Sometimes the Longer Route Is the Productive One

Monday was actually a pretty straightforward day, but there was one small decision during my commute that ended up being a good example of how I'm trying to fit GATE preparation around my normal life.

The main target for today was simple: finish Routing Protocols in Computer Networks.

And I did.

Routing Protocols: Completed

There were three lectures remaining in the Routing Protocols chapter.

I completed the first one while travelling to the office in the morning. The remaining two were completed while travelling back home.

That officially marks Routing Protocols as completed.

This commute-based study routine has become quite important for me because once I reach home after office, I am usually tired enough that studying lectures becomes difficult.

Question solving is different. I can still sit down and solve questions after reaching home, but watching lectures requires a different kind of attention.

So I have started using my commute accordingly.

A Slightly Unusual Commute

There was an interesting situation today involving my friend Siddhesh, who usually travels with me from office.

There is a 6:15 PM train from Borivali that is usually extremely crowded. Because of that, our normal routine is to go to Andheri first and then take the train from there towards Virar/Nalasopara. It takes longer, but we avoid the worst of the congestion and can usually travel more comfortably.

Today, Siddhesh needed to leave earlier because of some work, so he decided to take the 6:15 train directly.

I could have done the same.

But I had two things going through my mind.

First, I still had some office work pending.

Second, I had two Routing Protocols lectures left.

If I took the 6:15 train from Borivali, I would reach home much earlier. Normally that sounds like the obvious choice.

But there was a problem.

I needed to finish those lectures before reaching home.

If I reached home early, I knew myself well enough to understand that I probably wouldn't have the energy to sit down and watch two more lectures.

So I reached the station around 6:25–6:30 PM and took the usual route through Andheri.

That meant roughly 1.5 hours of travelling instead of the much shorter Borivali-to-Nalasopara journey.

And I used that time to finish the remaining two lectures.

So, technically, I chose the longer route.

But in terms of my actual study schedule, it was probably the more useful route.

The point wasn't saving time.

It was using the time I already had in a way that suited my energy levels.

After months of doing this commute, I've learned that the version of me sitting on a train after office and the version of me sitting at home after office are not exactly the same student. One can watch lectures. The other mostly wants to lie down and question his life choices. 😅

C Programming Practice: 6/10

After reaching home, I moved on to C programming practice.

I solved 10 questions and got 6 correct.

So, 60%.

It wasn't particularly great, but the mistakes were useful.

Most of them weren't because I had absolutely no idea about the topic. They were more about small gaps in conceptual clarity, where missing one detail in the question led me in the wrong direction.

I was also quite sleepy by that point, so that definitely didn't help.

Still, one question from the practice session stood out.

When the Video Solution Was Wrong

There was a pointer problem that I solved correctly on my first attempt.

Then I checked the solution provided in the video.

The solution said something different from what I had understood.

My first instinct could have been to assume that I had made a mistake. After all, the solution was coming from someone teaching the subject.

But something didn't feel right.

So I checked the problem with ChatGPT and went through the reasoning again.

It turned out that my original understanding was correct and the solution in the video was wrong.

That was actually a nice little realization.

I've previously had a tendency to trust professors and provided solutions almost blindly. If the solution says something different from what I got, I naturally assume that I must have made the mistake.

But that's not always true.

Teachers can make mistakes too.

Solutions can contain errors.

And sometimes my own reasoning can be correct even when it disagrees with the answer being shown on screen.

That doesn't mean I should blindly trust myself either. It means I should verify the reasoning instead of automatically trusting either side.

For GATE preparation, I think that's an important habit.

Looking Back at Monday

There wasn't a test today, and the C practice session wasn't particularly impressive.

But the main academic target was completed.

Routing Protocols is done.

And I also managed to get some C practice in despite being tired after office.

The more interesting part of the day was probably the commute decision.

I deliberately took the longer route because I knew it would give me enough time to finish the lectures before reaching home. It wasn't the most efficient route in terms of travel time, but it was efficient in terms of how I actually study.

That's something I'm gradually understanding about this preparation.

Planning isn't always about finding the theoretically shortest route.

Sometimes it's about knowing when and where you personally have the energy to do certain kinds of work.

Tomorrow

The next Computer Networks chapter is Switching.

There are around four lectures, and my goal is to make a good attempt at completing them.

I also need to make the pending CN notes from the previous topics.

And, as usual, practice questions are part of the routine now.

With October approaching, the schedule is about to become much more rigid. So for now, I'm just trying to keep moving chapter by chapter.

Routing Protocols: done.

Another box checked.

One more step toward the October deadline.