When Skipping a Lecture Actually Made Sense

Today was another one of those days where my GATE preparation had to fit around my job rather than the other way around.

And somehow, it worked.

Not perfectly. Not comfortably. But it worked.

I managed to continue my TOC preparation through the morning, my commute, and the evening. By the end of the day, I had completed the important lectures I had planned and spent roughly five to six hours studying TOC alongside a full office day.

The more interesting part, though, was deciding what not to study.

Another Heavy TOC Day

My target for today was to push further into TOC, particularly the NFA-related topics.

I studied concepts including:

• Regular vs. non-regular languages
• How to identify regular languages
• NFA with ε-moves
• ε-closure
• Related conversion concepts

I managed to fit the lectures into different parts of the day.

I completed one lecture in the morning, another during my train commute to the office, and another after coming back home.

So my day basically became:

Study → Office → Study → Dinner → Study

Not exactly the glamorous version of GATE preparation that people put on motivational Instagram posts.

But this is what preparation actually looks like when you have a full-time job.

The Lecture I Decided to Skip

There was one lecture I deliberately didn't complete.

It was related to the different types of conversions we encounter in TOC, such as conversions between DFA and NFA and other related conversion concepts.

Normally, skipping a lecture would make me feel like I had failed to complete the day's target.

But this time, there was an important detail.

The professor himself mentioned at the beginning of the lecture that the topic had very low relevance from the GATE perspective.

It was still worth knowing that these conversions exist because I'm studying the complete TOC syllabus. But according to the professor, the topic was almost negligible in terms of actual GATE questions.

That got me thinking.

I'd already spent roughly five to six hours studying TOC around my office schedule. I had another two-hour lecture sitting in front of me, and I knew its GATE relevance was extremely low.

My brain basically said:

"You have already done the important stuff. Why are you doing this to yourself?"

For once, I listened.

I skipped that lecture and moved on to making notes from the concepts I had already studied.

I also marked the relevant target as completed in my lecture tracker.

I don't see this as avoiding work. I see it as prioritizing.

With the October deadline getting closer, I need to be careful about where I spend my limited study hours.

Notes on NFA and ε-Closure

After completing the lectures, I started making notes for the concepts I had studied.

The topics included regular and non-regular languages, NFA with ε-moves, and ε-closure.

Thankfully, none of these felt particularly confusing today.

That's probably because I had studied them earlier in the day, so by the time I started writing the notes, the concepts were still fresh in my mind.

I'm slowly realizing that making notes immediately after learning something can actually help me see whether I genuinely understood it or merely survived the lecture.

There is a difference.

Watching a two-hour lecture and thinking, "Yeah, I understand this," is easy.

Trying to write the concept down yourself is a slightly more honest test.

Tired and Satisfied at the Same Time

One thing I noticed today was that I was definitely tired.

But I was also satisfied.

And those two things can exist together.

After a long office day and several hours of GATE preparation, feeling tired is natural.

The important part is whether I feel that the tiredness came from something meaningful.

When I haven't done what I planned, tiredness can feel frustrating. It feels like I've spent the whole day and somehow have nothing to show for it.

Today was different.

I was tired, but I knew I had moved forward.

That made the tiredness easier to accept.

Still on Track

Another small thing that gave me confidence today was the fact that it's already 6 October, and I'm still on track with my October syllabus-completion plan.

I haven't had a day where I completely missed my preparation target.

That's important to me because I have roughly the remaining three and a half weeks of October to finish the syllabus before shifting more seriously toward revision, practice and testing.

The deadline is getting closer, but I'm still moving.

That's enough to keep me confident about the next few weeks.

My Dark Circles Are Becoming a Problem

There was also a less academic realization today.

I've started noticing that the dark circles under my eyes are getting darker.

I've had them before, but they're becoming more noticeable now.

My current schedule usually means sleeping somewhere around 12 AM or 1 AM and waking around 7 AM.

When you're working and preparing for GATE at the same time, there aren't unlimited hours in the day.

Still, I don't want to treat sleep as something completely disposable.

So I'm going to try to maintain around 7 to 7.5 hours of sleep, avoid making 1 AM nights a regular habit, and take proper screen breaks during long study sessions.

Even keeping my laptop brightness very low doesn't mean I can stare at the screen continuously for hours.

The 20-20-20 rule is something I'll try to keep in mind, especially during long TOC lectures.

And I'm also going to focus on the boring but useful things: hydration and a reasonably balanced diet.

No magical food is going to erase dark circles overnight. Sadly, apparently spinach does not possess that level of authority.

Day 23: Progress Through Prioritization

Today wasn't about completing every possible lecture.

It was about completing the important work.

I studied TOC for several hours despite having a full office day. I covered NFA-related concepts, made notes, and deliberately skipped a low-GATE-relevance lecture instead of spending another two hours on something that probably wasn't worth that time.

More importantly, I'm starting to understand that GATE preparation isn't just about studying harder.

It's also about deciding what deserves my time.

With the October deadline approaching, that distinction is going to become increasingly important.

For now, I'm still on track.

I'm tired.

I'm satisfied.

And tomorrow, I'm apparently planning to do five TOC lectures.

Which sounds completely reasonable when written on paper and slightly questionable when I remember that I am also a functioning employee.

Let's see how that goes.