How to study 12+ hours per day without hurting your...

sava28

Hi mathboy!
I'm a student of MIPT, and my best time is 13,5 hours of pure studying. Try to study by standing on your feet or while you walk. There are no limits. Lev Landau could study 15-18 hours...

creepypasta13

Looking back on this thread again and being similar to the OP, I would like to share my thoughts. I started off college being painfully shy and studied close to 12 hours/day. I then realized that I had to work on my social skills.. for practical reasons, like networking, interviewing for jobs, etc. But I had no interest in things normal people like (watching movies, TV, listening to pop music, etc) and had no non-academic hobbies. Thus, socializing was extremely difficult for me. I changed that by getting involved in a sport. I met alot of non-physics majors and made decent friendships with some of them and alot of acquaintances, but towards the end of college. However, being in so many uncomfortable social situations got me really depressed and my grades suffered. It dropped from a 4.0 to about 3.6

So I screwed things up. Ideally, I wished I had spent my early college years socializing and, after building up the bare minimum social skills needed to be 'healthy' and helpful for practical purposes, I should have spent my later years studying close to 12 hours/day. Thats why I'm really jealous at people who do really academically and still have good social skills. They developed them at a younger age and didn't have to waste time in college to work on them. As a result, I got admitted to top-20 physics and math schools, but didn't get to any in the top-10. I don't know if I made the right decisions or not as it really hurt not getting into any top-5 or top-10 schools. I'm not painfully shy anymore and have gotten past interviews to get job offers. But I paid a big price, considering that my social skills are still far from great and my odds for becoming a professor are now dramatically reduced

DrManhattanVB

I really hope you dont think you need to be in a top 10 school or top 5 school to become a professor. Yes, its nearly impossible. But theres research groups even at top 50 schools that will put you on track for a top quality post-doc.

Studying 12 hours a day for 5 days a week outside of midterms and finals is absolutely ridiculous. Im skeptical, because ive never needed that much time in order to master the material well enough to get A's, usually 4 to 5 hours per day is enough for me.

creepypasta13

Well the odds are much better at a top 5 or 10 school. At the schools I got admitted to, most of the faculty whose research I'm interested in are young, recently tenured professors, and not really well-known.

The OP and I didnt study 12 hours a day just to get A's. We used that time to learn material outside class or learn more details about the class material in order to greater appreciate what we were learning (as opposed to doing the minimum necessary to get A's).

DrManhattanVB

Well I guess I envy you in that sense then. Its just I find it very hard to find that kindve time during the week to study, and I can only stay in but so much on the weekend before I begin to get depressed and feel lonely.

MissSilvy

Believe it or not, the quality of studying is actually better than the quantity and I am very skeptical of anyone who says the fifth hour of studying in a ten hour block is as good as the first two. I get up two hours early most days, three on weekends, go to a cafe and drink some coffee while working on my studies. I do a little at night, but not very much (1-2 hours) and I get waaay more done than the chumps having marathon 'study' sessions in the library. After a while, you lose focus, no matter how much you love what you're doing. I'd say wake up early, study for a few hours, then go about your day. If this isn't enough, then think of adding more time slots to your schedule, but don't just glue yourself to a chair for ten hours and think that such a method is the best or only way to get stuff done.

leontd

8 Hours is pretty common in meds school, but 12 hours is a bit over the border there. Considering you take 4hrs of classes in a day and sleep for 8 hrs, your life will just be school + eat + sleep > repeat for x years, assuming you going for a PH.D.

Ryker

Exactly, I have a friend that has excelled in med school, studying around 6 hours per day prior to exams, and graduating near the top of his class. Even so, he says he could probably optimize his studies and study even less, and I agree with that fully. I put in more work than that since apparently I haven't found that sweet spot yet, but plugging away mindlessly isn't helping. And no one can honestly say they truly enjoy studying 12 hours per day (if they do, I feel pity for them and their one-dimensionality). Sure, you can't just always go by what you feel like doing at that exact moment, but once you're over a certain threshold, you should really focus on doing other things that interest you, as it's going to help with studies, as well. People are "successful" because they're interesting, not because they conform to the working more is better ethic for the sake of it.

James Wine

Get some study partners+whiteboards that hang on the wall. Two problems fixed then.

Geezer

I could do that when I was an undergrad, but now I'm married and have a kid; there's so little time I can devote to studying anymore. Now, I'm more interested in studying efficiently rather than studying for long periods of time.

damabo

FYI, both Newton (85) and Tesla (86) lived far beyond the average life span of their day. I'm not supposing they may not had any mental difficulties in their lives, but I can understand that some strongly motivated people like these would have mental difficulties when *not* working so long hours. Hence I can understand why it is, for some people, healthy - given that one takes a walk, or moves around frequently. Plus, of course, when achievements start to add up, they can feel pretty good about themselves - and have, in their own way, done something for their fellow man, their own way of socialization.

johnqwertyful

After about 4-5 hours a day, my mind is just mush. I can't fit anything more into it. Just study more efficiently.

As for the OP saying that social life has been nothing but bad or whatever. You don't just start studying 12 hours a day. You work up to it. You've probably been neglecting relationships for awhile now. Friendships require sacrifice. Last week, I got a phone call from my friend at nearly 1 am (I was sleeping). He was depressed and I talked to him a bit. I was about ready to drive over to his house, too. I'm moving in a week. He's helping me move. That's how friendships work. You do things for each other. You need to sacrifice your own time sometimes.

Bipolarity

Is it possible for you to study mathematics WHILE walking, i.e. pacing? Try to manipulate equations in your head. It's a very useful skill, but can only be done in certain circumstances (you can't manipulate matrices in your mind obviously, but I suppose small equations can be manipulated with ease.)

I find that when my brain is clogged with hours of work, I can "walk" my thoughts and they seem to flow much more rapidly as if the movement of my body has spurred on my cognitive ability.

If you get to the point where you have physical pain from being in one place too long, walk in circles around the house, dorm etc. while thinking about mathematics.

If it's your mind that's the fried one, then try doing some exercise. The beauty of exercise is that the more burned out your mind is whether emotionally or intellectually, the easier it becomes to do exercise. Use this, in conjunction with your studying, to your advantage.

Also, studying mathematics to the point where it causes you physical pain is counterproductive. Your goal is to be happy. Mathematics does that for you, but if you exploit this by overdoing mathematics, you may come to regret it in the long run in the form of chronic diseases and unhealthy lifestyles. Anything in excess is bad, because your body is not made for overdoing things.

Also, you don't like people, fine. Get a pet dog or cat and walk them in the park, while thinking math in your mind. At least that way, you accomplish things without looking insane and have a constant source of joyous companionship.

BiP

micromass

This thread is 4 years old now. I'm locking it.