What is your average daily study time?

[andytoh]

This poll is primarily for those very serious ones who intend to do graduate studies/earn their phD or are already past that point.

How many hours of study per day on average do you do? This includes being in class, provided that you are actually using your brain deeply in class (as opposed to blindly taking notes without understanding what you are writing, or just socializing at school). For those who are not students, this can include your hours of research (but not hours in teaching, marking, and other non-research type services).

I clock in at 12 hours per day, and love it. The other miscellaneous acts during the day (eating, showering, talking people, etc...) are done only during my breaks from studying. Thus I schedule my studying in such a way that only when I need a break from studying do I do the other things, including going out, but those can only occur within a window of 2 hours at most because by then I am ready to hit the books again. If I am ever stuck somewhere for more than 2 hours, then I have my textbook and pocket-sized computer handy. Solving a problem in my mind while doing other things that I am forced to do (e.g. driving) usually hasn't been a problem for me.

 

[Ki Man]

is that including while you are in class

 

[andytoh]

You can include your hours at school, but you must subtract the time at school that you are not actually working your brain, i.e. socializing, waiting idly for class, travelling, eating, taking notes without paying attention to what you are writing, etc...

 

[dontdisturbmycircles]

solving problems in your brain while you are driving? geez. I guess this wouldn't be so bad for some basic problems if that is what you mean.

 

[CPL.Luke]

hmmm I think there may be a minor flaw in the poll, personally I study for about 16-18 hours one day per week and then don't do anything except the homework for the rest of the week. And personally I have difficulties in paying attention during most lectures that I go to, so I don't do much "studying" throughout the week, averaging only about 2 hours a day. even though I will work the full 16-18 hours in one day once every 1-2 weeks depending on how the weeks went.

 

[Azael]

After 7 hours or so my brain just doesn't work anymore, I start making stupid misstakes and even solving the most simple things can be a strain.
Trying to study more is just a waste of time for me.

 

[cristo]

This poll is primarily for those very serious ones who intend to do graduate studies/earn their phD or are already past that point.

I note you have added this! I'm currently undertaking a master's degree in maths, with the intent to continue studies further. However, I have voted 0-2hrs, not because I'm lazy, but I reckon if I averaged it out over the whole year, this would include both intense exam/revision/thesis writing periods where the average day's study is circa 10 hrs and vacation months where I do little formal work, and so the average number of hours study for the whole year is probably about 2hrs.

 

[andytoh]

I study for about 16-18 hours one day per week and then don't do anything except the homework for the rest of the week.

Doing homework problems counts as studying.

After 7 hours or so my brain just doesn't work anymore, I start making stupid misstakes and even solving the most simple things can be a strain.
Trying to study more is just a waste of time for me.

Maybe after 7 consecutive hours your brain cannot work more? Perhaps after a 2-3 hour break, you could resume?

I reckon if I averaged it out over the whole year, this would include both intense exam/revision/thesis writing periods where the average day's study is circa 10 hrs and vacation months where I do little formal work, and so the average number of hours study for the whole year is probably about 2hrs.

Of course, I am not counting vacations.


By the way, are the researchers doing the poll? I would be interested in how many hours the pros use working their brains (in doing their research and/or studying new topics)

 

[CPL.Luke]

Doing homework problems counts as studying.

for me it usually works itself into the 16-18 hours of study on that one day, the stuff that doesn't usually isn't taxing enough to count in terms of studying as defined in the OP

also my problem sets usually crop up once every week or two and are almost always due on monday.

 

[moose]

Over the summer I had a 2 hour class 5 days a week (Diff Eq) and did homework and studied everyday from 1am-4am, so 5 hours total. I didn't study on weekends whatsoever though.

I liked it, I had all the time in the world to hang out with people and do whatever (from about 1pm when class ended to 1am when I started studying).

 

[andytoh]

Most of my hours of studying come from studying ahead on subjects that are not even offered at my school, but I know I will need to know later on. If I only studied for courses that I'm enrolled in, then I would be in the medicore 5 hours per day range as well.

 

[tim_lou]

How would one really classify "studying". If I'm reading a number theory book from the library, does that count as studying?

It seems that studying is generally associated with learning that is forced upon by tests, exams, or school.

 

[andytoh]

How would one really classify "studying". If I'm reading a number theory book from the library, does that count as studying?

