Do It Now (2005)

First of all, most universities don't even offer all the courses you need to graduate every semester and when they do, they are often overlapping. You certainly couldn't fit them all in with a full time job as well. Did none of these classes have homework or turn in assignments? He also says he slept 7-8 hrs a day and at least one semester had classes from 9am-10pm. Sorry, but most of those classes must have been a joke. You can't absorb that much information in a day and the 3 remaining waking hours is not enough to study and review the material, prep for tests, and take care of daily life stuff.

The number of credits required for graduation must also be low. Especially for two degrees even considering that they would have a lot of overlap. I tested out of every credit possible at my university and was able to complete 2 degrees in 8 semesters. And I had a full class schedule, around 30 hours a semester and I had to plan very carefully, sometimes 1 or 2 semesters in advance just to make sure my necessary courses would be available and not overlapping.

One thing he suggests that I disagree with is making decisions fast. He suggests one ought not hesitate and to set a timer and to force oneself to make the decision in 60 seconds. My own experience is that making a decision on a deadline is extremely important (agree so far) but I set the deadline as far in the future as possible. That is, I try to identify "when does this decision have to be made" and then I stick to that date. I also ensure than every important decision I have to make is made after I have slept on it.

Stated another way, I don't make decisions hastily and I allow decisions to percolate in my subconscious for as long as possible. But once the deadline arrives, I make the decision without hesitation. I trust that my subconscious will have worked on the problem in the time I have given it. I believe that while I sleep it is able to get the most work done.

Regardless, there are a lot of ideas in there that sort of seem quaint now with the deluge of personal development youtube videos and influencers, but those seemingly now-quaint ideas really are fundamental to doing good work: know what you need to work on, keep a simple list of what needs to be done, only focus on one thing because your multitasking skills aren't, be adaptable when obstacles pop up, "begin, the rest is easy", "do the work or do nothing at all", optimize your diet and exercise which makes things so much easier.

> It is absolutely imperative that you develop the habit of making decisions as soon as possible. I use a 60-second rule for almost every decision I have to make, no matter how big or important. Once I have all the data to make a decision, I start a timer and give myself only 60 seconds to make a firm decision. I’ll even flip a coin if I have to.

This might be a good idea for most decisions, but not big ones. It’s roughly how I lost $11k in Gox. In my case, I was reciting one of my father’s favorite phrases: "he who hesitates is lost." Be sure to think more carefully as the decision gets larger.

"This is an article about time management techniques used by the author to graduate college in three semesters. It discusses setting clear goals and staying focused on them. The author also emphasizes the importance of making decisions quickly and not being afraid of failure. Other techniques include prioritizing tasks and working in long stretches of uninterrupted time."

"How did I get to be a world class marathoner? I avoided anything that wasn't running, and then on race day, I went faster than everyone else. It's so simple, you can do it too -- just buy my course."

The advice is reasonable, well-intentioned, and completely unusable for me or anyone else I know.