Mach 1

Jun 12, 11:03 AM by Eric Allen

I feel like a jet fighter: lean, fast, optimized like crazy, and efficient. Every morning I wake up at 7 am, and I’m running at mach 1 until I hit the sack at 10pm. I’m out the door in 30 minutes, and I catch up on email while I’m on the train. At work, I try to be as productive as I can possibly be, barely making time to take breaks to stretch and walk around. I listen to audiobooks on my way back to the train station, and take care of random personal stuff on the train home. I eat dinner as soon as I get home (at 7pm), and then I have about two hours to run through SuperMemo (optimized learning) and take care of tasks I couldn’t do away from home. By the time I go to bed around 10:30, I’ve been running essentially non-stop since 7 am. I use a well-tuned MacBook Pro, Tracks GTD for task management, and a multitude of scripts and hacks to optimize my productivity at my computer. I feel like I’m successfully cruising through my life at mach 1.

I’ve almost forgotten what down-time is! “Relaxation” is reading books, many of which are non-fiction and intended to expand my knowledge. I listen to music to improve my mood…while doing other things. I take time to socialize during lunch and dinner, but everybody has things they want to get to afterward. “Fun” for me is hacking on Tracks, adding code and testing features. I can’t wait to get back to school, where I’ve got a couple of website ideas I want to implement, a club I’m partially in charge of, and a club I want to revive. Oh, did I mention 16 credits of hard engineering?

Flying at mach 1 is exhilarating. I get a ton done every day, and I feel very accomplished. I get some recognition from others, but mostly I satisfy myself with knowing how well I’m doing.