Chapter 16 quiet and noisy

The latest Forbes list of the world's richest people came out, and of course, Bill Gates, the president of Microsoft, won the championship again. It is said that Bill Gates' grades in school have never been better, and the overall average in middle school is B; when he first entered Harvard, because of too much pressure, he got ulcerative enteritis and had to go home to recuperate.The average grade in the first semester was even worse, only a C. You might ask him how he got into Harvard since he got a B in high school. That's great-- He actually scored in the top ten in the United States in the national exam SAT.

I don't know how Bill Gates reads, but I believe he must be a very smart person who knows how to use his time.For example, I recently read a report saying that Bill Gates drove to the office every morning, and instead of immediately taking the elevator to the office on the top floor, he sat in the car and made important calls on his mobile phone, which proves it. Think about it, why doesn't he play in the office? It must be because the call is important, confidential, or must not be interrupted.He knew that whenever he came into the office, he might have a pile of things to deal with, a pile of meetings and visitors to attend to, or a group of employees who wanted to see him.

Just facing these complicated things will disturb his heart and affect his thinking.Therefore, before he entered the office, he calmed down and made important calls. I realized this truth more than 30 years ago, so I wrote "Four Thirties Are Not Equal to One Hundred and Twelve" in "Whispers from the Fluorescent Window" article. That's because I've found that if I'm in the office on time and there are constant interruptions, I can't get much done for two hours.Instead, it's better to arrive two hours earlier occasionally and deal with things quietly by yourself.

Two hours broken up into four thirty minutes is by no means equal to the utility of two consecutive hours. Isn't that the case in our family to this day? Every time you come back from school, as long as you see me closing the study door, you will move lightly; if you have something to tell your mother, you will definitely hide downstairs. Because you know I'm writing and can't be bothered. But after dinner, although I was still working in the study, you had no scruples, and even often came in to talk to me. Because you know I may be in touch with the Taipei office, emailing, faxing or replying to readers.Even if there are some noises around these things, it doesn't matter; if they are interrupted, it will not affect much.

Do you know why I am saying this today? Because I found that when you came home in the afternoon, I happened to be writing, and the whole family was quiet, but you often used it to browse here and there, chatting on the Internet.After dinner again, when both TVs are on at home, I do math and physics, which desperately need quiet. Have you ever calculated that after school is over at 2:30 in the afternoon and you have dinner at 7:00, you have nearly five hours of quiet and complete time.After dinner, because the stomach is full of food, it is not suitable to use the brain. By the time I start working, it will be less than three hours before midnight.In addition, at this time, it is daytime in Asia, and there are many interferences from overseas calls.You have been busy all day and are tired again. Is it suitable for brain-intensive and quiet homework?

You must always know-- What is the quiet time, what is the noisy time; what is the best time to think, what is the time when the brain is the least bright. When "you study while others are studying, and you surf the Internet while others are watching TV", it is far better than "you surf the Internet while others are studying, and study while others are watching TV"!