Dear Economist
Dear Economist,
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I am experiencing the strains of being a final-year student. This semester alone I need to complete seven projects and assignments, work on my dissertation and sit five exams.
I am the captain of the karate club, which requires a big time commitment, and I am applying for graduate jobs, which means lots of interviews and assessment days in the next few months. There aren't enough hours in the day - how do I prioritise my tasks effectively?
Derrick, via e-mail
Dear Derrick,
Clearly you are not an economics student or you would have already solved the linear programming problem necessary to optimise your allocation of time. Let me instead give you a couple of pointers.
First, your time is spent investing rather than consuming: sitting exams and applying for jobs will expand your consumption set in the future. Under the circumstances it would be reasonable to borrow. You can borrow a little time from the future with the help of stimulants but a more practical solution is to borrow money to save time. Quit any part-time job, take taxis, hire a cleaner and order take-aways. This will save time and you can deal with the cost later when you've secured one of those precious jobs.
More fundamentally, look for opportunities to gain from trade. Your karate appears to be an area of comparative advantage, so perhaps you could persuade some clever weakling to write your dissertation for you. In exchange, you could beat up the boyfriend of the girl he's been lusting after.
Five minutes of applied karate practice for you would be a life- transforming experience for your assistant; well worth many days of work on your dissertation. Capitalism is not always pretty.
致焦头烂额的毕业生
亲
爱的经济学家：
我是一名即将毕业的学生，现在压力重重。仅是这一个学期，我就得完成7门课程设计项目和作业，还要撰写论文，另有5门考试。
我是空手道俱乐部的队长，这需要我投入大量时间。而且，我还在找工作，这意味着未来几个月内会有许多面试和评估。时间不够用――我怎样才能有效地安排自己这些任务呢？
德里克(Derrick)，通过电子邮件致信
亲爱的德里克：
显然你不是一名经济学专业的学生，否则你可能已经解决了这个属于线性规划的问题。我还是给你出些别的点子吧。
首先，你现在所花的时间是用来投资而非消费：考试和找工作将提高你未来的消费能力。在这些情况下，向未来借贷属理智行为。你可以借助一定的刺激，向未来借一点时间，不过更实用的方法是用钱来换时间。辞掉所有兼职工作，出门乘坐出租车，雇一个清洁工打扫卫生，吃饭叫外卖。这样做将节约时间；你可以等自己找到一份好工作之后再来应付这些成本。
更为重要的，是你要借助交易寻求获利机会。你的空手道似乎是一个具有相对优势的领域，因此，也许你能说服某个脑瓜聪明但体质虚弱的家伙来为你写论文。作为交换，你可以将他梦中情人的男朋友海扁一顿。
对你而言，这仅是5分钟的空手道实践练习，而对你的枪手来说，这将是一次改变他一生的体验；这比花很多天埋头写论文要合算多了。资本主义有时候就是这样，上不了台面。