In my opinion, yes. Most of my studying is from reading outside of my courses.

 

[JasonRox]

I average probably 15 minutes a day.

 

[interested_learner]

Pros? Researcher? Learning new things or developing new things is what I do all day during work. So that is 0-12 hours a day depending on the situation. Sometimes, there is routine type work like we were trying to get a copy of a new product out to the customer today so then I do less (only 2 hours of new development and 5 hours of running around trying to load code into the device today for example), but tomorrow I should get back to the new project I am working on.

Then I usually tack on another 1-2 hours independent study for fun afterward. My wife sometimes gets exasperated and tells me to put away those darned math books so I try to study when she isn't watching...

 

[Ki Man]

i think people are voting differently by counting/not counting school

 

[Azael]

Maybe after 7 consecutive hours your brain cannot work more? Perhaps after a 2-3 hour break, you could resume?

It usualy something like 2 hours of study, 15 minutes break, 2 hours of study, 1 hour lunch, 2 hours of study, break and then one hour of study. After that I can not perform anymore and I am usualy way to tired to resume studying after a 2-3 hour break.

I have never needed to study more than that thank god. I se no reason to kill myself trying to get perfect grades. I would just burn out and it would just not be fun or interesting anymore.

My avarage studytime during semesters would probably be around 3-4 hours.

 

[pivoxa15]

For me, I try to study whenever I can because I love it. I don't think about or count how many hours I put in. One problem is that it can be a bit inefficient as I don't have a set goal.

When I attend lectures I usually don't understand a thing so you probably won't count that as not study.
So Mybe on average 7hours/day during semester
10 hours/day during the holidays

But I have to admit the study periods during the holidays are not as intentse hence less efficient but its better than nothing.

 

[andytoh]

For me, I try to study whenever I can because I love it. ...Mybe on average 7hours/day during semester
10 hours/day during the holidays .

You and I are similar in that we study more on holidays than on school days. My eyes are completely riveted on my textbook whenever I am reading a new topic. To be honest, I have learned just as well without a teacher as with one. As opposed to learning from a teacher, I can learn on my own exactly what I want.

 

[Ki Man]

I study everything except for what my teachers expect me to study. =P I spend my time reading about things that we will never learn in class.

 

[pivoxa15]

You and I are similar in that we study more on holidays than on school days. My eyes are completely riveted on my textbook whenever I am reading a new topic. To be honest, I have learned just as well without a teacher as with one. As opposed to learning from a teacher, I can learn on my own exactly what I want.

I think we are a rare breed. I too seem to learn just as well without a teacher but only if I have learned from a teacher the basics in that field already. The best thing I like learning by oneself is that I can go at my own pace so I am by definition never behind. However, I am always behind during semester which is no fun.

You said that you are a maths teacher by occupation. Do you teach in high school or university?

 

[Ki Man]

people who spend their free time on a place called physics forums are a rare breed

 

[f(x)]

mine is a highly uncertain pattern and depends completely on whether i like what i am doing or not, which in turn depends on whether i am understanding or not.
So, excluding school hours it varies between 30-60 hours a week

 

[whitay]

I would like to know how you can discipline yourself to study so much. I would love to be motivated to pull of 30hrs a week or more.

 

[dontdisturbmycircles]

If you truly enjoy learning about a subject I think it makes it easier. If you are not immediately passionate about a subject, try to find out if you can become passionate about it. Ponder as to why other people love the subject (Someone must have cared about it enough to PhD in the field and teach it). I also find it helpful to time myself. I have a timer that I set to 7-8 hours everyday except Sunday on which I set it to 4. This leaves me on average 8 hours to wash/chat on msn/go out/whatever which is tons. If I start browsing physics forums or use the phone, I stop the timer and only start it again when I start doing homework again, thus I ensure that I am doing the 7-8 hours I plan to do instead of screwing around instead. I also find it useful to start my day by taking 2-5 minutes to write down my goals for the day and then leaving a blank for "End of day comments" so that serves as a reward if I finish it, and a punishment if I don't as I will have let myself down.

Anyways, I had to go to these extremes because I used to have a very hard time motivating myself. It's definitely a slow process and takes some time to get used to.I am counting my couple hours of class as "study time" so in reality I only study 6 hours a day but over the week it still adds up to 40 hours. I could probably do more but as of right now I am happy with that.

