Integral habits and why you shouldn't do an hour of math a day
Back in 2012 just before completing my first degree I took a first year Attic Greek class. I guessed that Greek might be my passion. I can't remember my reasoning. But that was certainly one of my luckiest guesses. Attic Greek is my passion. Every day I think Greek and the Ancient world. Almost every day I read in or work on Greek.
But I didn't just get a passion from that class. I also got a friend. We haven't lived in the same city for multiple years now, so I consider him an online friend. He graduated soon after me and didn't have the opportunity to carry on in the Language, but we still talk about it and read together from time to time.
We both have our Summer Projects list while we are out of school. His is math and drawing, mine is XML and Greek. While discussing our projects he brought up the concept that longer is better. At first I didn't get it. An hour a day on Greek seems like quite a long time. And it is, but that wasn't his point. He sent me Longer is Better (Introduction to Efficiency) which is part of an online series of math videos. It also applies very well to Greek.
I recommend watching the video, but to break it down, the argument is as follows:
Every time you sit down to work there is a warm up time and a cool down time. Say 10 minutes to warm up and 5 minutes of cool down. That means you lose 15 minutes every session.
Say you want to spend 5 hours doing math.
If you break it into five 60 minute sessions then you lose 15 minutes.
15x5 = 75
If you break it into two 150 minute sessions then you lose 15min x 2.
15 x 2 = 30
If you work in five 1 hour sessions you lose over 1.25 hours. If you work in two 2.5 hour sessions you lose only .5. That means you spend an extra 45 minutes studying.
And that leads me to habits. Now, I could say, "yes of course but I need to form the daily habit! I've gotta do that Greek every day or else the habit won't work."
But it turns out that isn't true. I have lots of habits I don't do every day. I have certain things I do just on Halloween and just at Christmas. Those are habits that I only use once a year.
So why are people so convinced that you need to do a bit of math every day? Because you need to do something every day. It's just not math. And I do mean something. It doesn't matter what, so long as it is simple and important enough that you need to and are able to do it every day.
When I first started depression medication I found myself getting up in the morning with joy for the first time in my life. What got me out of bed? The 7am news. I would take my meds, jump out of bed, and run to turn on the radio in time to listen to the news. That changed when I realised I should eat breakfast before taking my ADHD medication. So now it's putting away the dishes first thing in the morning. For my wife it is swinging her legs out of bed and taking her meds. For some people it's making the bed every morning. It doesn't matter what you choose. But it should be simple enough that you can do it no matter how busy the day. So why not do an hour of math? Because you can't do an hour of math every day. There are going to be days when you leave the house at 8am and don't have a stopping moment until dinner. But there are always 3 minutes to take care of the basics.
Doing something every day gets you up and moving in the morning. It sets your brain up for all the other habits and tasks of the day. Without a integral habit I can't get started on my day. Once formed integral habits should require very little will power. That's why they can't be big things like doing an hour of math. That requires willpower. Making your bed doesn't.
But I didn't just get a passion from that class. I also got a friend. We haven't lived in the same city for multiple years now, so I consider him an online friend. He graduated soon after me and didn't have the opportunity to carry on in the Language, but we still talk about it and read together from time to time.
We both have our Summer Projects list while we are out of school. His is math and drawing, mine is XML and Greek. While discussing our projects he brought up the concept that longer is better. At first I didn't get it. An hour a day on Greek seems like quite a long time. And it is, but that wasn't his point. He sent me Longer is Better (Introduction to Efficiency) which is part of an online series of math videos. It also applies very well to Greek.
I recommend watching the video, but to break it down, the argument is as follows:
Every time you sit down to work there is a warm up time and a cool down time. Say 10 minutes to warm up and 5 minutes of cool down. That means you lose 15 minutes every session.
Say you want to spend 5 hours doing math.
If you break it into five 60 minute sessions then you lose 15 minutes.
15x5 = 75
If you break it into two 150 minute sessions then you lose 15min x 2.
15 x 2 = 30
If you work in five 1 hour sessions you lose over 1.25 hours. If you work in two 2.5 hour sessions you lose only .5. That means you spend an extra 45 minutes studying.
And that leads me to habits. Now, I could say, "yes of course but I need to form the daily habit! I've gotta do that Greek every day or else the habit won't work."
But it turns out that isn't true. I have lots of habits I don't do every day. I have certain things I do just on Halloween and just at Christmas. Those are habits that I only use once a year.
So why are people so convinced that you need to do a bit of math every day? Because you need to do something every day. It's just not math. And I do mean something. It doesn't matter what, so long as it is simple and important enough that you need to and are able to do it every day.
When I first started depression medication I found myself getting up in the morning with joy for the first time in my life. What got me out of bed? The 7am news. I would take my meds, jump out of bed, and run to turn on the radio in time to listen to the news. That changed when I realised I should eat breakfast before taking my ADHD medication. So now it's putting away the dishes first thing in the morning. For my wife it is swinging her legs out of bed and taking her meds. For some people it's making the bed every morning. It doesn't matter what you choose. But it should be simple enough that you can do it no matter how busy the day. So why not do an hour of math? Because you can't do an hour of math every day. There are going to be days when you leave the house at 8am and don't have a stopping moment until dinner. But there are always 3 minutes to take care of the basics.
Doing something every day gets you up and moving in the morning. It sets your brain up for all the other habits and tasks of the day. Without a integral habit I can't get started on my day. Once formed integral habits should require very little will power. That's why they can't be big things like doing an hour of math. That requires willpower. Making your bed doesn't.
Comments
Post a Comment