How to study 12+ hours per day without hurting your

[Jax]

Are you people honestly suggesting he go to a doctor because he can't sit on his butt for 12 hours a day?

Humans were never MEANT to do that.

If he had trouble standing on his head for 12 hours a day, would you also tell him to see a doc?

Why do you stand on two feet when it's more anatomically appropriate to be on all fours?

Please define what humans were meant to do.

 

[Poop-Loops]

Why do you stand on two feet when it's more anatomically appropriate to be on all fours?

Please define what humans were meant to do.

You must be one deformed mutha...

 

[aXiom_dt]

You must be one deformed mutha...

i think Jax was suggesting that humans have not yet completely evolved the optimal anatomy for walking upright, in which case you should tell him that he was being silly and making a silly misinterpretation of your post, and further explain to him that, from his 'evolutionary' perspective, you meant that humans were not programmed to stay in one upright position for a lengthy period of time but rather switch every so often as comfort dictates; however you yourself should also note that only one person mentioned the word doctor and that the thread mostly revolved around the health of mathboy's social life, not his physical condition as was your impression.

 

[Math Is Hard]

I think Dr. James Brown has the best advice for this condition:

Get up offa that thing
And dance til you feel better
Get up offa that thing and
Try to release that pressure

Get up offa that thing
And shake it til you feel better
Get up offa that thing
And shake it, sing it now

 

[muppet]

I think Dr. James Brown has the best advice for this condition:

Get up offa that thing
And dance til you feel better
Get up offa that thing and
Try to release that pressure

Get up offa that thing
And shake it til you feel better
Get up offa that thing
And shake it, sing it now

This is my favourite post so far

In response to the OP, you simply can't sit for 12 hour stretches. Nor do I consider it probable that you can concentrate effectively for that long. I often something I've struggled with comes to me from my subconscious when I've taken a break with it and relaxed.
But I really want to ask mathboy a question. WHY do you study?

 

[mr_coffee]

wow...

You can walk normal, get up and stand for god sakes, you have no disability as you stated so don't act like you do.

Study while standing. Use your legs.

Some people would die to have the chance to walk again or stand again for that matter.
I broke my neck almost 4 years ago and its quite sad and it angers me to see people are out there that take their legs for granted like that.
From what you posted, it sounds like I walk more than you and your normal! Interesting!
I also have severe neurological pain constantly, so sitting just for a minute feels like I'm sitting on knifes and it burns like hell. I guess if you had that feeling constantly you wouldn't be doing your 12+ hours of studying.

PS:
People aren't lying when they say sitting that long is unhealthy and dangerous. I met a truck driver in rehab and I asked him how he got paralyzed and he said from sitting 2 long. He got such a bad pressure sore from sitting in the truck all day. He now can't move or feel anything from his waist down.

 

[Invictious]

You can try studying standing up for 15 minutes every hour.
Seriously, if you have that much of a passion in math, then I must say, if you're doing it right, you could be knocking on the doors of the Fields Medal.

 

[mathboy]

Update:

Ok, today I went to school where I had 4 hours of class, managed to do 2 hours of studying (between those classes), and arrived home at 3:30 (while reviewing the new theorems learned during the two driving trips). Very importantly, my bum is not sore right now and I intend to study until around 12:30. With only one meal and shower needed, that will give me about 8 hours of studying.

Thus today, without hurting my bum, I will get 10 hours of studying (and still do what's equivalent to spending full-time hours of a full-time job). No physical hurting, and still carrying out "full-time hours obligations." So if one day I get a full-time job (even if not as a mathematician), I can still get 10 hours a day of studying without any physical soreness and still maintain a fresh mind! I found my perfect solution. Of course, if I become a mathematician, I will get even more hours of math research!

 

[dotman]

Thus today, without hurting my bum, I will get 10 hours of studying (and still do what's equivalent to spending full-time hours of a full-time job). No physical hurting, and still carrying out "full-time hours obligations."

Ehh, I'm not sure how you came up with this, but you may want to check your math :-) What you outlined is not equivalent to full time hours; you would need to neglect the two hours you spent studying during the day, double the four hours you spent in class, and add some travel time in there. Also, what time are you getting up the next morning, if you go to bed at 12:30?

But who cares? You're not working full time anyhow.

 

[JasonRox]

Maybe you're psycho-path and don't see anything within the social realm.

In either case, get help. Seriously, you need help at this point. I wouldn't be worried about getting a life. That will come after getting help.

 

[mathboy]

Ehh, I'm not sure how you came up with this, but you may want to check your math :-) What you outlined is not equivalent to full time hours; you would need to neglect the two hours you spent studying during the day, double the four hours you spent in class, and add some travel time in there.

