How I Can Study 10h a Day: The Perfect Schedule for Chaotic People

Summary

The video script discusses a personal approach to productivity that diverges from traditional scheduling and discipline methods. The speaker, a medical student with multiple jobs, found that a chaotically organized schedule and doing things when it feels right, rather than adhering to a strict schedule, led to increased happiness and productivity. The speaker categorizes tasks based on the attention, drive, and energy they require, and aligns these with personal motivation levels throughout the day. This method involves identifying tasks, understanding one's brain's concept of time, and utilizing motivation mapping to schedule activities when they are most likely to be completed effectively. The speaker emphasizes the importance of working with one's natural energy and motivation cycles, setting real deadlines, and ensuring that tasks are completed in a timely manner without relying on last-minute motivation. The script also highlights the use of a problem-solving platform, Brilliant, to enhance logical and analytical skills, which is presented as a tool that has positively impacted the speaker's approach to learning.

Takeaways

• 🤔 The importance of self-discipline and habits is often emphasized for productivity, but they may not work for everyone.
• 📚 A medical student's experience suggests that a more flexible, 'chaotically organized' schedule can lead to increased happiness and productivity.
• 🧠 Identifying tasks and understanding how your brain reacts to them can help determine the best approach to each task.
• 📈 Categorizing tasks based on required attention, drive, and energy levels can empower your brain and improve your approach to work.
• 🌓 Understanding your brain's concept of time, including when you have the most and least energy and motivation, is crucial for effective scheduling.
• 📈 Motivation mapping involves tracking your energy and motivation levels throughout the day, week, month, and year.
• 🚀 Motivation boosters, such as completing a big project or starting a new semester, can be used to schedule more challenging tasks.
• 📅 Strict deadlines are the only fixed items on the calendar, creating motivational loops that increase motivation as a deadline approaches.
• 🛠 Each day, select a task that matches your current energy and motivation levels, ensuring you are the most focused version of yourself.
• 🔄 Having a 'fall behind, catch up, and go ahead' schedule can help manage tasks within real deadlines without the stress of a rigid routine.
• 💡 Continuously improving logical and problem-solving skills can enhance overall thinking abilities and the way you approach learning.

Q & A

What is the main challenge the speaker discusses in relation to productivity and personal organization?

The main challenge discussed is the difficulty of maintaining focus and motivation when trying to get things done, despite having access to advanced technology and scheduling tools.

How does the speaker find that a more disciplined approach to habits and scheduling affects their personal well-being?

The speaker found that following mainstream scheduling advice led to misery, and instead, adopting a more chaotically organized schedule improved both their results and happiness.

What does the speaker suggest is a better way to approach work and tasks?

The speaker suggests working alongside one's natural brain rhythms and instincts, rather than forcing oneself into an arbitrary schedule that the brain may resist.

How does the speaker categorize tasks based on the energy, drive, and attention they require?

The speaker categorizes tasks into four categories: reading, writing, problem-solving, and physical practice, and evaluates each based on the required levels of attention, drive, and energy.

What is the significance of understanding how one's brain conceptualizes time?

Understanding one's brain's concept of time helps to identify the most productive and suitable times for different tasks, based on personal energy and motivation levels.

How does the speaker use motivation mapping to schedule their tasks?

The speaker uses motivation mapping to align tasks with their fluctuating energy and motivation levels throughout the day, ensuring they are most productive during peak times.

What are the speaker's personal motivation boosters?

The speaker's motivation boosters include finishing a big project, doing well in an exam, the start of a new semester, birthdays, new years, and the beginning of a new season.

Why does the speaker emphasize the importance of including real deadlines in their motivation map?

Including real deadlines creates motivational loops that increase motivation and focus as the deadline approaches, ensuring tasks are completed on time.

How does the speaker decide what task to perform each day?

The speaker matches the task's motivation and energy requirements with their current emotional state and the motivation map for the day, choosing the best task to perform at that moment.

What is the advantage of the speaker's approach to scheduling over a rigid routine?

The advantage is that the speaker is able to work as their most motivated and focused self, leading to better results and a higher likelihood of completing tasks efficiently and effectively.

How does the speaker's use of the platform Brilliant contribute to their learning and personal development?

