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 proceeding in an orderly manner. Looking back on the accomplishments 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 skyscraper suddenly appearing out of nowhere 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 cloudy skies. When I go out in the evening, breathing in the icy air, the silence around me makes me feel lonely. Usually, in such a desolate environment, I love to read even more, immersing myself in the world of books. Every time I come across 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 our time to quietly 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 it turned out that their efficiency was extremely high. The reason was that the ship’s Wi-Fi was charged by traffic, which 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 their efficiency. Moreover, the ship provided free meals, so they didn’t need to cook for themselves, and they could eat whenever they wanted. When the ship docked, they could also go ashore and play to relax. And when the cruise had discounts, the daily price was not high, around $30-50, which was still acceptable.

In fact, to increase efficiency, one needs self-discipline. In the past, this would have been a relatively easy thing to do, but now, with all the information on the internet, it’s easy to get distracted. So, people have come up with the idea of setting limits for themselves to force themselves to focus and increase efficiency. Working on a 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 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. However, when you log in to a forum, open your email, or check your 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 check the screen like opening a gift. And at that moment, there’s often some expectation in your heart.

In fact, the best way to overcome these distractions is to try to write something yourself. When you’re browsing Weibo, try to post a Weibo yourself; when you’re reading 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 don’t have anything to write about, and your mind is a blank. If that’s really the case, remind yourself - it’s time to make a change.

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

P.S. I’ve been really into 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.