Randy Pausch
Department of Computer Science
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA 22903
Pausch@Virginia.Edu
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Introduction
Time must be explicitly managed, just like
money
Much of this wont make sense until later
(too late?): thats why the handouts...
Faculty vs. Grad Students
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Outline
Why is Time Management Important?
Goals, Priorities, and Planning
TO DO Lists
The Office: desks, paperwork, telephones
Scheduling Yourself
Delegation
Meetings
Technology
General Advice
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Benefit/Cost analysis
Lou Holtz: list of 100 things before I die
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Inspiration:
Planning is Important
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TO DO Lists
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Important
Not
Important
On My Desk
An OUT BOX
Box of Tissues
Wall Calendar for year
Work order form (see example)
Envelopes
Post-it Notes
Thank you cards
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Paperwork
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Reading Pile
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Telephone
Telephone
Vacations
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Office Logistics
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Scheduling Yourself
Learn to say No
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Gentle Nos
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Interruptions:
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Time Journals
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Procrastination
Balancing Act
Parkinsons Law
Cyril Parkinson, 1957
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Avoiding Procrastination
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Comfort Zones
Fear of failure?
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Fear of embarrassment
Get a spine!
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Delegation
No one is an island
grant authority
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Challenge People
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Sociology
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Meetings
Technology
maximum of 1 hour
prepare: there must be an agenda
1 minute minutes: who is responsible for
what by when?
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Technology
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General Advice
Electronic mail
VIRGO & LEO: I havent been in library
in 3 years
Speed dialing speaker phone: hands are
free to do something else Youre on one
of those things... Yes I am
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General Advice
never break a promise, but re-negotiate
them if need be
1. BE PROACTIVE. Between stimulus and response in human beings lies the power to choose. Productivity, then, means that we are solely
responsible for what happens in our lives. No fair blaming anyone or anything else.
2. BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND. Imagine your funeral and listen to what you would like the eulogists to say about you. This should
reveal exactly what matters most to you in your life. Use this frame of reference to make all your day-to-day decisions so that you are working
toward your most meaningful life goals.
3. PUT FIRST THINGS FIRST. To manage our lives effectively, we must keep our mission in mind, understand whats important as well
as urgent, and maintain a balance between what we produce each day and our ability to produce in the future. Think of the former as putting out
fires and the latter as personal development.
4. THINK WIN/WIN. Agreements or solutions among people can be mutually beneficial if all parties cooperate and begin with a belief in the
third alternative: a better way that hasnt been thought of yet.
5. SEEK FIRST TO BE UNDERSTANDING, THEN TO BE UNDERSTOOD. Most people dont listen. Not really. They listen
long enough to devise a solution to the speakers problem or a rejoinder to whats being said. Then they dive into the conversation. Youll be more
effective in your relationships with people if you sincerely try to understand them fully before you try to make them understand your point of view.
6. SYNERGIZE. Just what it sounds like. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. In practice, this means you must use creative
cooperation in social interactions. Value differences because it is often the clash between them that leads to creative solutions.
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Time Management
Randy Pausch
Department of Computer Science
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA 22903
Pausch@Virginia.Edu
7. SHARPEN THE SAW. This is the habit of self-renewal, which has four elements. The first is mental, which includes reading, visualizing,
planning and writing. The second is spiritual, which means value clarification and commitment, study and meditation. Third is social/emotional,
which includes service, empathy, synergy and intrinsic security. Finally, the physical element includes exercise, nutrition and stress management.
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