Written on November 9, 2013

More than half of this semester has passed in the blink of an eye. Fortunately, the projects I’ve been working on have been progressing in an orderly manner. Looking back on the achievements of the past few months, I feel that time has not been wasted in vain. However, perhaps due to the habits I’ve developed, I still hope that my projects can make a breakthrough, like a tall building suddenly emerging from a flat plain overnight. Of course, as the scale of the projects I need to work on gets larger and larger, it’s impossible to achieve such rapid progress. Many times, what’s really needed is patience, and it’s about who can persist in the end.

The dark winter of Buffalo has arrived, with the sun setting early and rising late, and often overcast skies. When I go out in the evening, breathing in the icy air, the quiet surroundings make me feel lonely. Generally, in such a desolate environment, I love to read books even more, immersing myself in the world of books. Every time I read a good book, I blame myself for not spending more time reading earlier. Although the internet, as a new thing, has made us more knowledgeable, it has also taken away the time we need to calm down and read books - a person’s knowledge accumulation still relies on reading books, not searching.

Yesterday, I saw a blog post about someone trying to work on a cruise ship, and the result was surprisingly high efficiency. The reason was that the Wi-Fi on the ship was charged by traffic, and it was relatively expensive, so they only went online when they needed to do important things, saving time that would have been spent browsing websites and increasing efficiency. Moreover, the ship provided free meals, so there was no need to cook, and you could eat whenever you wanted. When the cruise ship docked, you could also go ashore and play around to relax. And when the cruise ship had discounts, the daily price was not high, around $30-50, which was still acceptable.

In fact, to improve efficiency, what’s needed is self-discipline. In the past, this would have been a relatively easy thing to do, but now, with all the information online, it’s easy to get distracted. So, there’s the idea of setting limits for oneself to force concentration and improve efficiency. The cruise ship is one way, and some people even try to isolate themselves in the mountains without Wi-Fi. I’ve also tried to force myself not to go online, turning off the Wi-Fi or adding frequently visited websites to the blacklist, but ultimately failed.

I think this is because people are naturally fond of uncertainty. When you open a book, what you see is certain. But when you log in to a forum, open your email, or check Weibo, the results are uncertain. You never know what will happen, so when you hear the “ding” of a Gmail notification, you always want to open it like a gift. And at that time, there’s often some expectation in your heart.

In fact, the best way to overcome such distractions is to try to write something yourself. When you’re browsing Weibo, try to post a Weibo yourself; when you’re looking at a forum, try to write a post. When you start creating things, you’ll force yourself to focus. And often, you’ll find that you have nothing to write about, and your mind is a blank. If that’s really the case, remind yourself - it’s time to make a change.

Okay, I’ve finally finished typing a bunch of words, and now it’s time to calm down and read a book :)

P.S. I’ve been enjoying Agatha Christie’s novels lately, and I recommend Linear Algebra and Its Applications to students who want to consolidate their knowledge of linear algebra. Additionally, Linode can be used to access PT.