How I Routinely Study With a Full Time Job when I'm TIRED

Summary

The speaker shares their personal journey of balancing work, studies, and personal interests while in college and medical school. They emphasize the importance of focusing on high-intensity tasks during peak focus hours, which for them is in the morning, and gradually shifting to lighter tasks as energy levels decrease throughout the day. To enhance productivity, they suggest setting strict bedtimes to wake up naturally and avoid the stress of alarms, and setting firm deadlines to counteract procrastination. The speaker also highlights the value of eliminating activities that do not bring joy or value to one's life, thus creating more time for meaningful pursuits. These strategies are tailored to the speaker's personal preferences and work habits, suggesting that individuals should adapt these principles to their own brain type and personality for optimal effectiveness.

Takeaways

• 📚 Prioritize focus over time: Schedule your day around your most focused periods for the most demanding tasks.
• 🔋 Manage your mental energy: Recognize that focus is like a battery that depletes throughout the day and plan accordingly.
• ☕ Boost your focus: Use techniques like coffee or cold showers to give your focus a temporary boost.
• 🌞 Early morning productivity: The speaker found that studying in the early morning when their focus was highest was more effective.
• 🛌 Set a strict bedtime: Instead of relying on an alarm, adjust your sleep schedule to wake up naturally earlier.
• 🕒 Strict deadlines: Use deadlines to combat Parkinson's Law and reduce procrastination by creating artificial time pressure.
• 🎓 Break tasks into smaller pieces: Make large assignments more manageable and less daunting by breaking them down.
• 🎉 Reward yourself: Use rewards as motivation for completing tasks and to maintain a balance in life.
• 🚫 Stop doing what you hate: Identify and eliminate activities that don't bring joy or value to your life to create more time for what matters.
• 🧘 Reflect and self-assess: Be honest with yourself about how you spend your time and what activities can be cut to improve focus and happiness.
• 🔄 Adjust your schedule: Be flexible and willing to adjust your routine to fit your natural rhythms and optimize productivity.

Q & A

What was the speaker's initial approach to balancing work and studies?

The speaker initially balanced work and studies by working as a barista, tutor, and at a yoga studio while taking full stack classes. They did not drop work to focus on school despite the challenges.

Why did the speaker's grades suffer during college?

The speaker's grades suffered because they were juggling multiple jobs while attending college full-time, and they were also distracted by the anime 'Hunter x Hunter' which aired around that time.

What strategy did the speaker develop to manage their productivity?

The speaker developed a strategy to schedule their life around focus rather than time, realizing that focus is like a phone battery that drains throughout the day.

How did the speaker rearrange their daily routine to maximize focus?

The speaker started doing the most intense studying in the morning when their focus was highest, then did less rigorous studying throughout the day, and reserved lighter studying tasks for the end of the day when their energy levels were lower.

What is the 'Jedi mind trick' the speaker used to make mornings less awful?

The 'Jedi mind trick' involved setting a strict bedtime instead of a wake-up time, allowing the speaker to wake up naturally earlier without the use of an alarm, leading to a more peaceful and productive start to the day.

How did the speaker adapt their time management system to a flexible schedule during medical school?

The speaker set strict deadlines for everything, from studying to running errands, to optimize focus and maintain a work-life balance despite an erratic work schedule.

What is Parkinson's Law and how did the speaker apply it to their time management?

Parkinson's Law states that work expands to fill the time given for its completion. The speaker applied it by setting strict deadlines, which forced them to focus and avoid procrastination.

What are the three main determinants of procrastination identified in the paper from Japan?

The three main determinants are the challenge of the task, the rewards or punishments associated with it, and the perceived distance or time until the task is due.

How did the speaker use rewards and breaking down tasks to combat procrastination?

The speaker gave themselves rewards for finishing tasks, such as going out with friends or having dinner, and broke down big assignments into smaller, more manageable pieces to reduce the perceived challenge.

What is the final principle the speaker suggests for managing a busy schedule?

The final principle is to stop doing things you hate or that bring no joy or value to your life, which helps to create more time for activities that are fulfilling and contribute to a happier, more focused approach to life.

How did the speaker's approach to time management change when they added a YouTube channel and a research project to their responsibilities?

