构思写这篇文章已经很久了，因为很多人都想了解我这样一个工科学生，是如何平衡课业和兴趣的，怎么会有时间完成这些事情呢…

那先让我回顾一下我的大学时代——

我的本科和研究生都是读的电子信息工程，俗称EE。不说是交大最辛苦的专业，也绝对是最辛苦的前三甲了。每天一早开始上高强度的专业课，好不容易赶上空闲的下午居然还有做不完的实验。而且，工程类的实验往往捣鼓了若干天也没有任何进展，常常是不情不愿地进去，超级郁闷地出来。

记得有一次赶交实验作业，我们寝室4个女生围坐在地板上焊电路板。此时敲门进来一个推销化妆品的美女，见到我们4个蓬头垢面、手持电烙铁、坐在一堆电容电阻旁边的工科女生，扭头就走了…

大二开始，我还读了第二专业，这就意味着我每周又要贡献出的三个晚上。这样一算，最忙的一个学期，我的总学分加起来有51分…现在回头想想还是蛮触目惊心的。

但我的大学四年并非单色，除了完成专业课程，我还尝试了很多自己想做的事情；也和很多交大的学生一样，喜欢在comic上看电影；同时，也读了很多自己想读的书。

我的很多学生会私下议论说：你看Echo什么都知道，她平时肯定不睡觉的。还有人写email讲：Echo, you are a bull person. But we are different from you…

说这个不是要刺激大家，我也和大家一样，是个每天只有24小时、也需要吃饭睡觉的普通人。但真的很想和大家聊聊时间安排（Time management）的问题。同样是24个小时，如何才能更有效益，有更多的收获呢。

对于有限的时间如何利用，我也曾经和你们一样困惑。在这里，我要和大家分享两个曾经给我很多启发的人物。They are my role models.

One of the greatest modern physicians was Sir William Osler. Nearly all of the practicing doctors today were brought up on his medical textbooks. Osler’s greatness was attributed not only to his profound medical knowledge, but to his broad reading as well. Osler was a highly educated man. And he said the only way to become further cultured was to READ. But Osler had the same problem as we all claim to have everyday. He was a busy physician, a teacher of physicians, and a medical-research specialist. Except for a few hours of sleep, meals, and bodily functions, he seemed to have no time left in a 24-hour day after fulfilling his three occupations.

However, Osler arrived at his solution quite early. He would read the last 15 minutes before he went to sleep. If his bedtime was set for 11 pm, he would read from 11:00 to 11:15. If research kept him up to 2 am, he would still read from 2 to 2:15. Over a very long lifetime, Osler never broke the rule once he had established it. As he said, after a while, he simply could not fall asleep until he had done his 15 minutes of reading.

You might doubt the effect of 15-minutes reading a day. Let me show you some statistics --

For an average reader, if he keeps reading 15 minutes a day, 20 books will be read in a year. It’s 4 times the number of the books read by public library borrowers. And yet it is easily possible. Habits truly make a difference.

Therefore, it’s not surprising to see that Osler read a significant library of books during his lifetime. Moreover, thanks to his 15-minute reading habit, Osler became more than a physician. Among many scholars in English literature, Osler was known as an authority on Sir. Thomas Browne, a 17^th century English prose master, and Osler’s library on Thomas Browne was considered one of the best anywhere in the world.

Many more could be further talked about Osler’s contribution. But the important point for us here is that – he gave a great answer to the question that concerns us all: How to find time to read?

The answer may not be limited to the last 15 minutes before sleep. It may be 15 minutes a day at some other time. In the busiest calendar, there is probably more than one 15-minute period that is still unassigned.

My second role model in Time Management is a Private (大兵) of the World War II whose name I fail to remember. With his remarkable and meritorious military biography in his files, he should probably have been promoted to the rank of captain. He was still a private due to some unexpected accidents. But instead of taking grudge, he had taken his reward in reading. The amount he did in the army was prodigious.

Knowing how much occupied a military life is, everyone should be curious about his method. So, a journalist was sent to the army to find his solution.

Every day the enlisted men put in hours of drill. During that time at least one fairly long period of rest was called. Imagine the journalist’s surprise on the first visit --  at the command “rest!”, he saw one man in the whole long line pull out a pocket book and begin to read. That man was no one else but that very private.

When the journalist talked with him, he found that from boyhood the private had developed the habit of carrying a little book in his pocket. He read every minute he was not doing something else. The private said: “Having a book by hand is especially useful and relaxing during the periods of waiting.”

Well, they are my time-management role models. Then what can we learned from those two people whose lives are as busy as ours, maybe even more?

We experience the time of waiting everyday – we wait for meals; we wait for buses (I always see students waiting one hour for the school bus, doing nothing); we wait for dates; or we just wait for something to happen.

So, there is your 15 minutes a day, or more. There should your 20 books a year – 1000 in a lifetime.

Of course, no universal formula can be prescribed. We must find our own 15 minutes to read. The only requirement is the WILL to read. With it, you can find the 15 minutes no matter how busy the day is. And you must have the book at hand.

I am still far away to become as well-cultured as these two characters, but I am really on my way. If you are still interested, let me brief what I have been doing.

Sort out some books in advance.

Your 15 minutes must not be wasted wondering what to read. Before you get started, sort out some books that you have picked but haven’t started or finished reading.

Put a book into your bag.

Whenever you see me with my bag, I guarantee you, there must be a pocket book right in there. It’s not for show. Actually, you can find many reading notes on the pages.

Almost everyday, I spend a lot of time on traffic, and I hate sitting or standing there doing nothing. With a pocket book to read, I would find my monotonous journey become much more enjoyable with this great companion.

If the transportation condition is not good enough for me to sit and read, I will then be engaged in thinking –- reviewing the pages in my head, or planning out my coming week, or getting some inspiration for my blog articles.

Therefore, when I am in a working environment again, my thoughts are already organized. I can start right away instead of taking another half an hour making a “to do” list, or sitting idle before the screen waiting to be inspired.

Put a book beside your bed.

If you had visited my room, you should have been impressed by an array of books sitting on my bed :p Some are regular materials for constant review, and some are new comers.

I established the habit of bedtime reading after I read Osler’s biography. At that time, I was still a high school student who only loved novels, and I was so absorbed in the plot that my dream was full of the characters after bedtime reading.

In college, my scope of bedtime reading became much more extensive. After a hectic day busy with my major, I spent 15 minutes on my beloved materials. Remember the fascinating Greek Myth, interesting folk stories, and marvelous literature masterpieces I introduced to you in class? They all came from my bedtime reading.

Place a book near your sofa.

On a sunny afternoon, put on some cozy music, sit in a sofa with a cup of real coffee and a nice book. You will know why I love reading so much.

All right, in a nutshell, you just can’t escape reading 15 minutes a day, and that means you will read half a book a week, 2 books a month, 20 a year, and 1000 or more in a lifetime. It’s an easy way to become well read.

As a kind reminder: Actions speak louder than words. Take actions, my dear readers.

posted on 2006-12-07 17:38 江晓弘 阅读(12549) 评论(76)  编辑  收藏 所属分类: 讲台之上 网摘收藏