One of my high school math teachers told me that he spends only 4 hours per day with his duties (having to each 3 classes per day) and during his spare period and lunch he would have about 2 hours to do anything he wanted. So today I spent full-time hours by his clock. In essence, he can get 10 hours of math research done per day.

 

[Lucretius]

I have to agree with everyone here when I say: studying 10-12 hours a day is way too much time.

Not only is it wasteful to study that long (not to mention to try it in one sitting), it takes away every other aspect of your life.

You need to make time for socializing and exercise. Look, my dating life is nothing magical either, but I still do it when I get the chance. It's not a focal point in my life, but I don't neglect it, or turn down a date because I want to study 12 hours a day. And without exercise, you will become Jabba The Hut in that chair of yours. Or you might grow into it. You need to maintain your physique.

A mathematician has to be healthy: both physically and mentally. As do all people! Isolating yourself from 99.999% of social contact with others is plain unhealthy, and not exercising isn't a good thing either!

 

[mr_coffee]

And without exercise, you will become Jabba The Hut in that chair of yours.

hah i was picturing the same thing.

 

[ktm]

At first I didn't want to post here, but I'm really tired of all these stupid responses about how mathboy is studying too much and needs to get a life. I would wager that 9 out of 10 of the people who make these posts are academically mediocre. And yes, a 4.0 GPA can still be mediocre; GPA does not determine the rigor of the college or the courseload. Note that I don't plan to respond to any whining about the above comments, as it would be a waste of my time. One last remark about this thread: I think you should ignore the stupid posts in this thread, and save your attention to the thoughtful ones (they're pretty easy to separate). In other words, don't let an inane majority intimidate you.

mathboy, your passion is great. I personally think you should see a doctor about health concerns, especially if you think this lifestyle will persist later into your life. With the doctor's advice, I think you can cover your tracks in terms of health without any significant sacrifice in your study schedule. In the long run, a healthy life will make you more productive, as it may prevent health conditions that would thwart your studies later in life. While I don't think that socializing is essential like health is, I think you should carefully consider it, as even 1hr a week invested in socializing can be very rewarding. I think that there are many happy and successful researchers who do spend some time with family and friends, and that there many who don't.

Some ideas about health and socializing (which don't substitute for seeing a doctor) that I don't think will take away from your study schedule:
1. 20-30 min walk/jog/run around the block every day
2. getting up every once in a while during your studying to stretch (probably will help your sore bum)
3. spending some time with family and friends over breakfast, lunch, and dinner
4. watching a 2hr movie with family or friends on the weekend (since it's the weekend, the 2hrs won't prevent you from achieving the desired time studying)
5. math friend(s), either ones you see in real life every once in a while, or ones that you email every once in a while

Remember, I'm no doctor, and I might be wrong, so I think it's best to see a doctor (and maybe even talk to him or her about the value of socializing). But I'll repeat myself and say that I don't think a doctor's suggestions would take away from your studying, either. It may also be valuable to talk to a math professor of yours who does math research, and ask them their opinion on your schedule, and maybe what their schedule is like as well.

 

[mr_coffee]

At first I didn't want to post here, but I'm really tired of all these stupid responses about how mathboy is studying too much and needs to get a life. I would wager that 9 out of 10 of the people who make these posts are academically mediocre. And yes, a 4.0 GPA can still be mediocre; GPA does not determine the rigor of the college or the courseload. Note that I don't plan to respond to any whining about the above comments, as it would be a waste of my time. One last remark about this thread: I think you should ignore the stupid posts in this thread, and save your attention to the thoughtful ones (they're pretty easy to separate). In other words, don't let an inane majority intimidate you.

I'll admit I am academically mediocre but I have a great body, great job, wonderful girlfriend, and lots of friends to keep me company if I'm feeling depressed or bored.

Frankly I'd take family and friends over a high GPA any day. Some day will come when (insert name here) will look at all his/her books and realize they have nothing but the books to keep him/her company and that will be a lonely day in your life when it hits whoever it may be.

The not so positive comments about his studying habits are good. He shouldn't ignore them he should realize its going to hit him one day and he's going to be very unhappy if he keeps himself away from any type of social life. It might not be now, it might not be 10-15 years from now, it might be when his passion for his studying dies, that's when it will. If it doesn't ever die then I salute him, but if it does, look out.