The speaker realized the importance of time pressure on their ability to focus and began to cut out pointless activities and commitments that did not bring value to their life, allowing them to maintain their focus and manage their increased responsibilities.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Balancing Work, School, and Personal Interests

The speaker reflects on their college experience juggling multiple jobs and academic responsibilities while developing strategies for productivity. Initially, they struggled with managing time effectively, leading to a decline in academic performance. However, they discovered the importance of scheduling life around focus rather than just time. They compared focus to a phone battery that depletes throughout the day and realized that to maximize productivity, they needed to align their most intense studying with their highest focus periods, typically in the morning. As energy levels drop, they would switch to less demanding tasks. The speaker also emphasizes the individual nature of focus, noting that different people have different peak focus times.

05:02

🛌 Adjusting Sleep Patterns for Improved Productivity

The speaker discusses their struggle with waking up early and how they overcame it by setting a strict bedtime instead of a wake-up time. This approach allowed them to naturally wake up earlier without the stress of an alarm, leading to a more peaceful and productive start to the day. They also mention the benefits of adjusting their circadian rhythm by getting light exposure upon waking up, which helped shift their active period earlier in the day. Additionally, they talk about the challenges of managing an erratic work schedule during medical school and how setting strict deadlines for all tasks, including leisure activities, helped them maintain focus and avoid procrastination.

10:04

⏰ Prioritizing Focus and Eliminating Time Wasters

The speaker highlights the significance of time pressure in enhancing focus and productivity. They share their experience of adding a YouTube channel and a research project to their already busy schedule, which initially led to feelings of being overwhelmed. To address this, they adopted the principle of quitting activities they disliked or found unproductive. This self-reflection led to the elimination of time-wasting activities and toxic relationships, allowing them to focus on tasks that brought value and joy. The speaker encourages others to use this principle as a tool for self-assessment to identify and remove activities that do not contribute to their overall happiness or focus.

Keywords

💡Productivity

Productivity refers to the efficiency of an individual's work or the rate at which goods and services are produced. In the video, it is a central theme as the speaker discusses strategies for managing multiple responsibilities without burning out. The speaker's personal journey from struggling with time management to developing smarter strategies for productivity is a key narrative.

💡Focus

Focus is the concentration of attention or resources on a particular object or activity. The video emphasizes the importance of scheduling life around focus rather than just time. The speaker illustrates how managing focus, like a phone battery, is crucial for maintaining productivity throughout the day, especially during intensive studying or work sessions.

💡Time Management

Time management is the process of planning and controlling how much time is spent on particular activities to increase efficiency or productivity. The video provides insights into how the speaker's approach to time management evolved from a rigid schedule to one that prioritizes focus and energy levels, leading to a more balanced and effective routine.

💡Burnout

Burnout is a state of chronic physical and emotional exhaustion often caused by prolonged stress. The video discusses the risks of burnout when one does not manage their focus and energy levels effectively. The speaker shares personal experiences and strategies to avoid burnout by aligning work and study schedules with natural energy fluctuations.

💡Parkinson's Law

Parkinson's Law is the adage that 'work expands to fill the time available for its completion.' The video mentions this law to explain why setting strict deadlines is crucial for productivity. The speaker uses this principle to argue that by imposing time pressure, one can prevent the tendency to procrastinate and ensure tasks are completed efficiently.

💡Procrastination

Procrastination is the act of delaying or postponing tasks. The video explores the reasons behind procrastination and how the speaker combats it through setting strict deadlines, breaking down tasks into smaller pieces, and using rewards. The concept is integral to the speaker's overall message about optimizing focus and time management.

💡Circadian Rhythm

Circadian rhythm refers to the body's internal clock that regulates the sleep-wake cycle and repeats roughly every 24 hours. The video discusses how the speaker adjusted their circadian rhythm to wake up earlier and align with their most productive hours. This change is part of the strategy to enhance focus and productivity.

💡Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method that involves breaking work into intervals, traditionally 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks. The video briefly mentions this technique as a tool to help maintain focus and prevent burnout by managing work sessions and rest periods effectively.

💡Side Hustle

A side hustle is a part-time job or business that one does in addition to their primary job. The video mentions the speaker's YouTube channel as an example of a side hustle, which they pursued while managing their full-time job and studies. It illustrates the speaker's ability to balance multiple commitments and maintain productivity.

💡Toxic People

Toxic people are individuals who have a negative influence on one's mental health or well-being. The video discusses the importance of cutting out time spent with toxic people to maintain focus and mental health. The speaker shares their decision to eliminate such relationships to create a more fulfilling and less stressful life.