The speaker uses Brilliant to improve logical and problem-solving skills, applying the principles behind the platform's teaching methods to their self-directed learning in medicine.

Outlines

00:00

🤔 Embracing Chaos: Personalized Productivity

The speaker discusses the limitations of traditional time management and discipline, sharing their personal journey from a conventional schedule to a more chaotic, yet effective, approach. They found that understanding their brain's natural tendencies and working with them, rather than against them, led to increased productivity and happiness. The speaker categorizes tasks based on the attention, drive, and energy required, allowing them to align tasks with their natural motivation levels and perform optimally without relying on habits.

05:00

📅 Understanding Time Through Motivation Mapping

The speaker emphasizes the importance of understanding how one's brain perceives time and how motivation levels fluctuate. They describe their personal motivation map, which includes identifying peak energy and motivation times, such as being a night owl, and how self-restraint decreases as the day progresses. They also discuss how to leverage motivation boosters, such as completing a significant task or experiencing a personal milestone, to schedule high-energy tasks. The speaker integrates strict deadlines into their calendar to create motivational loops that increase motivation as deadlines approach, ensuring tasks are completed on time.

10:01

🧠 Daily Task Selection Based on Motivation and Energy

The speaker outlines their daily routine of selecting tasks based on current motivation and energy levels, as well as the emotional state and circumstances of the day. They avoid rigid schedules, allowing for flexibility and ensuring they approach tasks as their most motivated and focused self. This method contrasts with arbitrary scheduling, which can lead to inefficiency and dissatisfaction. The speaker also mentions using Brilliant, a platform for improving logical and problem-solving skills, as part of their personal development and learning process.

Keywords

💡Discipline

Discipline refers to the practice of training oneself to follow a set of rules or a pattern of behavior, especially for self-improvement. In the video, the speaker mentions that while discipline and habits are often recommended for getting things done, they found a more personalized approach to be more effective. Discipline is a key theme as it contrasts with the speaker's chaotic organization method.

💡Habits

Habits are regular tendencies or practices that often occur subconsciously. The video discusses how habits, while useful for many, did not work for the speaker, who instead adopted a more flexible and intuitive scheduling method. Habits are central to the discussion on personal productivity and time management.

💡Chaotically Organized

Chaotically organized describes a system or approach that is not rigidly structured but rather flexible and adaptable. The speaker found that moving from a mainstream scheduling method to a chaotically organized one increased both their happiness and productivity. This concept is central to the video's narrative on personal efficiency.

💡Medical Student

A medical student is someone who is enrolled in a program to study medicine and become a physician. The speaker identifies as a medical student, which sets the context for their need for effective study and time management strategies. The role of a medical student is significant as it represents a demanding schedule and the necessity for the speaker to find a personalized approach to organization.

💡Scheduling

Scheduling is the act of planning and arranging events or tasks in a chronological order. The video explores different approaches to scheduling, with the speaker ultimately advocating for a more intuitive and less rigid method that aligns with their personal energy levels and motivation. Scheduling is a key concept as it is the primary method for organizing tasks and time.

💡Motivation Mapping

Motivation mapping is a technique described in the video where one identifies and plans their tasks and activities around their natural fluctuations in motivation and energy levels throughout the day. It is a crucial strategy that the speaker uses to enhance personal productivity, as it involves understanding one's own patterns and using them to time tasks more effectively.

💡Energy Levels

Energy levels refer to the amount of physical and mental stamina one has at a given time. The speaker discusses how their energy levels vary throughout the day, affecting their ability to perform tasks. Energy levels are a key factor in the speaker's chaotic organization method as they use this understanding to schedule tasks that match their available energy.

💡Self-Restraint

Self-restraint is the ability to control one's impulses or urges. In the context of the video, the speaker notes that their self-restraint decreases as the day progresses, which influences their scheduling decisions. Self-restraint is an important concept as it affects the speaker's ability to force themselves to do tasks they may not feel like doing.

💡Deadlines

Deadlines are fixed dates or times by which a task or project must be completed. The video emphasizes the importance of incorporating real deadlines into one's schedule to create motivational loops that increase motivation as the deadline approaches. Deadlines are a fundamental part of the speaker's approach to ensuring tasks are completed on time.

