Priorities in your normal routines

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around participants' approaches to managing their daily routines and priorities. It includes reflections on personal habits, multitasking, and the challenges of balancing tasks, particularly in relation to academic assignments and work responsibilities.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express a lack of structured priorities, opting instead for a more spontaneous approach to tasks.
  • Others question the necessity of certain tasks and express frustration with academic assignments, particularly in Calculus II, suggesting that some content feels irrelevant.
  • There are mentions of multitasking, with participants sharing humorous anecdotes about the challenges and hazards associated with it.
  • Some participants discuss their work environments, contrasting their experiences with different bosses and work ethics.
  • One participant outlines a systematic approach to prioritizing tasks in a factory setting, emphasizing the need to address operational issues based on urgency and necessity.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants exhibit a range of views on prioritization, with no clear consensus on the best approach. Some favor a structured method, while others prefer a more relaxed, spontaneous style. Disagreements arise regarding the relevance of academic tasks and the effectiveness of multitasking.

Contextual Notes

Participants express varying levels of satisfaction with their routines and the tasks they face, indicating that personal preferences and work environments significantly influence their approaches to prioritization.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be of interest to individuals exploring time management strategies, students dealing with academic pressures, and professionals navigating workplace dynamics.

wolram
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As you go about your normal routines, what do you think, should do,
want to, have to?
 
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I have no priorities. I just do whatever I think about doing whenever I think about it, somehow things get done and I am much less stressed out than when I set priorities.
 
"What can I skip ? What can I put off until tomorrow, or the weekend ? Do I really need to do that ? This is important, but do I have to do it now ? If I don't do it right away, I'll never do it. Oh, I guess I'll have to do this now. But I'm hungry, I need lunch."
 
Gokul43201 said:
"What can I skip ? What can I put off until tomorrow, or the weekend ? Do I really need to do that ? This is important, but do I have to do it now ? If I don't do it right away, I'll never do it. Oh, I guess I'll have to do this now. But I'm hungry, I need lunch."

THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I THINK!

Add in:

"Should I work on this assignment? It is so boring. Why do they assign pointless work? I hate this curriculum."

Note: The assignment is our first Calculus II assignment, and I hate it. I don't give a **** about converting units and densities. Save that for physics, for crying out loud.
 
I usually play minesweeper until I get mad, and then I will do something that I need to do.

JasonRox said:
Note: The assignment is our first Calculus II assignment, and I hate it. I don't give a **** about converting units and densities. Save that for physics, for crying out loud.

You are doing that in calc2? wtf? In my calc 2 class we did all kinds of things with integrals, and then series at the end.
 
Last edited:
mattmns said:
You are doing that in calc2? wtf? In my calc 2 class we did all kinds of things with integrals, and then series at the end.

Yes, with integrals.

Volumes when you rotate around the x-axis, y-axis (whatever junk they got).

It's just that they add annoying crap in it.

They asked us to prove Calvieri's Principle (something like that), which is given when you write the DEFINITION!

I still think it's dumb.

Note: For minesweeper, I got 59 seconds on Intermediate.
 
JasonRox said:
Yes, with integrals.

Volumes when you rotate around the x-axis, y-axis (whatever junk they got).

It's just that they add annoying crap in it.

They asked us to prove Calvieri's Principle (something like that), which is given when you write the DEFINITION!

I still think it's dumb.

Note: For minesweeper, I got 59 seconds on Intermediate.
Ok that's why I did for the most part. Except we did not have to prove any principles, we just did a hell of a lot of problems.

For minesweeper, I have 6, 36, 123 (beg, int, exp). My expert is not great, but I am working on it. The other day I almost had a int 33, but I had to guess and picked wrong.
 
mattmns said:
Ok that's why I did for the most part. Except we did not have to prove any principles, we just did a hell of a lot of problems.

For minesweeper, I have 6, 36, 123 (beg, int, exp). My expert is not great, but I am working on it. The other day I almost had a int 33, but I had to guess and picked wrong.

I hate problems.

I like doing proofs and understanding the true concepts of Calculus. I couldn't careless what the volume of some weird function came out to be.

