Tuesday, July 01, 2008

h@rdy - 1.

these days i am following g.h. h@rdy's example again.

if i remember the story correctly, he was purported to work only 4 hours in the summer. the rest of the time he devoted to leisurely pursuits like watching cricket or playing tennis. apparently h@rdy was a rabid cricket fan, so his choices were made out of love or obsession.

remembering that, i wonder: what were littlew00d's work habits?

in the past three days i have followed this rule:

i will write for three hours, each day -- specifically from 1pm to 4pm.

if it goes well and i choose to write more, then i will write more, but i will only enforce three hours of mathematical writing.

in the mornings -- if i wake up that early -- then i am free to brainstorm about new research and work out some ideas. however, if i wake at 12:30pm, then it is straight to writing!

so this gives me a sporting chance: if i want to think about new math, then i must wake up to do so. otherwise i must reserve some willpower for those hours after writing, and work on research then.


2 comments:

Leonid said...

Early in his career, Littlewood used to work late into the night. Then he switched to morning hours - his new rule was not to do any math after 6pm. At least this is what I remember from his "Miscellany" (an excellent book btw). My copy of this book was in one of two boxes lost on the way to NY.

janus said...

miscellany, eh? i'll add it to my list of books to read.