Q&A: Is there a maximum daily math study duration after which one risks causing more harm than good?

by Justin Skycak (@justinskycak) on

More volume equals more progress provided that you're working productively and not burning yourself out.

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I don’t know that there’s a hard limit. More volume equals more progress provided that you’re working productively and not burning yourself out.

  • If you're tired and your head is spinning and you're making tons of silly mistakes, then it's time to stop.
  • If you're so fatigued that you can't help but zone out (or get distracted scrolling through memes) between questions, then it's time to stop.
  • If you skip the next couple days because you're so blown out from the previous study session, then it's time to reduce the single-session duration and increase the consistency.

But until you hit those issues, doing more will have you truly learning more and making faster progress towards your long-term goals.

Basically, challenge yourself to put up some serious volume, but also be honest with yourself about whether you are working productively and showing up consistently, and don’t lose the long game trying to win the short game.

Based on my experience, I think everybody should be capable of putting up at least 2-3 hours per week, like a 30-minute workout each weekday. Doubling that, 60 minutes per weekday or 40-45 minutes each day, seems sustainable as for most people and will have you moving twice as fast. Beyond that is where things tend to start falling apart, but the specific breaking point varies from person to person.

Related: What’s the Highest Sustainable Daily XP on Math Academy?

Follow-Up Questions

What do the most talented people you know manage in terms of consistent daily workload? How does it compare to the average?

The truth is that the most talented people I know have some edge that allows them to level up faster than the average person, and despite having this edge, they still choose to put in way way more time than the average person. They spend most of their waking hours continuing to pushing the boulder even though it’s way beyond what most people consider the “finish line.” For this kind of person, there is no real concept of a finish line. The talent domain is a component of their identity, not just a skill equip.

The way they sustain such a high volume of work is by doing that “interleave a wide variety of productive work you enjoy” trick I mentioned in the section “How to Become a Super-Producer” in Advice on Upskilling. They’ve gotten far enough in the domain that they’re well past the narrow tree trunk of fundamental skill-building. They’ve mastered the fundamentals and have tons of different branches they can be traveling outwards along. Of course, some branches are more productive than others, so they need to focus their efforts and avoid spreading themself too thin, but even still, there’s quite a few highly productive areas they can cycle between. (Note: beginners sometimes have a hard time imagining this because they’re still climbing the tree trunk and haven’t really experienced the “branch-out” effect where it feels like the more you do, the more there is left to do.)


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