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Randy Pausch Lecture: Time Management

Carnegie Mellon University · 2.8M views · 2008-02-06 · 1:16:22

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Overview

Carnegie Mellon professor Randy Pausch gives a lecture on time management at the University of Virginia in 2007. He covers practical habits such as tackling important tasks first and distinguishing important from urgent work.

On Hacker News

HN commenters recommend it as a practical, memorable guide to prioritization, and some rewatch it every year.

Recommended by 4 HN people across 5 months · HN mentions 2009–2021

Topics

Productivity & self-improvementUniversity lectures & courses
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productivityprioritizationprocrastinationrandy pauschself-improvement

What people said

will_pseudonym · 2020-12 · Strong recommendation

Absolutely. In that same vein, I've gotten a lot out of so many similar videos which are ostensibly about one thing, but to effectively use what they're teaching, you have to start learning/mastering something else entirely. "Indirect learning" is one way to put it, and a term I picked up from Randy Pausch's Last Lecture[0]. I've gained so much from watching that video, as well as his Time Management video[1]. So much so that I rewatch it about once a year, because every time you rewatch something, you're a different person in certain ways, and you often appreciate things much more the more you change and grow as a person. [0] [LINK] [1] [VIDEO]

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allardschip · 2012-07 · Strong recommendation

Reminds me of Annette Benning in American Beauty: "I will sell this house today. I will sell this house today." Not starting on activities because you don't like them or you don't feel not comfortable will drag you down. You'll be thinking about it all day. I tell myself in the morning to the most unpleasant thing on my to do list first. Eat the hairy frog first! I learned from Randi Pausch. Worth watching every minute: [VIDEO] -edit spelling

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will_pseudonym · 2021-01 · Recommendation

"This is the most important slide in the entire talk. So, if you want to leave after this slide, I will not be offended, because it is all downhill from here." [VIDEO] (Timestamped link of the "Time Management" talk by Randy Pausch, which is what the OP PDF is from) That part in the talk is about the "Eisenhower Matrix", popularized by Steven Covey in "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People", on the importance of prioritizing important, non-urgent tasks over urgent, unimportant tasks. You can read about it here as well, but I haven't seen it put as well as Randy Pausch did in his talk. [LINK] PS If you haven't seen his "Last Lecture", it's also fantastic. I watch it about once a year to re-center myself, and remember to focus on the truly important things in life. [LINK]

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Sources

Video by Carnegie Mellon University, played through YouTube.

Data and selection notes

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