I got to know the possibility of working at the biggest particle physics lab in the world, where I am right now.

Perfect example! Thanks for sharing…

For instance, last year I attended a career’s fair which didn’t caught the attention of my classmates and friends. In that fair, apart from talking to a varied set of engineers from different countries, I got to know the possibility of working at the biggest particle physics lab in the world.. where I am right now.

Don’t get fooled; focusing on your grades and projects is your first goal. But make sure that you search (and ultimately find) opportunities that match your academic accomplishments.

Your system has really helped me identify tasks and know which deadlines are coming up when. But I find that unless I sit down and lock myself in a location and say “you cannot leave until this assignment is finished” then i have a very difficult time actually accomplishing any complex task.

I don’t accept when people assign themselves certain set-in-stone limitations — e.g., I can’t do work unless forced. Humans are flexible and complicated; few traits are hardwired, especially those dealing with some some high-level as time management. You’re dealing with preference and mindset — both easily fixable.

My advice would be to practice time blocking. See this article:

http://calnewport.com/blog/2007/12/03/monday-master-class-dont-plan-your-day-with-a-to-do-list/

Next, think about starting to rev up an auto-pilot schedule for the work you do know how to do:

http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/04/07/monday-master-class-how-to-reduce-stress-and-get-more-done-by-building-an-autopilot-schedule/

Finally, just start everything early and work in smaller chunks:

http://calnewport.com/blog/2008/03/24/monday-master-class-pulverize-large-assignments-with-the-ess-method/

I have faith in you here. It’s about starting to take the small steps, like those listed above, and letting the benefit accrue!

So day 4 on the system and the bottom really fell out here. I’m realizing why I became a “grinder” in the first place. I have no sense of objective understanding of how long tasks are going to take me. if most people are off by a factor 2 then i’m usually off by an order of magnitude. Your system has really helped me identify tasks and know which deadlines are coming up when. But I find that unless I sit down and lock myself in a location and say “you cannot leave until this assignment is finished” then i have a very difficult time actually accomplishing any complex task. The system is fine for things that I know how to do already, or even for things i know that i don’t know. But the problem is the unknown unknowns are what dominate the length of time I spend studying and by definition they aren’t on my calendar at all. The result is, I completely missed the deadline for my first assignment, due today while i got all sorts of other smaller tasks done for other classes.

I really would love to have a life man and your book inspired me to think that was possible, but its not looking good here…

-Sleepless in Ithaca

Adventure studying? I like that! Maybe I’ll give that a try!

You won’t regret it.

The idea of seeking randomness is very appealing. What is the saying life is what happens while you are making other plans? Something like that.

Journaling in a museum is always a good idea.