Time management help!

I’m a computer science undergrad with a lot of things to catch up on. How did it end up like this? In a nutshell, I wasted all 17 years of my life. It’s so bad I feel like resetting my whole life back to my early days is the only solution, even if such a thing will never ever happen. But I’m not going to give up just yet! I’ve made a plan that I expect to complete in 3-6 months. The topics I need to catch up on are:

  • University syllabus (discrete math, pure math, programming), I’m aiming for A’s
  • Prepared for programming and math olympiads
  • Play the piano well enough (aiming for Liszt’s La Campanella)
  • Conversational fluency in Mandarin Chinese
  • Speed typing
  • Better handwriting

The problem is I’m not bright compared to many of my peers who just simply “gets it.” Learning is very difficult for me. I’m not diagnosed with any learning disorders as of now so it might be a case of poor brain structure like thinner prefrontal cortex or weaker hippocampus (hopefully not). SInce learning isn’t easy for me I’m not efficient and take longer times. Sometimes I feel that 24 hours isn’t enough for me at all. I’d like to ask everyone for advice on how to be more efficient at learning and getting a lot of things done in a very short time. Thanks in advance!

You may want to focus on just one or two of these ambitious goals for now! Your time management and efficiency will improve if you narrow down the things you need to do.

I’m in engineering but I’ve done some programming; speed typing is not your friend when programming. You want to type slow enough to catch the little mistakes that all people make when typing, which will improve your efficiency as a programmer.

For writing essays, etc., if you have trouble with both handwriting and typing, you may just be more of an auditory learner. If that’s the case, the best way for you to get ideas down on paper might be to dictate. There are several great computer programs out there for natural-language dictation and I know a few people who have really benefited from using them.

You can go to your student counseling/mental health center to be assessed for learning problems if you feel the need to; the window for identifying these challenges doesn’t close, and you may be able to get some accommodations (like free dictation software) that will improve your experience in college.

Learning a language is really hard work. Does your school have courses for Mandarin? You may be able to focus on those for general ed, or you can complete a minor in Chinese if you are really serious about it. Just know that you’ve picked one of the toughest languages to learn as an adult; I grew up in Japan and speak Japanese fluently, but after a year of Mandarin in high school I think I can still say “I would like a cup of tea” and “What is your name”. That’s pretty much it.

All of your goals seem to fit an engineer’s model of a properly defined goal. But I don’t think you will be able to do all of them at the same time. You will have time to do all of the things on your list after college, particularly if you do well in college, since you’ll be employed and have the time and money to buy a piano and pay for Chinese lessons. Focus on your first goal (straight A’s is also a tall order!) for now, and the rest will come.

Cal Newport
Read this book: How to Become a Straight-A Student: The Unconventional Strategies Real College Students Use to Score High While Studying Less by Cal Newport. It helps you with things like time management and how to figure out what to write about for a paper, etc.

@GoatGirl19 You do have a point, there’s no choice but to trim down my goals. Especially considering how fast my lecturers are going with the materials. Still couldn’t help but feel that had I started earlier I could have gotten some of them done. I’m not sure if 80 years is enough time to accomplish and thoroughly enjoy the fruits of labor, but oh well. That’s what one gets for wasting time.

For speed typing, I’m actually surprised that it’s not really an important factor for programming. People around me, especially those who regularly compete in contests like ICPC achieve at least 80 wpm in speed. Glad to know that it isn’t though.

As for handwriting, it’s got more to do with how mine’s end up like chicken scrawls and less of compatibility with learning styles, but I’ll give your suggestions a try. Wouldn’t hurt to try out different methods of learning.

Unfortunately, my university doesn’t have a mental health center. I’d have to go downtown to schedule an appointment with a doctor, and even then our country’s not exactly renowned for accuracy and quality in healthcare. It really sucks to live in a third world country. Perhaps there are student-led ones around me? I’ve never heard of any, however.

I’m not sure of any Mandarin courses in my uni (though there’s German, Japanese, Russian, and some local languages) but even if there was we’re not allowed to take electives until the 5th or 6th semester.

Thank you for taking your time to address each of my concerns, I really appreciate it! It feels quite disappointing and kind of pains me to postpone most of my goals, but I guess that’s a necessary evil.

@bopper Thanks for the book suggestion! I’ll definitely read it!