Todo list

This post is a work in progress, listing things I would like to do in the near and more distant future.
Some may be completed soon, while others will take a long time or may never be completed.
While some items are in preparation of another item on the list, others have no set goal or defined purpose, yet. Thus, the items on this list are in no particular order :

• Learning new programming languages and improving my knowledge of the ones I'm already familiar with :
  
  
  
  • Erlang
  
  
  • C++
  
  
  • Perl
  
  
• Linux :
  
  
  
  • Finish the CLFS project for my old 486
  
  
  • Upgrade to a new version of LFS on my server
  
  
  • Get my encrypted external hard drive working in linux and windows
  
  
  • Learn more about the linux kernel and maybe participate in its development or that of another Open Source project
    
  
  
• Continue work on some small PHP-projects


• Think about the feasibility of the semantic web, Turing tests, universal machines and time travel.
  


• (Re)paint my bathroom


• Find a new hobby


• Get a girlfriend

Priority

Some time ago, I figured out I don't have enough time to spend on things I do, like doing and would like to do.
I realize it is impossible to create more time, so over the past few weeks I have come to the conclusion I need to be efficient at spending the available time and give priority to important and necessary things like sleeping and working.
As the academic year started a few weeks ago, I set a high priority to attending classes and studying as well, or this might be my last year as a student.
All others things, apart from spending time with friends and family, get a lower priority. This means I spend little to no time on certain activities, like attending meetings and staying up to speed with all details in the news. And some things I skipped totally, like going out during the week.

So the keyword in all this is priority, and acting according to it. This means I sometimes have to say no, or when I fail to do so, take the consequences by not being able to do something else.

Posting on this blog is one of the low priority things. It's not that there isn't anything to post about, but I lack the time and the motivation to write about it. When I feel like it, I will post something, if not, you can check the insert with shared news items on the right side of this blog. I add items regularly when I come along something that might be of some interest.

Lack of time

I just figured out that I need about 3 or 4 copies of myself (or the equivalent of 3 or 4 times the duration of a week) to be able to do all the things I'm interested and occupied in, in a sufficient way.
For instance: I'm a student and I would like to spend all my time on attending courses, making exercices, studying and preparing for the next class, writing papers, doing exams and reading articles and books related to my field of study, which is physics and astronomy, by the way.
But to pay for my living, I'm working part-time as a sysadmin and programmer. This consumes some of my precious time during the week, and all the time I spend working, isn't spend on studying. To combine both and be able to spend all the time I like on my studies, I would need 1,5 times the equivalent of a week.
But I like programming and I program some more in my spare time, as a hobby, so to do everything I would like to do, I would need another week. Which means I would need 2 times the equivalent of a week, to do all I would like relating my study, my work and programming.
And it doesn't end here. I'm a social person and like to hang out with my friends, play games, eat together or go to parties, visit family, ... This would add another half time the equivalent of a week, to do everything right and proper.
And to top it all off, I like to stay current with what's happening in the world: politics, economics, science, culture, ... And I like to read books and going to the theater or musical concerts. This equals another equivalent of a week.
Add to it that I need some sleep and need to wash, cook, eat, clean my appartement and go buy some food and supplies and it sums up to 4 times the equivalent of a week, to get everything done I would like to get it done.

Unfortunatly, it isn't possible to get 4 times the equivalent of a week fit into the period of one week. If you do know how to do it however, please let me know. ;-)
So there are several options to get things done:

• copy myself 3 times, in such a way that I have a mutual brain of some sort, so that I 'know' what the four of me are doing/have done.

As cloning human beings isn't possible at the moment, this isn't really an option.

• choose one of the things I would like to do best, and spend all my time on that one, neglecting all the rest for the time being, until I reach a point I get the feeling I have done enough and then start spending all my time on one of the other things.

This isn't a very practical solution, as I need to work in order to pay for my living while I'm studying. And I would stop to be a social being if I spend all my time programming, not to mention what a mess my apartment would become after a while.
So this leads to the more practical solutions:

• plan the week so that everything gets enough but not all time, knowing that it will take longer (About 4 times longer ;-) ) to reach the same level of completion, compared to when every part gets full attention.

This means making choices and sacrifices, which is what most people have to do, and the way I'm doing it too.

But If I could find a way to do some things more efficient like programming for example, so that it's less timeconsuming, I would be able to spend more time on my other occupations and hobbies.
I'm going to reflect on this last thought and I will write some more about it when I come to another insight.