This also brings up another great point, if you have no social skills your not going to get hired by anyone. All of my job interviews the first thing they do is see if you will FIT into the company, if you can't even get past that first part of the interview it doesn't matter how much you know. You don't get the 2nd interview. Lots of kids trying to get into IBM were smarting than me, but they had no social skills. When I left the interview the manager said I really like your attitude, you seem like the kind of person who would fit great into this company. The funniest part was, I had NO core computer science courses, he counted them and was like hm..it looks like you have only 2 computer science courses related to this job. My other friend was a senior who had a very similar GPA as me, I have a 3.64 but had much more experience but lacked social skills and didn't get the 2nd interview. So social skills are just as important as technical skills. The best way to get better at social skills are to get out of your chair.

 

[Ki Man]

I would wager that 9 out of 10 of the people who make these posts are academically mediocre. And yes, a 4.0 GPA can still be mediocre; GPA does not determine the rigor of the college or the courseload. Note that I don't plan to respond to any whining about the above comments, as it would be a waste of my time. One last remark about this thread: I think you should ignore the stupid posts in this thread, and save your attention to the thoughtful ones (they're pretty easy to separate). In other words, don't let an inane majority intimidate you.

I don't know anything about being mediocre but I suppose if he loves math enough to study 12 hours a day then there's not much we can do to tell him otherwise. I know I'd jump on the chance if someone gave me the ability to do physics all day It may seem like some of the people are being hard on him, but I think its all with good intentions.

As for the rump: I think just simply getting up every hour should be enough to keep your rump from getting sore. If you can go out for a walk, that's great but if you've not chance, that's OK too. (I'm not saying that you shouldn't walk, on the contrary a good walk would be the best course of action, but sometimes that just isn't an option.) Just stand up, even if its for only a minute or two, make sure there's a little spot in the room where the floor is clear enough for you to move around a little bit (this is only an issue if your room is as messy and unorganized as mine) maybe jump around a bit, pace around, get the blood flowing, do one or two simple stretches. It doesn't have to be much but the fact that you are getting out of the chair as opposed to staying rooted into it for a few hours straight will make a big difference. If possible you may even want to do some quick and simple yoga poses before going back to work. If you're not going to leave your studies, this is the least you should do. Also, if the problem persists, it might be the chair too. In that case you should look into getting one that's more ergonomically correct.

http://www.abc-of-fitness.com/stretching-exercise/leg-stretch.asp"

http://www.abc-of-yoga.com/yogabeginnersguide.asp"

 

[andytoh]

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.

From
https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=149938

His 16 hours minus 4 hours of class = 12 hours of studying, just like mathboy.

 

[Upgrayed]

put some soft pillow on the seat u will be fine

 

[jackinoffjill]

to not hurt your bum i suggest you do kegal exercises as in what women do they squeeze their bum cheeks. don't sit forever on your bum u will get athritis and hemmorhoids so you won't be able to relieve that from your bum. OK

 

[Alixia]

oh no, you can't be a legend by spending 12 hours per whole day just to study XD
go out shoot some deers with your dog, man XD

by the way, what is the standard numbers of hour to study in a day? 6? that's my limit lol

 

[JasonRox]

If you need to study 12 hours a day to get a 4.0, that is NOT good. That is mediocre. You ain't smart if you need that much ****ing time. Get real.

 

[BioCore]

If you need to study 12 hours a day to get a 4.0, that is NOT good. That is mediocre. You ain't smart if you need that much ****ing time. Get real.

I agree with Jason here. I mean if your seriously doing that much studying in one field to get a 4.0, then there is something wrong with the way you study.

But then we also have to think about what course your studying. I think when it comes to math, I probably would also do about 10 hours not 12 of studying. The reason being that I tend to get the theories of math but don't do a lot of problems, thus on test time I don't do too well when harder questions appear. Although in my Biology course (first one in my first year of uni) I got a 4.0 average with only about 2 to 3 hours of studying Bio each day I would say.

I am still taking calculus as it is a full year course, and my last math hopefully.

@ Mathboy:

Do you mind if I ask whether you study more than one course in those 12 hours? Seems to me that a lot of people think you only study one course, although you probably study only one subject but what about the number of courses? Do you give time to all of them or just focus on one every day?

 

[Cyrus]

At first I didn't want to post here, but I'm really tired of all these stupid responses about how mathboy is studying too much and needs to get a life. I would wager that 9 out of 10 of the people who make these posts are academically mediocre.

Are you serious? If so, I feel sorry for you. PS, the people posting here are probably much smarter than you give them credit for. That being said, be thankful the next time you open your mouth and ask for help and one of us provide you with an answer. Otherwise, its in bad taste for you to waltz in here and make claims on our intelligence with your entire 9 posts.