💡Problem-Solving

Problem-solving is the process of finding solutions to problems. The speaker categorizes tasks into different types, including problem-solving, which requires high levels of attention and energy. Problem-solving is highlighted as a task that the speaker prefers to tackle during periods of high motivation and energy.

💡Logical and Problem-Solving Skills

Logical and problem-solving skills are cognitive abilities that allow one to analyze and solve complex issues. The speaker mentions improving these skills through the use of a platform called Brilliant, which is presented as a tool for enhancing one's ability to think critically and solve problems. These skills are portrayed as important for the speaker's personal and academic development.

Highlights

The author suggests that traditional discipline and habits may not work for everyone and advocates for a more personalized approach to productivity.

Switching from a mainstream schedule to a chaotically organized one improved the author's results and happiness.

The author categorizes tasks into four types: reading, writing, problem-solving, and physical practice based on the required attention, drive, and energy.

Reading tasks require relatively low attention, drive, and energy, making them easier to start with low motivation.

Writing tasks demand high levels of attention, drive, and energy, which can be challenging with low motivation.

The author emphasizes the importance of working with one's natural energy and motivation cycles rather than against them.

Understanding one's personal energy and motivation patterns throughout the day is key to effective scheduling.

The author is a night owl, with motivation and energy levels peaking in the evening and night.

Self-restraint decreases as the day progresses, making it harder to force oneself to work at night despite higher energy levels.

Motivation mapping involves aligning tasks with one's natural motivation and energy levels at different times of the day.

Completing a significant task, such as a project, can provide a motivation boost, making the next day ideal for tackling difficult tasks.

Life events like exams, semester starts, birthdays, or new seasons can act as motivation boosters for the author.

Real deadlines are used to create motivational loops, with motivation increasing as the deadline approaches.

The author does not rely on last-minute motivation but acknowledges its existence as a backup for task completion.

Each day, the author selects a task that matches current motivation and energy levels, ensuring focused and effective work.

The author discusses a 'fall behind, catch up, and go ahead' schedule as a strategy for managing tasks within real deadlines.

Using Brilliant for improving logical and problem-solving skills has had a positive impact on the author's approach to learning.

The author recommends Brilliant for its compounding benefits in enhancing one's thinking skills and offers a discount link for viewers.

