Principles for Success (4) Cherish Time and Accomplish Multiple Goals at the Same Time

I would never boast that I am naturally good at multitasking or achieving multiple goals at the same time. The truth was that I had to multitask since I was an elementary school student. Studying was often considered secondary to farm work, housework or babysitting my younger siblings. Going to school was less important compared to putting three meals on the table. Survival first, right??

Cherishing Time and Multitasking Was THE WAY

To me, cherishing time and accomplishing multiple goals at the same time was THE WAY to solve the problems I had. I may have wished to only study, do homework after school and play. But there was always housework, cooking, cleaning, taking care of my younger siblings and farm work. We were fortunate to be vegetable farmers who could farm most of the time of the year by building greenhouses and having multiple harvests. This allows us to make a better living than wheat and corn farmers, but we were also busier during most seasons of the year.?

In school, my teachers could emphasize to their hearts’?content how seriously we should treat our homework. Once I arrived home, I may see a note on the door left by my older sister:?“Little Tao (my nickname in Chinese), make dough (steamed buns).”?I needed to cook for a family of six in a limited amount of time?–?often less than 2 hours. Without modern cooking appliances, it was a big task. One time, I realized no matter how fast or how hard I worked, there wasn’t enough time to let the dough rise to make steamed buns. I came up with a solution?–?I made flat breads with a frying pan instead of steamed buns. This allowed me to get dinner ready for everyone by the time my parents returned home from our farm.?

When I was making soup, I was also using the soup to steam the buns. When the buns were being steamed, I was chopping vegetables to prepare for stir-frying. When I was stir-frying vegetables, I may cover the lid and let it simmer, and mind my little brother. When I went out to turn in my homework during summer vacation, I used the same trip to buy some soy sauce and vinegar from a convenience shop on my way home.?

Being in a MAD RUSH Worked for Me

When all my weekends were filled up with housework and farm work, I tried to finish as much homework as I could in a MAD RUSH in the last few minutes before my first morning classes. If I couldn’t finish the homework I might be asked to stand outside the classroom for a while as a penalty, but this wasn't so bad.

Later I graduated high school as the top student in my class in both overall grades and in English. I gained admission to a good university to study English. After completing my first year in college, I started running my own summer school in my hometown (I’ll talk more about how I did it in another letter in the future). While a college student, I tutored English for a broad range of people, from elementary school students to adults who were planning to work overseas. I also worked as a translator for a trade company handling importing ships from Europe.

When I was a research student in Australia, I finished my master’s thesis in a MAD RUSH to save money completing a one-year project in one semester. I learned how to drive when I was finalizing my master’s thesis. When I was a doctoral student, I was a teaching assistant, I was a mentor, I was a Mandarin teacher, I was traveling internationally every year to present papers and to see the world.?

Looking at the Positive Side?

I realized later after coming to America that doing farm work under the sun was good for my body and mind. If you watch students who are athletes, they have strong bodies and sharp minds because they spend time exercising under the sun. I spent plenty of my time doing?“exercise”?under the sun and building muscles. In my childhood, the amount of time I spent on studying and indoors was much less compared with real?“full-time”students who didn’t have farm work to do after school and on weekends. Perhaps for the limited time I did spend in studying, my brain was fresher??

The environment in my home was everything else but conducive to academic success. Somehow, I managed to stay among the top of my class academically, even though study was secondary, and I did much of my homework in a MAD RUSH.

Looking back on my crazy journey of venturing far out of my comfort zone, and of completing challenging tasks in a short time with limited financial resources, I have come to realize that I am a stronger person because of those challenges I faced.

Are you in a challenging situation that you must do many things at the same time? Maybe it is building you up to become an amazing person in the future with confidence, resilience, unshakable determination, and world-shaking power.?

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Principles for Success (5) - Become Aware of the Resources You Have and Make Good Use of Them