Its quite hypocritical of you to be tired of 'stupid responses' and then sum them up our very responses in bullet form yourself as if they were your ideas.

 

[BioCore]

At first I didn't want to post here, but I'm really tired of all these stupid responses about how mathboy is studying too much and needs to get a life. I would wager that 9 out of 10 of the people who make these posts are academically mediocre.

I would also like to say that ktm, you should first study these forums closely to understand what type of people you are dealing with before you claim something. Another thing, most of these posts are not saying that he should get a life, well at least not in the sense that he is a loner! But rather that the human mind is made/fashioned in a way that you have to have human physical (speech) contact, or else you could go crazy!

Not only that, I have heard about a lot of people who have actually studied almost their whole lives and then finally in the end they just cracked. The brain was not made for very long continuous stretches of work. You can train it, but even then you need to give it some rest. Besides, I know a lot of people who had awesome social lives, studied enough (and I know this because my mom's cousin is currently doing his PhD. and he never gave up the chance to socialize).

 

[binzing]

Don't EVEN, try to pull the Asbergers/Autism BS. I technically have PDD( I think its BS, and my mom just uses it as an excuse to yell at me(along with my bastardry)) and I couldn't study like that for money. So don't pull that crap.

 

[rocomath]

He obviously just wants attention, gj feeding it to him.

If you need to study 12 hours a day to get a 4.0, that is NOT good. That is mediocre. You ain't smart if you need that much ****ing time. Get real.

Lol, couldn't agree more!

 

[Cyrus]

Actually, I think he's telling the truth. He has a lot of posts in the math subforums.

 

[ktm]

I reviewed the thread and realized there were only a few posts that bugged me. It seems these few posts set the atmosphere for me in this thread. I'm sorry if I gave the wrong impression.

I was also bugged that it seemed like posters here were persuading the OP to change his lifestyle. I think it makes sense for the OP to ask a research math professor how much time he or she spends on math every day, as well as a doctor concerning the health issues. I have no problem with advice stated here, and I think it can be valuable, but I don't think he should make his decision off of this thread alone.

I will take some time to criticize one post that followed my own:
"If you need to study 12 hours a day to get a 4.0, that is NOT good. That is mediocre. You ain't smart if you need that much ****ing time. Get real."

This post makes the faulty, rather shallow assumption that he's only studying to get a 4.0. Does this poster not understand the idea of studying for the purpose of learning and doing math? He could in fact be studying materials outside of his classes. He could also be doing problems or chapters in his textbooks that his professors doesn't assign, There are also situations where a student gets permission from the dean to take more than the maximum number of credits allowed in a semester, and hence has an unusually heavy course load. In fact, the entire persuasive power of this post (which merits none) lies in its obnoxious attitude, which combined with a few other posts in this thread could fluster the OP and affect his decision without any good reason. It could also make him feel unwelcome on these forums. IIRC, he hasn't posted in this thread for a while, has he?

I assume someone is going to say that my post had a similarly obnoxious attitude. But 1) my post was not devoid of content like that above and 2) there were only a few people whom I was reacting to in my post, and I apologize to those who felt targeted but were not meant to be targeted.

 

[Coto]

The effectiveness of retaining information when studying for long periods of time go down. Especially when you're only studying a single subject. Switching from calc to lin. algebra to analysis to geometry over the course of a day is an extremely inefficient way of studying. Inspiration comes from living in general, and as other's have already pointed out, it yields more harm than good to focus on solely a single thing for day after day, hour after hour.

I'm not saying it's required that you go get a "life". What I'm saying is, if you focus too narrowly on a single thing (hobby), you will be an inefficient learner, and the wisdom that you would normally obtain over the years is lost in the hours of surplus time (which may seem productive, but your mind just does not work as quickly or efficiently when you do this) that you spend per day to study more.

Don't get me wrong. I've finished up my physics degree now, and for a few semesters I was working my ass off just to finish assignments and keep on top of the material each week. I understand how easy it is to become a 12hr study day, but I can't stress enough how much time you are truly wasting when you do this. Perhaps if the workload warrants that you have to do it, then so be it.. but otherwise, get your 8hrs of sleep, enjoy a couple hours of music and entertainment, get into the habit of doing some sort of exercise every day, and you'll find that a balanced day will cause you to accomplish as much studying as you are doing now in half the time.

 

[Saladsamurai]

If you need to study 12 hours a day to get a 4.0, that is NOT good. That is mediocre. You ain't smart if you need that much ****ing time. Get real.

He obviously just wants attention, gj feeding it to him.

Lol, couldn't agree more!

Well, we can't all be naturally brilliant like you guys