💡Self-Reflection

Self-reflection is the process of examining one's own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. The video encourages self-reflection as a tool for identifying and eliminating activities that do not bring joy or value to one's life. It is presented as a critical step in creating a more focused and efficient schedule.

Highlights

The speaker developed strategies to balance work, study, and personal interests despite a demanding schedule.

Focus, not time, is identified as the key resource for productivity.

An analogy of focus as a phone battery that drains throughout the day is used to explain its fluctuating nature.

The importance of scheduling tasks around peak focus times is emphasized for efficiency.

The speaker shares personal experience juggling an EMT job, school, and MCAT preparation.

A shift from time-based to focus-based scheduling led to improved productivity and less burnout.

The concept of 'battery saver mode' for the brain is introduced to describe periods of low focus.

Setting a strict bedtime instead of wake-up time can lead to more natural and less stressful mornings.

Light exposure upon waking helps regulate circadian rhythms and improve morning productivity.

Parkinson's Law is discussed in the context of setting strict deadlines to prevent procrastination.

The use of rewards and breaking tasks into smaller pieces to combat procrastination is suggested.

Productive people are highlighted as being adept at transitioning focus and blocking out distractions.

The principle of eliminating activities that bring no joy or value is proposed to create more meaningful time.

The impact of cutting out toxic social engagements and focusing on mental health is discussed.

The importance of self-reflection to identify and remove time-wasting activities is emphasized.

Incorporating more fulfilling activities and hobbies into the schedule after cutting out the unnecessary.

The speaker's system is tailored to their 'brain type' and suggests others may need a different approach.

The video includes a call to action for viewers to learn more about their own brain type for optimized productivity.