 

[f(x)]

I would like to know how you can discipline yourself to study so much. I would love to be motivated to pull of 30hrs a week or more.

Its not what i have to do, its what i must do. In my country, every 11-12 th grader studies that much, even more. If i dont, i would probably end up in a call center or something like that. Obviously, passion and ambition are other factors

 

[fizziks]

No one should pull out more than 8 hours of day TOTAL, just studying. Even if you're after your Ph.D. Don't mean to offend people but you truly don't have a life if you do more than 8 hours a day.

I would suggest to those who do that to take it easy.

 

[Pathway]

I think that the purposes of this poll would be better served if we could distinguish among the different types of studier who all put in from zero to two hours a day. There's a big difference between someone who studies not at all and someone who studies an hour a day, and between someone who studies an hour a day and someone who studies for two--especially since for many people, an hour a day could be enough.

 

[Gib Z]

I find that i actually learn more in the holidays than during school time. It has always been these breaks that I've made my, i like to view them as, breakthroughs. I taught myself calculus, logs, trig, you know the sort, all in the holidays. I've made tiny little improvements to these during semesters. To how much I do on average, per day, well in my desired field of mathematics, during school semesters its only about an hour a day, that's all the time i find for it. I'm not counting my schools math because I find it trivial and not actually studying. Holidays, maybe 4 or so? Only about 1 hour out of a textbook though, rest is just some reading on the internet, these forums etc.

 

[Gib Z]

umm, to the people who voted 15+, how do you manage to fit in sleep and food?

 

[nightdove]

constraints on reaching optimal study hours

I've found out that 6 hrs/day for 6 weeks is the maximum amount of studying my body can take. Beyond this point, any further effort gives me a severe bout of eye-strain and migraines that won't resolve without at least a 4-5 day break of not reading, not watching TV, not playing the computer... It's horrible. Did any of you guys find that eye-strain was a major constraint on the amount of studying that you would have ideally liked to do?

Term time I average 3 hrs a day, including weekends and counting homework/course reading, and excluding classes. So about 21 hrs per week, excluding classes. Most classes, I'm blindly taking down notes that will have to be supplemented later because the lecturer didn't have time to explain every step. No studying on holidays of course (except Easter break before exams)

 

[nightdove]

I find that i actually learn more in the holidays than during school time. It has always been these breaks that I've made my, i like to view them as, breakthroughs. I taught myself calculus, logs, trig, you know the sort, all in the holidays. I've made tiny little improvements to these during semesters. To how much I do on average, per day, well in my desired field of mathematics, during school semesters its only about an hour a day, that's all the time i find for it. I'm not counting my schools math because I find it trivial and not actually studying. Holidays, maybe 4 or so? Only about 1 hour out of a textbook though, rest is just some reading on the internet, these forums etc.

Time spent in deep reflection during the holidays is only necessarily for harder courses, in my case.

For most 2nd year courses, you can learn a lot during the class teaching and while solving homework exercises, whereas for harder courses, you actually need to meditate (literally) on the theorems. For Multivariate Calculus, Linear Algebra, Probability Distribution Theory, Statistical Inference and basically any applied math courses, homework can be finished in one sitting (2 hrs tops) and you don't need to spend 6-8 hrs thinking about a single problem.

For tougher courses like Real Analysis and Topology however, you can spend 10 hrs or more on a single homework exercise, and that doesn't even guarantee an 'A'. Real Analysis is where you discover how limited your intellect really is, no matter how much your high school teachers flattered you in the past concerning your 'genius'.

I found myself getting the gist on the subject only during the 'study leave' before the exams... after some 2-3 weeks of prolonged reflection on the basic theorems and definitions... after which all the insights came rushing down like a waterfall, with the result being a quantum leap in the ability to solve the problems. Before that, I didn't realize my understanding in Topology was very fragmented / partial, which is why I had problems proving the theorems.

Generally, I guess I'm more of an Applied Math and Engineering Physics sort of person, and tend to stay away from courses involving excessively rigorous or abstract reasoning far removed from the brain's capacity to visualise. In applied courses, practise makes perfect, and you don't have to be a monk to do well.

 

[nightdove]

Doing homework problems counts as studying.



Maybe after 7 consecutive hours your brain cannot work more? Perhaps after a 2-3 hour break, you could resume?