Note: You have a killer minesweeper record. I spent too much time on it, so I got rid of it.
 
JasonRox said:
I hate problems.

I like doing proofs and understanding the true concepts of Calculus. I couldn't careless what the volume of some weird function came out to be.

Note: You have a killer minesweeper record. I spent too much time on it, so I got rid of it.

Yeah same here, but the prof had other ideas.

My minesweeper records are not that good, you should check the records here. http://metanoodle.com/minesweeper/ they are insane, there are even some videos.
 
  • #10
wolram said:
As you go about your normal routines, what do you think . . .
As I rule, I try not to do that. :biggrin:

Then I do as many tasks as possible simultaneously, usually with interesting results. :cool:

I took Tribdog's multitasking course. :biggrin:
 
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  • #11
Astronuc said:
As I rule, I try not to do that. :biggrin:

Then I do as many tasks as possible simultaneously, usually with interesting results. :cool:

There are definite hazards to multi-tasking. Take, for example, trying to brush your teeth while scrubbing the toilet. Really dangerous if you're not paying attention to which brush is in which hand.

Priorities...hmm...I have the list of things with deadlines, the list of things without deadlines that I'd much rather be doing, and the list of ACK! I need it today!

But whenever I'm doing stuff, I too aim to get as much done at the same time as possible. In the lab, I'm fond of colored tape on everything to keep track of the 6 different things I'm doing at once. At home, it's a little less structured since it's really not critical if I don't get the laundry out of the dryer the moment it's done because I'm upstairs vacuuming the floors while dinner is on the stove.
 
  • #12
Moonbear said:
At home, it's a little less structured since it's really not critical if I don't get the laundry out of the dryer the moment it's done because I'm upstairs vacuuming the floors while dinner is on the stove.

Yeah, but do you have a colored sticker on the vacuum reminding you that you are cooking something on the stove. :eek:
 
  • #13
JasonRox said:
Yeah, but do you have a colored sticker on the vacuum reminding you that you are cooking something on the stove. :eek:

Nah, when the smoke detector goes off, dinner is done. Oh, wait, that's tribdog's method of cooking. :biggrin:

I'm not usually that forgetful when the only task of the ones I'm doing that has to be remembered is the food cooking. But, if that fails, the smell of the food will make me hungry so I won't forget.
 
  • #14
If I am working I think, what would an average person get finished, then I try to double it.
If I'm not working I think, should I paint, check out PF or pleasure myself. If moonbear's online I multitask. lol
 
  • #15
tribdog said:
If I am working I think, what would an average person get finished, then I try to double it.

I used to do that, but when you discover your boss is an idiot you do the opposite.

Work slower so you can lower the amount of work the average person would do. :biggrin:
 
  • #16
I've got the greatest boss in the world. Can't say enough good stuff about him. And I'm dedicated to the company. I've only been working for him for a year and I've been given a truck, computer, cell phone and credit card. plus I've doubled my salary.
plus I like my job so I'll keep working hard.
 
  • #17
tribdog said:
I've got the greatest boss in the world. Can't say enough good stuff about him. And I'm dedicated to the company. I've only been working for him for a year and I've been given a truck, computer, cell phone and credit card. plus I've doubled my salary.
plus I like my job so I'll keep working hard.

I used to work hard, and that explains why I get to take it easy now without anyone really noticing.

I stopped working hard until I discovered that he was a cheap ass and wouldn't pay for good work. This explained why everyone was doing nothing when I first started.

Now, I encourage everyone to do nothing.
 
  • #18
as my job is to keep a factory running, my first priority is to fix the
things that don't work, my next priority is to fix the things that don't
work very well, but sometimes i have to fix the things that don't work
very well in order to keep output levels reasonable, my next
priority is to modify machines that don't work very well if i can not
fix them by adjustment.
my next priority is to make sure we have reserves of gas, fuel oil, but
sometimes that must be my first priority as the process won't run
without them.
my last priority is ordering parts, but sometimes this has to be my
second priority as machines won't work without them.
when i get home i only do things that have to be done, pay bills,
eat, sleep, wash, shave, "i hate that", but i also hate wearing a snood
so i have to do it, anything else gets done when and if.
 

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