Transcripts

back in college i was one of those kids

who always had a job while in school at

first i worked as a barista making

mediocre latte art for poor students

then i added on a tutoring gig for high

schoolers and then front desk at a yoga

studio all the while taking full stack

classes as you can imagine an 18 year

old punk like me didn't know how to

handle that kind of responsibility

especially since that was right around

the time hunter x hunter started to air

and my grades paid the price

any sane rookie would have dropped work

to focus on school but i really liked

having the extra cash to find my

luxurious six dollar specialty coffee

addiction so after years of learning and

experimentation in the productivity

space i slowly began to develop smarter

strategies that eventually allowed me to

work a full-time job and study

consistently by the end of college i was

working over 40 hours a week as an emt

studying for school and preparing for

the mcat all at the same time and i

wasn't burning out i was locked in hey

misty activate focus mode i was able to

carry this system into medical school at

cajun koi academy in my third year i was

working full-time in rotations studying

and grinding on my youtube side hustle

so i want to share the principles i use

for arranging my life so all the pieces

of the puzzle fit and i hope the lessons

i've learned from managing my own time

can help you find balance no matter what

kind of job or academic schedule you

have so the first big mind-boggling idea

i adopted was to schedule my life around

focus

not time

let me explain why with an analogy our

focus is like a phone battery that

drains throughout the day even if we're

not playing pokemon unite or texting

someone we can give or focus some juice

with things like coffee or cold showers

but it's going to drop regardless as the

day goes on

as the brain gets tired our focus is

lost and we enter battery saver mode and

our brain hates being tired it starts to

complain like a hangry child it wanders

it daydreams it starts to feel bored we

get headaches and the more and more we

push the worse our focus actually gets

and the more likely we are to

procrastinate burn out and fall prey to

temptations of more fun activities

before i paid attention to scheduling my

life around focus i used to organize a

workday like this i wake up at 9 30 and

drive to work by 10 am

i'd then work a 10 hour shift head to

the gym on the way home eat a quick bite

and then start studying at like 10 p.m

i'd go until about 2 a.m or something

before just passing out from pure

exhaustion and let me tell you this

absolutely sucked i'd be totally blasted

after work my mental battery was

depleted so my focus was shot and i can

never finish studying and i remember

thinking geez i wish i had like five

more hours every single day so i could

actually get through my studies but that

wouldn't actually work either because

contrary to conventional thinking i

believe our most valuable resource is

actually not time it's focus if i can't

even read a paragraph because i'm

running on e hallucinating after a long

work day then it doesn't even matter if

i have five more hours or 500 more hours

my battery is fried but then i had this

crazy idea

what if i moved this study block from

here

to here

so i was studying when my battery was

actually full

such a simple idea but i never thought

about it that way before i always

assumed that as long as i scheduled in

time to study during the day i was good

but i didn't take into account my

fluctuating focus

so to maximize focus i wake up and do

the most intense studying before i even

go to work and as my energy levels drop

throughout the day i'll do less rigorous

studying in the pockets of time i can

find at work like brain dumping concepts

under my notes app or redrawing mind

maps from memory and then late in the

day when my energy is low after work i

can relax with easier light studying

like reading or burning through some

flash cards i'd break up my day by focus

and tackle the most intense studying

what my focus is highest because it

demands the most brain power and then i

can allow the natural progression of my

energy throughout the day to determine

how to study optimally and efficiently

and reduce burning out but i do want to

point out that for me

my focus is highest in the morning

contrast that with my best friend over

here whose focus is actually highest at

night time while my battery drains

throughout the day there are some mutant

night owls whose batteries start drained

and then slowly charge throughout the

day he's definitely not a morning person

obviously akuma come on misty

the alarm it takes a while to wake up in

the morning so for him his schedule

might be opposite of mine so he can move

his study block from here back to here

but the whole idea is to plan our study

intensity according to when our battery

is fullest but like many degenerate

students i'm a chronic snoozer i'm one

of those roll out of bed five minutes

before class that head and lecture kind

of rookie so even the thought of getting

up earlier is triggering to me but i

eventually figured out a jedi mind trick

that helps make the mornings feel less

awful and it's another easy mental

kickflip instead of setting an alarm in

the morning or having a scheduled

wake-up time i only set a strict bedtime

to me mornings sucked because i felt

rushed and sleepy going into work and of

course this patch would bombard us with

emergency codes right when i clocked in

it's like they were waiting for me the

goal of this flip is to sleep earlier so

my body naturally wakes up in the

morning not to the soul-crushing sound

of an alarm and not on any particular

schedule that way i could enjoy a

productive and peaceful start to every

single day so if i needed to get up to

study before work i wanted to be

studying by 6 am to get at least 3 hours

of focused work in

but using the trick i'd move my bedtime

earlier by one or two hours so if my

normal bedtime was midnight i'd get to

bed by 10 pm this way it doesn't matter

if i get up at 4am 5am 5 30 or even 6

a.m i'd naturally wake up when i do on

my own terms fighting demons and the

morning would just be less awful overall

even after a couple days of using this

rule i noticed a huge difference in my

overall mood during the day too i don't

feel rushed so i'm not stressed out i'm

optimistic because i've already studied

early in the day and i don't even have

to think about it when i get home from

work later and honestly i never thought

i'd say this but there's something very

peaceful about the wee early hours of

the morning no one's awake social media

is dead it's quiet and there's just less

distractions once i realized that waking

up earlier actually worked for me i

could start to shift my circadian rhythm

to align it earlier in the day and there

are some evidence-based ways to do this

one of my favorite ways is getting light

exposure preferably natural lighting

about half an hour to an hour when i

wake up and absorbing that natural light

into our eyes actually helps us move

that clock forward if there's no natural

light early in the day where you live

then overhead lighting is more optimal

than low lighting like a desk lamp or

something so after i began medical

school i no longer had a full-time job

but being a medical student on rotations