Transcripts

it's funny isn't it we've got all this

technology all these clever machines

rules and schedules to organize

ourselves but when it comes down to it

it's just us

able to force ourselves to do something

but unable to force ourselves to

actually pay attention to the thing

the solution to the problem of getting

things done i'm told is more discipline

and habits which i'm sure works for most

people but as a medical student with a

bunch of other jobs i actually found

that when i went from this mainstream

scheduling advice which made me

absolutely miserable to a more elizabeth

chaotically organized schedule and just

doing things when it felt like a

reasonable time to do them my results

and happiness actually increased a lot

i've now realized i can get a lot more

done easier if i work alongside my brain

instead of forcing it to do things on an

arbitrary schedule which it absolutely

hates and punishes me for so if habits

also don't work for you and if your

current schedule is driving you nuts

today i'm going to be breaking down in

detail my brain's instinct with all of

the principles and the lines of

reasoning that i have built over years

of trying to successfully live a

chaotically organized life in the hope

that by the end of this video you can

also internalize all of the same

instincts and rethink the way that you

approach your schedule to be able to

succeed without habits in chaos i'm

going to use how i study in medical

school as an example and as detailed as

this may seem once it's internalized it

only takes a few seconds to apply let's

jump straight into it the very first

thing that i do before i even think of

working or scheduling is identifying and

introducing all of the tasks that i am

due to do to my brain and seeing how my

brain reacts to them in this way i can

see what sort of skills are required of

me when doing the task so i can figure

out what is the best version of me that

can show up for this task let me explain

what i mean even though studying in

medical school seems like one huge thing

it's obviously composed of so many

different sorts of studying and tasks

that i need to do and all of these

things will naturally for me fall into

some sort of category so i'm going to

list all of these things and i'm just

going to let my brain instinctively

group them and what tends to happen to

me for my studying is that they fall

under four categories reading writing

problem solving and physical practice

the reason that this is valuable is that

i can then evaluate how much attention

drive and energy is required for all of

the tasks in these different categories

so for example so the reading category

is something that requires relatively

low attention compared to everything

else that i need to do it also requires

low levels of drive because i'm likely

to want to do things here because

if i want to study the easiest thing i

can do realistically is just read

something about it it's quite fun and

also when it comes to energy it's very

low level energy i can do it lying in

bed before i go to sleep i can compare

this with writing for example which is

an activity which requires high levels

of attention i really really need to do

active work to get the task done also it

requires high levels of drive i usually

don't find writing essays or writing

projects or writing kind of studies and

research interesting i find it really

challenging and also it requires high

levels of energy just because it

requires so much motivation and work on

my end so i can see how any task that

falls in a category that requires little

attention little drive and little energy

is an activity that i'm likely to have

high levels of motivation to do on the

other end any tasks that requires high

levels of attention high levels of drive

and high levels of energy will be a task

that i will generally have low

motivation to do because it takes a lot

of work

so i will explain in a moment why this

categorization helps a lot when it comes

to scheduling but just now we can see

how this breakdown kind of adds color

and adds life and empowers my brain in

the way that it approaches work in

general because given a day where i have

for example low levels of motivation if

i thought of studying as one huge big

thing this level of motivation wouldn't

be enough to get it done however there

will always be tasks that require so

little energy or so little drive or so

little attention that means that they

fall under the amount of motivation that

is required and therefore i have enough

to do it and i'm actually enjoying and

able to do this activity so whenever i'm

approaching tasks i will kind of

categorize them in this way and see

therefore based on the attention drive

and energy that is required for them how

much motivation does this task require

of me and how much brain power does this

task require next i'm moving on to my

second point which is perhaps the most

important one of all for me and this is

basically understanding how my brain

conceptualizes time because not all time

off is made the same and it's not

appropriate or functional for me to just

book in something to work whenever i

have time off because i won't be able to

work that way the way that my brain

conceptualizes time or what's a good

time or a bad time to do something is

very much based on my energy and

motivation and therefore when i think of

scheduling or when i think of time in

general it's always done on a motivation

map and i'm going to show you how you

can do motivation mapping for yourself

it pays a lot in the future to

understand exactly how you work and how

your levels of motivation fluctuate

throughout the day week month year etc

etc i'm going to show you how i do this

for example i know that on a daily basis

i am not a morning person in the morning

my levels of motivation and energy tend

to be quite low i'm a night owl so as

the day progresses my levels of

motivation tend to increase and they

peak at around evening and night time

until obviously they crash because i i

need to sleep so this is how my levels

of motivation increase throughout the

day it's also important to realize here

that my self-restraint however goes down

throughout the day so what this means is

that i don't have the ability to force

myself to do things during the night

time so even though i have more energy

to do things then i can't force myself

to do things if i schedule something for

late at night i'm very likely to go ah

square i'll just do it tomorrow however

first thing in the morning or in the

early part of the day i'm able to do

tasks that i don't want to do a lot

easier even though i have a lot less

energy so what this means is for the

evening is a good time for me to do a

high energy task that i enjoy the

morning time is a good time for me to do

a low energy task which i hate and in

the midday or the early evening or as

soon as i finish my main obligations is

a good time for me to do a task which is

