) is a professor of computer science, human-computer interaction, and design at Carnegie Mellon University. He learned he had pancreatic cancer in September 2006 and In August 2007, he was given a terminal diagnosis: **"3 to 6 months of good health left"**. While he was battling his cancer, he gave a last lecture about time management which is very relevant to his condition that make him trying to spend all of his limited time in a better way.
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## :notebook_with_decorative_cover: Time Management

<i class="fa fa-book fa-fw"></i> **What Are You Worth An Hour ?**

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One of the hardest question we have to answer is when someone asked us **"how much you worth an hour?"**. Even we can't compare time and money directly, we can take our monthly salary and divide that so we can get our hourly salary. With that we can know **how much money we lose if we spend 1 hour exactly doing useless thing.** The most common thing we did that spent a lot of our time are :
- Messy desk
- Can't find things
- Miss appointments
- Unpreapared for meetings
- Tired/unable to concentrate
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<i class="fa fa-book fa-fw"></i> **The Time Hunger**

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If we are trying to fix a big problem that is a systemic problem, we can't just think how to fix this problem in 1 day. For example we will not solve africans food famine problem if we gave them a lot of food in 1 day and forget them for the next day. We can change that "**food**" term as "**time**". So to fix it we have to change the fundamental and very basic things first.
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<i class="fa fa-book fa-fw"></i> **Goals, Priorities, and Planning**

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To set our goals we have to make sure we are doing a right thing instead of doing the thing right. It comes from a simple question, "**Why i am doing this**?". For priorities we can take 80/20 rules (Pareto Principle) as an example, it means we can figure out **20% of our to do list that will contribute 80% to our life**. And to have to make a clear plan each day, each week, and each semester. It doesn't mean you have to 100% rely in that plan because it could change, but **you can change your plan only once you have one!**.
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<i class="fa fa-book fa-fw"></i> **To Do List and Paperwork**

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The most simple way to set your to do list is to use Covey's four-quadrant to do list. And you can set your to do list based on the importancy and urgency. And those to do list usually come from paperwork in our desk or our email inbox. **Make sure we only touch each piece of paper and email once, and everything in our email inbox is not our to do list.** And to make it more manageable and easier we can do another thing such as :
- Using second monitor
- Using calendar to put your daily plan
- Filing system for your paperwork
- **And everything that works for you because everyone has unique ways to do something that actually works !**
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<i class="fa fa-book fa-fw"></i> **Scheduling**

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We don't find time for important things, but we make it. Almost everytime we will have to do something that is not too valuable and all of that thing usually comes from our behavior of saying "**yes**" because we tend to make everyone happy. So what we should do is to learn how to say "**no**". And if we feel it is not okay to say no we can change it to "**gentle no**", for example we can change no to "**I will do it if nobody else step forward**". Don't forget to find your own thinking time where you have burst of creativity and assign it for your works. And also find your own dead time too to schedule task that doesn't need a lot of pressure in your brain. **Because everyone has good and bad times.**
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<i class="fa fa-book fa-fw"></i> **Interruptions**

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The most common interruption we have currently is to take a look at our phone and spend more time looking at it rather than doing the task itself. Or it could be caused because we are interrupted by someone else. Learn how to make those things short by **reducing the frequency and length of it** or **set a time boundary if you are talking with someone**.
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<i class="fa fa-book fa-fw"></i> **Time Journal**

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To track your day easier you can use time journal as a tool. Using time journal will make you understand how many time you spend on doing something. And with this understanding you can manage your time better to not spend too much time for working and still have time for yourself and your beloved family. We could say this term as **work-life balance**.
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<i class="fa fa-book fa-fw"></i> **Procrastination**

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"**Procrastination is the thief of time**", almost all of us ever heard that quote. Procrastination doesn't always come because we are lazy, but because **we are trying to rationalize our procrastination.** Doing things at the last minute is much stressful than just before the last minute, so to solve this we can set a **fake deadline and pretend that is a real deadline.**
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<i class="fa fa-book fa-fw"></i> **Delegation**

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We should remember that no one can do everything by himself. **We can accomplish a lot more with help of others**. But it doesn't mean we can dump all of our job to other people. **Give them authority and responsibility**, it means that you are currently trusting them. **Give them a specific goal, but no need to give them a specific way to do** that way because they will have their own way and it can impress you either in a good or bad way. **Keeping your communication clear is one important to do** to make sure there are no miscommunication causing a lot of problems. **And don't forget to appreciate everyone who is responsible for the works**.
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<i class="fa fa-book fa-fw"></i> **Meetings**

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Even though technology is one important thing, make sure technology make something complicated become more simple and useful to us. So everytime you have a meeting make sure that **no one is using phone** so everyone could be focused on the meeting. **Prepare the agenda** so there will be no time wasted on thinking what we should do. And dont forget to keep track of decision by **making a page for who is responsible for what by when.**
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<i class="fa fa-book fa-fw"></i> **Advice From Randy Pausch**
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- Write things down everytime you meet your boss
- Make sure to ask when is the next meeting to your boss
- Ask what goals should be achieved in a specific deadline
- Ask who can you ask for help if something is happening
- Don't watch too many television
- Turn money into time with your beloved family
- Eat, sleep, and exercise above all else
- Never break a promise, but re-negotiate instead
- Most things are pass/fail
- Ask for feedback
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Reference
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- [Time Management By Randy Pausch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKBFwR1HIFU)
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