The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch
Randy Pausch was a Carnegie Mellon University’s computer science graduate and a wall street journalist who gave a lecture about time management when his living days were only numbered as he was diagnosed by cancer. Mixing humor with wisdom, Pausch starts off by discussing the importance of childhood dreams and how significant are some factors like good parents, to achieve those dreams and how much work one should put in order to live those dreams. He further tells some of his own personal tales on how he managed to live his childhood dreams.
He talks about some other important things in his lectures which include the significance of enjoying your work in order to reach at your maximum potential. He argues that when you start relishing your work, the progress of the work is very fast and it’ll be finished way before your expectations. He also advises to try novel and innovative things that you have never considered before. According to him, if you get out of your comfort zone and experience different aspects of life, you’ll be amazed by your skills and potentials. He also emphasizes the significance of prioritizing tasks. According to him, the tasks should be carried out according to their importance and you should get over with the most important tasks first. He also suggests that the key to manage your time is to not waste time on unimportant activities that have no output. For example, spending too much time with friends and family, while you have some important task to perform is wasteful and learning to say ‘No’ to such things will help generate enormous amount of time.
He concludes his lectures by suggesting that eating, sleeping and working habits are key to a person’s success and if you manage your time effectively and efficiently, there is nothing that you can’t do.
