Randy Pausch
Randy Pausch was a professor of computer scientist at Carnegie Mellon University. He was a virtual reality pioneer, human-computer interaction researcher, and co-founder of Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center.He is known for creating the Alice software and for his inspirational speeches regarding life. He also worked as a virtual reality researcher with Disney Imagineers. He tragically passed away due to pancreatic cancer on July 25, 2008. There were a lot of points that struck me in his talk. I identified with several of the things he talked about. The points that stayed with me the most are:
- Hourly worth : Thinking of your productivity in terms of how much you cost your employers is a great way to enhance motivation.
- Ask why : Think about why you are doing a specific task. Is it important to you? What happens if you don't do it? Focus on the 80-20 rule. Have the courage to selectively filter your tasks and concentrate on things that really matter.
- Covey's four-quadrant TO-DO : This form of systematically dividing tasks helps you put things in perspective and concentrate on the important things.
- Opportunity Cost : In his talk, Randy stresses on the importance of being able to say NO. he enlists ways of politely refusing to do things you don't have the time for.
- Time Journals: Time Journals are an extremely useful way of keeping track of your time. Randy illustrates that regularly updating your time journal throughout the day,hrlps you keep exalt track of where your time went, and how you can constantly work on improving your daily schedule.