← Back to home

Randy Pausch Lecture

Who is Randy Pausch, and what was he known for?

Randy Pausch was a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. He gained global fame for delivering “The Last Lecture," a talk titled "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," just months after he was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. He also co-authored a book based on the talk, which went on to become a New York Times bestseller.

5 points that I liked in his talk

1. To treat your time like you treat your money

Time and money are almost interchangeable;; we should think of our time in terms of its monetary worth. Just as we track our spending very carefully, we should also be very keen on how we spend our hours rather than allowing it to flee away

2. If you don't like your job, change it

It is very important that you actually enjoy the work you do, and if you're not going to have fun, then what is the point of doing it?

3. The fake class method

Unstructured gaps in your schedule almost always go to waste, but if you treat that gap as a scheduled class, you are more likely to use it productively.

4. Scheduling

"Failing to plan is planning to fail." You will not find time for important things; you have to make it yourself.

5. Delegating

Don't treat delegating as dumping your work on someone else. Always do the grueling tasks yourself. Grant others full authority, do not make them ask for your approval at every step, and treat your team well.