was basically the same thing plus we

still had to study after work too but my

work schedule was much more erratic some

weeks i'd work night shift some weeks

i'd work early morning shift and

sometimes i'd work weekends

as a kitsune i loved this spontaneous

work schedule but that also meant that

in order to optimize for focus and

maintain a strict early bedtime i had to

add another layer to my time management

system so to work with a flexible

schedule i had to start setting strict

deadlines not just for studying but for

everything from running errands to meals

to even my free time and i didn't know

this at the time but this was actually

really useful because it touches on two

very powerful psychological ideas

you may have heard of this theory called

parkinson's law which states that work

expands so as to fill the time given for

its completion basically if i had to

finish something like write an essay and

the deadline is in one week i'm most

likely gonna procrastinate and spend the

entire week writing that essay whereas

if the deadline was in one day i'd have

to finish it by then but regardless of

what the task is we're programmed to

drag out our responsibilities to fill

how much time we allow ourselves to work

on so setting strict deadlines addresses

parkinson's law because it capitalizes

on this other principle about time

pressure there's this interesting paper

from japan that analyzed why people

procrastinate on things they found three

main determinants for procrastination

how challenging it was the rewards or

the punishments for doing it and how far

away it was but the most interesting

thing they found was that regardless of

how challenging it was or how punishing

the consequences were

time pressure was always the main

determinant for taking action

and that actually makes sense right if

my presentation is tomorrow i literally

can't procrastinate on it it doesn't

matter how challenging it is it doesn't

matter what the reward is it just needs

to get done so i would focus and i could

do it so medical school my

responsibilities were starting to pile

up but i also wanted a good work-life

balance to see friends and go to the gym

produce music and stuff like that so

setting firm deadlines for studying or

for projects forced me to focus and not

procrastinate but i also wanted to make

use of the other two principles for not

procrastinating too so i'd give myself

rewards for finishing like going to see

friends or going to dinner or something

and it also break down big assignments

into smaller bite-sized pieces to reduce

how challenging it was and after doing

this for a bit i realized that it

actually took me a lot less time to

finish studying than i once thought

before i was just letting parkinson's

law drag out all of my tasks but using

things like pomodoro and setting strict

deadlines helped me focus and fit all

the studying and hobbies i wanted to get

in a strange paradox about productive

people began to make sense to me the

most productive people do so much every

single day all because they can quickly

transition their focus and block out

distractions it made me think about all

those rookies i knew in college who were

athletes on the school team

running multiple clubs working a

part-time job dating the hottest babes

on campus and also maintaining top gpas

or thinking about some of the doctors i

worked with who were clinicians faculty

professors residency directors parents

they got kids you know and they all

still find time to work on side hustles

and enjoy their own hobbies they were

all way ahead of the game and i think

it's because they understand how

important time pressure is on our

ability to focus and this is a good

segue to the final principle i follow

which might trigger some of your rookies

but it's to stop doing you hate by

this point i hope you all realize that i

think focus is the most crucial asset to

managing a busy schedule of work in

school but to me focus no longer only

applies when i sit down to study it also

applies at the macro level at the big

picture you know regarding my whole life

in general in med school i also added on

a youtube channel as a creative side

hustle i was also working on a research

project and studying for school there

was a lot of responsibility on my plate

even with the strict deadlines

optimizing focus and all that other jazz

i was struggling to keep up with my

studies and i was on the edge of burning

out and because there's no way to create

more hours in a day the only option left

is to create time from cutting out the

pointless stuff quit doing you hate

quit doing the stuff that brings you no

joy and no value this lesson was a slap

in the face it hurts because it requires

honest reflection to admit that i waste

time doing a lot of pointless stuff but

once i did accept it it was liberating

how many times have you gotten wrapped

up or roped into doing something and

felt like

dang this is a complete waste of my time

or think wow it's already 1am what did i

even do today i think that even if it

requires spending a little extra money

or some time up front to

stop doing these pointless things it's

gonna be so much more worth it in the

long run to maintain your focus over

your life and so taking a look at my

schedule i saw that there were a lot of

tiny pockets of wasted time for example

i used to go to the school gym to work

out and it was a 40-minute drive

round-trip and i hate traffic so i

identified that i sucked it up and i

bought a basic gym membership that was

right downstairs another example for me

was rallying my geriatric self to go out

and get drunk with friends but then i'd

spend the entire next day hungover and

i'm not really about that anymore and

that's not bringing any value to my life

so it's gonna get cut or spending time

with toxic people i don't enjoy being

around who destroy my mental health

sorry yeah that's also gonna get cut

that last one in particular was tough

because i had to stop caring about how

someone else would think about me but if

it's hard for you to say no to people

there's no need to be a jerk about it

just be clear and have some self-respect

to prioritize your own time it's been a

great first step for me to build a more

fulfilling life one that i actually

choose of course there are obviously

some things that you hate and you have

to attend to

but at least use this principle as a

self-reflection tool

that way you can see what things in your

life you can actually easily cut out

that will contribute to an overall

happier and more focused approach to

life and with that carved out time

sprinkle in some more studying or

activities that you find fun fulfilling

like side hustles relationships and

other hobbies so those are the four

principles in my system as i plan my

schedule to make sure i fit in all the

study i need alongside work

as you can see it all comes down to

playing tetris with the time we have

each day whether moving things around

optimizing focus or cutting things out

completely that drain our focus and to

reiterate this system works for me based

on my brain type and my personality as a

kitsune so a different looking schedule

might be better for you

if you have no idea what i'm talking

about and you want to learn more about

your brain type then definitely check

out this video right here

[Music]

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