high energy which i don't enjoy so this

sort of motivation mapping throughout

the day is something that i always keep

in mind when i'm going to discuss what i

discuss later but this doesn't only

happen on a daily basis for example a

sunday night is not a good time for me

to work i have low levels of motivation

even though it's technically evening

time because i just think oh it's a new

week i deserve time off saturday is a

good time for me to work so kind of

thinking how these levels fluctuate

throughout the week but also very

importantly there are unique things that

will act as motivation boosters that i

am aware of so for example if i finish a

huge project let's say a youtube video i

know that once i finish a big task i get

a huge motivation boost in general in

life i just feel like i've accomplished

something and i'm happy so i know as

soon as i publish something the next day

is a good time for me to actually have

higher levels of motivation so i can put

in a task there that is more difficult

that i don't want to do or for example

when i do very well in something like an

exam or when i finish a semester and a

new semester starts or for example after

my birthday or when a new year starts or

a new season starts i know that i have

this renewed level of motivation

boosters which kind of fades in a few

days or weeks depending on how big the

thing is that happened but i know that i

am due these motivation boosters after

something good happens in my life now as

this motivation map is coming into life

one super important part of it is

putting in the real deadlines for what

i'm supposed to do so this for example

is when is the project due when is the

practice exam happening when is the

final exam happening when is the

academic year closing all of these

things will go in my calendar and these

will be the only things that i will put

in there as strict deadlines the reason

for this is that i'm creating little

motivational loops for example between

now and when my final exam is i know

that i will have a slowly increasing

which at some point will go exponential

motivation level to study for that exam

also i know if i have a project kind of

sooner i will have the same sort of

pattern like low motivation and it will

greatly increase as i go around it so i

know as i'm creating this little cycles

and bubbles of tasks that are due i know

that as i get closer to the task my

motivation for getting that task done

will increase with the anxiety of the

deadline increasing now i know that i

should not and very often actually now i

don't rely on that last minute

motivation to get things done but in the

back of my mind i always know that it is

there so worst case scenario i know that

i shouldn't feel too too bad if five

days before something is due i don't

feel like doing it because i know three

days later i'm going to want to do it a

lot more because my motivation is due to

increase as the task is due so these are

also things that i will add to my

motivation map now we move on to the

last stage as i said up to now

everything is instinctual nothing has

actually gone on to my schedule apart

from the strict deadlines but i have all

of the instincts to get things done on

one level i know all of the tasks that i

am due to do and what categories they

fall into what my levels of motivation

are for this task how much energy and

focus they will require what is the best

mindset that i can be in to do this task

on the other level i'm intimately

familiar with every day all of the free

time that will be available in my

calendar is time that also based on this

motivation mapping i know what my energy

will be at the time what my motivation

will be at the time kind of what's going

on in my life and how i'm emotionally

feeling around this time so basically

what i then do is that every single day

i will pick a task based on what the

motivation requirements and the energy

requirements for that task are and what

i'm feeling at the moment and what my

motivation map instinctively looks like

at the moment and so once i match these

with one another the only question i

need to ask myself is what's the best

thing for me to do right now and what do

i feel like doing right now and that's

what i will just sit down and do because

i am picking everything that i need to

do every single day i'm kind of avoiding

that pain of putting my brain into this

arbitrary regular schedule of things

because it has the freedom to pick what

it needs to do when it makes sense what

this also means is that then i am

guaranteeing that i am showing up as the

most motivated as the most focused as

the most excited version of myself to do

that task this is a very intelligent

elizabeth that shows up because when i

need to do things that do not match my

motivation at the moment that do not

match my energy at the moment i can show

up as a very slow bored annoyed

elizabeth that will not get this task

done properly which then means that the

difference between this arbitrary

schedule and this motivation mapped

schedule is night and day the results

that i get are absolutely so different

because i'm always working as my

motivated and focused version of myself

which doesn't need to stick to routines

which i hate because the deadlines are

always in the calendar i never forget or

skip them they are always done in time

and on a day-to-day basis i just do what

i feel like very often i do end up

falling behind on things but i have a

video where i explain my fall behind

catch up and go ahead schedule which is

definitely a good way to get things done

chaotically within these real frameworks

of real deadlines and also the end of

the day in the long term i'm showing up

as my focused and motivated version to

do most things an activity which

definitely requires low levels of energy

drive and attention to do and therefore

i do not need a lot of motivation to

make myself do is improving on my

logical and problem-solving skills and

generally making myself a better thinker

through brilliant which are very kindly

sponsoring this video i definitely think

that there are compounding benefits in

my problem solving and thinking skills

and especially the way that i approach

learning in general i think has changed

ever since i've started to use brilliant

at the moment i am doing the new course

on everyday maths because surprisingly

unsurprisingly i very much enjoyed doing

more complicated maths in school than

the pure basics i definitely think the

broader principles behind how brilliant

to create lessons and do teaching is

something that i try to apply myself

when i'm teaching myself things in

medicine so if you also want to have a

look at brilliant there will be a link

in my description that will give you 20

off but otherwise if you made it so far

thank you so much for spending this time

with me i hope you have a wonderful rest

of your day be count yourself and others

and don't believe everything you think

thanks bye