Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams & Time Management - Dr. Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture

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The Last Lecture - Randy PauschAlice
Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams - How to Live Your Life
Given at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) - Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo
Book:  https://www.thelastlecture.com/
His Website:  https://download.srv.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/

Maybe you’ve already seen this or read the book, but if not be sure to watch Randy Pausch’s amazing 1:16hr last lecture.  For some background, Dr. Randy Pausch passed away this past Friday, July 25, 2008 at the age of 47 after a yearlong battle with pancreatic cancer.  He was a Computer Science professor at Carnegie Mellon University who helped create Alice, educational software that teaches students computer programming in an intuitive and fun 3D environment.  Randy was loved by his wife, 3 young children, and many students, faculty and friends who he inspired to chase their passion.  On his website there are many more examples of his amazing ability to inspire others to be efficient with their time and enjoy to the fullest the time they have left.

Randy also gave an excellent follow on talk on Time Management which he knew first hand was the most important commodity we have.

Time Management - Randy Pausch
Excellent Time Management Talk
Given at the University of Virginia on November 28, 2007
Video (86 min):  https://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5784740380335567758
PPT:  https://www.cs.virginia.edu/~robins/Randy_Time_Management_UVa_2007_slides.html
PDF:  https://www.cs.virginia.edu/~robins/Randy/RandyPauschTimeManagement2007.pdf

This is a lengthy talk (86 minutes), but it's chock full of tips, like emptying your inbox but keeping all your email, creating a manageable filing system, using the 80/20 rule to focus your efforts on the stuff that matters most, and planning your day, week, and year.

Key Actions from the Talk:

  1. Get a day-timer or PDA and use it
  2. Put your TODO list in priority order (not due date order)
  3. Complete a time journal, or count hours of TV for 2 weeks and learn from it

Good Books:

  • The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch and Jeffrey Zaslow (Book - 2008)
  • The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People By Stephen R. Covey
  • The One Minute Manager by Spencer Johnson Kenneth Blanchard (Book - 1996)
  • Time Management for Teachers: Techniques and Skills That Give You More Time to Teach by Cathy Collins (Book 1987)
  • Taking Control of Your Work Day (CareerTrack Audio Seminar) by Dick Lohr (Audio Cassette - 1994)