When going to college many years ago, I decided to challenge myself by seting a goal to
see if I could graduate in only three semesters, taking the same classes that people would
normally take over a four-year period. This article explains in detail all the time
management techniques I used to successfully pull this o”.
In order to accomplish this goal, I determined Id have to take 30-40 units per semester,
when the average student took 12-15 units. It became immediately obvious that Id have
to manage my time extremely well if I wanted to pull this o”. I began reading everything I
could )nd on time management and putting what I learned into practice. I accomplished
my goal by graduating with two Bachelor of Science degrees (computer science and
mathematics) in just three semesters without attending summer school. I slept seven to
eight hours a night, took care of my routine chores (shopping, cooking, etc), had a social
life, and exercised for 30 minutes every morning. In my final semester, I even held a full
time job (40 hours a week) as a game programmer and served as the Vice Chair of the
local Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) chapter while taking 37 units of mostly
senior-level computer science and math courses. My classmates would add up all the
hours they expected each task to take and concluded that my weeks must have consisted
of about 250 hours. I graduated with a 3.9 GPA and also received a special award given to
the top computer science student each year. One of my professors later told me that they
had an easy time selecting the award recipient once it became clear to them what I was
doing.
I wasnt considered a gi9ed child, and this was the first time I had ever done anything like
this. I didnt have any personal mentors helping me, I didnt know of anyone whod done
anything like this before, and I cant recall a single person encouraging me to do it. In fact,
most people were highly discouraging of the idea when I told them about it. This was
simply something I decided to do for myself. If you want a be/er understanding of where I
was at this time in my life and why I decided to a/empt such a crazy thing, you might
enjoy reading The Meaning of Life: Intro, which includes the full background story and
more details about my motivation for doing this.
It took a lot of convincing to get the computer science department chair to approve my
extra units every semester, and my classmates often assumed I was either cheating or
that I had a twin or that I was just mentally unstable (I get accused of that last one pretty
much every week, so maybe theres some truth to it). Most of the time I kept quiet about
what I was doing, but if someone asked me how many units I was taking, I didnt deny it. I
was perhaps the only student at the university with a two-page class schedule, so it was
easy to prove I was telling the truth if anyone pressed me, but rarely did I ever do so.
I didnt tell you this story to impress you but rather to make you curious as to how I did it. I
pulled this o” by applying time management concepts that most people simply didnt
know but that were readily available in books and audio programs at the time (1992-93).
The time management habits I learned in college have served me very well in building my
business, so I want to share them with you in the hopes that youll )nd them equally
valuable. They allowed me to shave years o” my schooling while also giving me about
$30,000 to start my business (all earned in my final semester as a game programmer,
mostly from royalties). Without further ado, heres the best of what Ive learned about
mastering time management:
Clarity is key.
The first step is to know exactly what you want. In a Tae Kwon Do studio where I used to
train, theres a huge sign on the wall that says, “Your goal is to become a black belt.” This
helps remind each student why s/he is going through such diCcult training. When you
work for yourself, its easy to spend a whole day at your desk and accomplish nothing of
value. This almost always happens when you arent really clear about what it is youre
trying to do. In the moments when you regain your awareness, ask yourself, “What
exactly is it that Im trying to accomplish here?” You must know your destination with as
much clarity as possible. Make your goals specific, and put them in writing. Your goals
must be so clear that it would be possible for a stranger to look at your situation
objectively and give you an absolute “yes” or “no” response as to whether youve
accomplished each goal or not. If you cannot de)ne your destination precisely, how will
you know when youve arrived?
The key period Ive found useful for defining and working on specific goals is ninety days,
or the length of one season. In that period of time, you can make dramatic and
measurable changes if you set crystal clear goals. Take a moment to stop and write down
a snapshot description of how you want your life to be ninety days from now. What will
your monthly income be? How much will you weigh? Who will your friends be? Where
will you be in your career? What will your relationship be like? What will your web site
look like? Be specific. Absolute clarity will give you the edge that will keep you on course.
Just as an airplane on autopilot must make constant corrections to stay on course, you
must periodically retarget your goals. Reconnect with your clear, written goals by
re-reading them every morning. Post them on your walls, especially your financial goals.
Years ago (during the mid-90s), I went around my apartment putting up signs in every
room that said “$5,000 / month.” That was my monthly business income goal at the time.
Because I knew exactly what I wanted, I achieved that goal within a few weeks. I
continued seting specific income goals, even amidst occasional setbacks, and I found this
process very e”ective. It wasnt just that it helped me focus on what I wanted — perhaps
even more important is that it made it easy for me to disregard those things that werent
on the path to my goal. For example, if you set a goal to earn $10,000/month, this can
help you stop doing those things that will only earn you $5000/month.
If you arent yet at the point of clarity, then make that your first goal. Its a big waste of
time to go through life being unclear about what you want. Most people wallow way too
long in the state of “I dont know what to do.” They wait for some external force to
provide them with clarity, never realizing that clarity is self-created. The universe is
waiting on you, not the other way around, and its going to keep waiting until you finally
make up your mind. Waiting for clarity is like being a sculptor staring at a piece of marble,
waiting for the statue within to cast o” the unneeded pieces. Do not wait for clarity to
spontaneously materialize — grab a chisel and get busy!
Be exible.
Theres a key di”erence between knowing your destination and knowing the path you will
take to get there. A typical commercial airplane is o” course 90% of the time, yet it almost
always arrives at its destination because it knows exactly where its going and makes
constant corrections along the way. You cannot know the exact path to your goal in
advance. I believe that the real purpose of planning is simply so that you remain
convinced that a possible path exists. Weve all heard the statistic that 80% of new
businesses fail in their first )ve years, but a far more interesting statistic is that nearly all
of the businesses that succeeded did not do so in the original way they had intended. If
you look at successful businesses that started with business plans, you will commonly )nd
that their original plans failed miserably and that they only succeeded by trying
something else. It is said that no business plan survives contact with the marketplace. I
like to generalize this to say that no plan survives contact with the real world.
Renowned author and business consultant Stephen Covey often uses the expression,
“integrity in the moment of choice.” What that means is that you should not follow your
plans blindly without conscious awareness of your goals. For instance, lets say youre
following your plans nicely — so far so good — and then an unforeseen opportunity arises.
Do you stick to your original plan, thereby missing the opportunity, or do you stop and go