Of course, I am not counting vacations.


By the way, are the researchers doing the poll? I would be interested in how many hours the pros use working their brains (in doing their research and/or studying new topics)

I've tried studying for 8 hrs in a row (primarily for courses for which I slacked off during term time and didn't do any homework), but it inevitably follows the same pattern as Azael's, but more protracted:

9:00-11:00 study for 2 hrs (efficient)
11:00-11:15 break for 15 min
11:15-1:15 study for 2 hrs (efficient)
1:15-3:15 lunch + TV
3:15-5:15 study for 2 hrs (inefficient)
5:15-5:30 break for 15 min
5:30-7:30 study for 2 hrs (inefficient, not absorbing much)
7:30-11:30 feel like zombie & worry like crap about impending exam

I cannot maintain an 8 hr study-programme for more than 3 weeks however. I also find that if I study for too long, I can't sleep, despite being tired. So 4-6 hrs is my optimal period. No fatigue. No stress. Loads of play.

I suspect the people who can study for more than 8 hrs a day are either extremely fit physically, or have loads of GABA and dopamine in the brain to work with.

From what I've gathered, the reason why most people can't exceed 8 hrs a day studying (aside from pins-and-needles and eye strain), are neurochemical in nature:

Wrangling with problems that strain your working memory (math problems, engineering problems, physics problems) depletes dopamine, the end product of which is homovanillic acid. My guess is that a literature student who spends his whole day writing an artsy essay would not utilise half the working memory capacity of a physics student.

Studying depletes GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid), and after 8 hrs you probably won't have enough left to sleep or stave off nervous thoughts.

Denying yourself every day pleasures to focus on long-term goals also utilises dopamine.

 

[P3X-018]

9:00-11:00 study for 2 hrs (efficient)
11:00-11:15 break for 15 min
11:15-1:15 study for 2 hrs (efficient)
1:15-3:15 lunch + TV
3:15-5:15 study for 2 hrs (inefficient)
5:15-5:30 break for 15 min
5:30-7:30 study for 2 hrs (inefficient, not absorbing much)
7:30-11:30 feel like zombie & worry like crap about impending exam

I noticed that you get inefficient after watching TV. When watching TV and doing other stuff where you're not "using" your brain, is like relaxing. When you get that feeling it's really hard to get back to study and start concentrating.
Actually reading/absorbing information is quit different from applying the knowledge you have. I don't have any problems spending 8+ hours on projects, solving problem or similar stuff where you work through what you already know. But when it comes to reading where you'll have to absorb some new information, then I agree it's really hard to stay focused as long as 6-8 hours. Taking long breaks (like ½-1 hour) makes it only harder to resume reading. It's like when you're exercising, if you stop to take a long break, you'll find it extremely hard to resume the training.

When I study for so long, then when I go to bed and sleep that day, I won't know wether I'm sleeping or really just studying, my mind will be really mixed up, it's really "confusing"!

 

[hrc969]

umm, to the people who voted 15+, how do you manage to fit in sleep and food?

I study more than 15 hrs per day (counting classes). Actually I have to count right now to see how many.

Wake up - finish eating (6am-~7:30 am) no studying yet.
Take the bus to go to school (~7:34-~8:30am) I study while I'm on the bus so (1hr)
Study before class (8:30-10:00am) [2.5hr]
2 classes (10am-12pm) [4.5hr]
Lunh break (12-12:30pm)
Study before class (12:30-1pm) [5hr]
2 classes (1-3pm) [7hr]
go home on bus (3:09-~4:09) [8hr] I study while on the bus.
Eat and spend time with my family (~4:09-5:00)
Do homework/go over notes/study out of some math books (5:00pm-1:00am)[8hr]
Sleep (1:am-6:00am)

So I guess its about 16 hrs per day on MWF. Its about the same on tuesdays and thursdays except I don't have to spend any time preparing lunch between waking up and leaving for school. I'll just eat right before leaving and eat when I come back since those days I only have 3hrs at school and 1hr ar school respectively.

But yeah... sleeping is reduced (I tried to sleep about 8 hrs per day when I was on break) and eating is done when there is time. I als take sandwiches which I eat between classes. I eat some fruit while I am studying for the 8hr block. But it doesn't take anymore than 2 minutes or less from studying just to et my fruit and wash it.